What's Happening in Space Policy December 5-9, 2016

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of December 5-9, 2016 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

This is make or break time for Congress to pass an appropriations bill or bills to keep the government operating past Friday.  The existing Continuing Resolution (CR), which funds agencies at their current (FY2016) levels, expires at midnight December 9. The House has no votes scheduled for Friday, so it apparently expects to complete action earlier in the week. The Senate schedule has not been announced.

The election put Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House so congressional leaders have decided to wait until the Trump Administration is in place to make final FY2017 appropriations decisions.  However, some key Republicans are insisting that Congress pass a
full-year appropriations bill for DOD to match the funding levels
recommended in the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  That bill just passed the House on Friday and is expected to pass the Senate early this coming week. Congress can pass a full-year FY2017 appropriations bill for DOD and an extension of the CR for other agencies or any other combination it chooses, but it must do something by Friday or some parts of the government will have to close down. The existing CR provided full-year funding for activities in the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) bill, so perhaps Congress will do the same for defense.  It really is up in the air at this moment.   All the other agencies, including NASA and NOAA, likely will end up with another CR.  There is some debate as to whether to extend it through either March or April, with the later date advocated by the Senate which expects to be busy holding hearings and votes on Trump cabinet nominees in the early months of next year.

Congress might also pass a new authorization bill for NASA this week. The 2016 NASA Transition Authorization Act was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in September and negotiations are ongoing with the House on a final bill.  The latest rumors are that it could reach the Senate floor for consideration early this week, but it still would have to pass the House and time is getting short.  Nonetheless, it is quite common for Congress to pass a flurry of legislation in its closing days.  Congresses last for 2 years and at the end all pending legislation is dead.  The next Congress must begin again, with its new set of Members, so there is an advantage to completing work before the 114th Congress ends and the 115th begins.

One bill that made it through the Senate last week and might be voted on in the House this week — although it is not on the schedule yet — is the Weather Forecasting and Research Innovation Act.  The version that passed the Senate is a compromise with the House and incorporates provisions of H.R. 1561, which passed the House in 2015, S. 1331, which cleared the Senate Commerce Committee in 2015, and two other bills (S. 1573 and H.R. 34).  Among many other things, it reforms NOAA’s satellite procurement efforts.

The House is scheduled to consider the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act (H.R. 2726, as amended) tomorrow under suspension of the rules. The Apollo 1 Memorial Act is not on the list as of today, but the schedule notes that additional bills will be added to the suspension calendar (which is used for relatively non-controversial bills that are expected to easily win two-thirds of the votes and therefore get expedited consideration). 

So it will be a very busy week just with congressional activity, but there are many other interesting events, too.  For brevity’s sake, we will mention only one — Wednesday’s Eilene M. Galloway Symposium on Critical Issues in Space Law in Washington, DC.   This is the 11th Galloway symposium and they just keep getting better every year.  It’s free, but seating is limited so pre-registration is REQUIRED.   Bob Walker, a former congressman who was a space policy adviser to the Trump campaign and presumably is still advising the transition effort (though not officially part of the “landing party” at NASA), and Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), are both on the agenda, plus panels on topical space law issues and a luncheon speech on the “Next 50 Years of the Outer Space Treaty,” which turns 50 next year.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for additions that we learn about later and add to our Events of Interest list.

Monday-Tuesday, December 5-6

• Searching for Life Across Space and Time Workshop (National Academies), Beckman Center, Irvine, CA (webcast)

Tuesday, December 6

• WSBR Luncheon with Panel on Spectrum Sharing, University Club, Washington, DC, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET
• MSBR Luncheon Featuring NASA Goddard Chief Scientist Jim Garvin, Martin’s Crosswinds, Greenbelt, MD, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET

Tuesday-Wednesday, December 6-7

•  3rd Space Resiliency Summit (DSI), Mary M Gates Learning Center, Alexandria, VA

Wednesday, December 7

• EU-US Space Policy Conference, GWU Space Policy Institute, 1957 E St., NW, Washington, DC, 8:00 am – 1:45 pm ET
• 11th Galloway Symposium on Critical Issues in Space Law, Cosmos Club, Washington, DC, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm ET (pre-registration required)

Wednesday-Thursday, December 7-8

• National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board, Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach, Redondo Beach, CA
• NASA Applied Science Advisory Committee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC (WebEx/telecon)

Wednesday-Friday, December 7-9

• National Academies Committee on Large Strategic NASA Science Missions, Beckman Center, Irvine, CA (some sessions are closed)

Friday, December 9

• Shaping the Space Force for the 21st Century (AFA Mitchell Institute), Capitol Hill Club, Washington, DC, 8:00 am ET (pre-registration REQUIRED)
• Launch of Japan’s HTV6 cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Tangeshima, Japan, 8:26 am ET (10:26 pm local time in Japan)  NASA TV coverage begins 7:45 am ET
• STA Luncheon with ESA Director General Jan Woerner and NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot, 2325 Rayburn, 11:30 am – 1:15 pm ET (invitation only)