What’s Happening in Space Policy June 10-16, 2018

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of June 10-16, 2018 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

It’s another busy week on Capitol Hill.  The Senate resumes debate on the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) tomorrow (Monday). The House already passed its version of the bill.  Meanwhile, the full House Appropriations Committee will mark up its version of the DOD appropriations bill on Wednesday.  Remember: authorization bills set policy and RECOMMEND funding levels, but only appropriations bills actually provide money.

Speaking of which, the Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the FY2019 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill this week — at subcommittee level on Tuesday and full committee on Thursday.  It funds NASA and NOAA, among others.  Separately, the House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Space Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Thursday about cost overruns and schedule delays at NASA when things don’t go as planned.

Also on tap tomorrow is a seminar sponsored by the Secure World Foundation on “Space Traffic Management and Enabling the Sustainable Commercial Development of Space.”  House SS&T Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) will give opening remarks, followed by a top notch panel of administration, academic and think tank experts. Rumors are afoot that President Trump will sign Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3) in the very near future setting agency roles and responsibilities for Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management.  The Department of Commerce is expected to be designated to handle SSA and eventually STM for the commercial sector.

The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) had hoped to be assigned that task instead of Commerce.  In its report on the FY2019 Transportation-HUD bill, which funds FAA/AST, the House Appropriations Committee said it expects FAA/AST to continue to engage in a program with DOD “to determine the requirements necessary for operational space situational awareness,” so FAA/AST may still have a role to play.  FAA/AST’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) meets on Thursday where the subject may arise.  This is COMSTAC’s first meeting with Kelvin Coleman as FAA/AST’s Acting Associate Administrator.  He took over the reins after George Nield retired in March.  The meeting has a star-studded line-up of speakers including Congressmen John Culberson (R-TX) and Bill Posey (R-FL), Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, and National Space Council Executive Secretary Scott Pace.  Mike Gold, Maxar Technologies, remains COMSTAC chair.

Bridenstine also will speak to a Space Transportation Association (STA) luncheon on Tuesday.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) will hold a press conference at the National Press Club on Wednesday morning to release its annual State of the Satellite Industry report.  The report is prepared by Bryce Space and Technology.  Bryce’s Carissa Christensen and Anton Dolgopolov will present the report along with SIA’s Tom Stroup and Therese Jones.   It will be a good lead-in to a Friday seminar sponsored by New America on satellite-versus-terrestrial spectrum battles.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Space Generation Forum 2.0 will take place in Vienna, Austria in conjunction with UNISPACE+50.  Sponsored by the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), UNISPACE+50 begins next Monday to commemorate the three UNISPACE conferences that have taken place (1968, 1982 and 1999).  The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) was created at the 1999 conference, so the Space Generation Forum 2.0 will celebrate that anniversary and discuss how its activities should evolve.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for others we learn about later and add to our Calendar.

Monday , June 11

• Space Traffic Management and Enabling Sustainable Commercial Development of Space (SWF), 2325 Rayburn House Office Building, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET
• NASA Media Telecon on Science Experiments on SpaceX CRS-15 (SpX-15), virtual, 2:00 pm ET (audiocast)

Monday-Friday, June 11-15

• 15th International Planetary Probe Workshop, Boulder, CO

Tuesday, June 12

• STA Luncheon Featuring NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, 2325 Rayburn House Office Building, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm ET (invitation only)
• Senate Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee markup FY2019 CJS bill (includes NASA and NOAA), 192 Dirksen Senate office Building, 2:30 pm ET (audiocast)

Tuesday-Friday, June 12-15

• Space Resources Roundtable 9th Meeting (Colorado School of Mines), Golden, CO
• 3rd International Symposium on Lunar and Planetary Science (Macau University), Macau, China

Wednesday, June 13

• SIA 2018 State of the Satellite Industry Report Release, National Press Club, Washington, DC, 9:00-10:30 am ET (registration begins 8:30 am ET)
• House Appropriations Committee markup FY2019 Defense Appropriations Bill, location TBA, 12:00 pm ET (webcast)
• NASM John Glenn Lecture in Space History Featuring Gen. John Hyten, National Air & Space Museum, 600 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC, 8:00 pm ET (webcast)

Wednesday-Thursday, June 13-14

• NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG), The Hotel, 7777 Baltimore Avenue, College Park, MD (Adobe Connect)

Thursday, June 14

• COMSTAC, DOT Headquarters, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE, Washington, DC, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm ET
• House SS&T Sbcmte Hearing on NASA Cost and Schedule Overruns, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am ET (webcast)
• Senate Appropriations Full Committee Markup FY2019 CJS Bill (NASA, NOAA), 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building, 10:30 am ET (audiocast)

Friday, June 15

• Harnessing Satellite Spectrum for Broadband (New America), 740 15th St., NW, Washington, DC, 12:00-1:45 pm ET (webcast)

Saturday-Sunday, June 16-17

• Space Generation Forum 2.0 (in support of UNISPACE+50), Vienna, Austria