What’s Happening in Space Policy July 31-August 11, 2017

Here is our list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks, July 31-August 11, 2017.  The House is in recess until after Labor Day.  The Senate plans to be in session for both of these weeks.

During the Weeks

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We deliberately timed the switchover to coincide with the congressional summer recess to give us and all of you a chance to adapt, but “best laid plans” and all of that didn’t quite work out since the Senate is still in session.  President Trump convinced Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to keep the Senate here for two extra weeks with the hope of passing health care legislation.   That topic is far beyond the scope of this website, but the bottom line is that those plans hit a big pothole last week.  Whether McConnell still thinks there’s a reason to keep the Senate in town while the House is on recess remains to be seen.   They are for now, at least.   It is possible they could turn to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) while Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) chairman John McCain (R-AZ) is in town.  He made it clear last week that’s his hope.  With his brain tumor diagnosis, it is not clear what his Senate attendance schedule will be.

Except for that, there’s little to distract everyone from their vacation plans this week, at least.  We know of only two events, both on Thursday morning: a Mitchell Institute breakfast space series event on nuclear deterrence, missile defense and space with Gen. Paul Selva and Orbital ATK’s investors’ telecon on its 2Q 2017 financial results.

Next week, though, there are two really good annual conferences:  the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah (August 5-10) and the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama (August 8-10).

On top of that, NASA is having what sounds like a really interesting “ISS Stakeholders Workshop” on August 9 in DC.  It will bring together “the commercial sector, researchers, technology developers, transportation and habitation providers, other government agencies, and other interested parties” to engage in a dialogue with NASA about space station planning.

Those events and others we know about as of Monday morning are shown below.  Check back throughout the weeks for others we learn about later and add to our Calendar of events.  One note — with our new software platform, the list of events on the home page shows the next 20 events.  If we add an event, the list of the “next 20” may change so you may see a future event listed there on one visit that is not there on the next.  Not to worry.  You can always see ALL events — past, present, and future — by clicking “View All Events” at the bottom of the list and then choosing whatever time period you’re interested in at the top right “Events In (Select Month”).

Thursday, August 3

• Nuclear Deterrence, Missile Defense, and Space: Path Forward, with Gen. Paul Selva (AFA Mitchell Institute), Capitol Hill Club, Washington, DC, 8:00 am ET (pre-registration REQUIRED)
• Orbital ATK Investors’ Conference Call on 2Q 2017 Financial Results, 9:00 am ET (audiocast)

Saturday-Thursday, August 5-10

• Small Satellite Conference, Utah State University, Logan, Utah

Tuesday, August 8

• ISU-DC Space Cafe Featuring NRL’s Paul Jaffe on the Opportunity of Space Solar, Cotton & Reed, 1330 5th St. NE, Washington, DC, 7:00 pm ET

Tuesday-Thursday, August 8-10

• Space & Missile Defense Symposium, Von Braun Center, Huntsville, AL

Wednesday, August 9

• ISS Stakeholder Workshop, Marriott Marquis Washington DC, 901 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 8:30 am – 6:00 pm ET