Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: March 4-March 10, 2024

Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, March 4-10, 2024, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

What’s Happening in Space Policy March 10-16, 2024

March 10, 2024. Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of March 10-16, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session for at least part of this week.

Congress Clears FY2024 Funding for NASA, NOAA, FAA

March 8, 2024. FY2024 funding for NASA, NOAA and the FAA cleared the Senate tonight hours before funding would have run out at midnight. President Biden is expected to sign the bill expeditiously. Funding for departments and agencies, including DOD, in six other appropriations bills are still pending with a March 22 expiration date. All of this occurs more than 5 months into FY2024 and just days before Biden submits his budget request for FY2025.

SpaceX Targets March 14 for Next Starship Test Flight

March 7, 2024. SpaceX is targeting March 14 for the next Starship Orbital Flight Test pending FAA approval. It will be the third flight of the gigantic rocket in less than a year and will fly a different trajectory. The first two attempts did not attain orbit, but were to land near Hawaii if they did. This time Starship will head to the Indian Ocean. SpaceX says it will allow more types of tests along the route.

Senate Passes Another Extension for the FAA and the “Learning Period”

March 7, 2024. The Senate passed the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2024 yesterday to keep the FAA authorized for another two months instead of expiring tomorrow. The bill also extends the “learning period” under which the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation is prohibited from promulgating new commercial human spaceflight regulations until May 11. The legislation passed the House last week and now goes to the President for signature.

House Easily Passes First FY2024 Minibus Appropriations

March 6, 2024. The House finally passed the first set of FY2024 appropriations bills today, more than five months after FY2024 began. Six of the 12 regular appropriations bills, including those that fund NASA, NOAA and the FAA, are bundled together into a single “minibus” — a smaller version of an “omnibus” appropriations bill that incorporates all 12. It still must pass the Senate and be signed into law by midnight on Friday to avoid a lapse in funding. Agreement on the other six, including DOD, is pending with a March 22 deadline.

House to Take Up FY2024 Appropriations for NASA, NOAA, FAA on Wednesday

March 5, 2024. House Speaker Mike Johnson has scheduled House consideration of the first package of FY2024 appropriations bills tomorrow, March 6.  The collection of six bills, called a “minibus,” includes Commerce-Justice-Science that funds NASA and NOAA, and Transportation-HUD that funds the FAA and its Office of Commercial Space Transportation. The bills must be enacted by Friday midnight or their funding will run out.

Weekly Roundup for SpacePolicyOnline.com: February 19-March 4, 2024

March 4, 2024. Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the past two weeks, February 19-March 4, 2024, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.