What's Happening in Space Policy May 23-27, 2016

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of May 23-27, 2016 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

YES!  It is, indeed, another busy week.  Not to worry — Memorial Day is coming up next week and Congress, at least, will take a breather.  Wanting to get as much done as possible in this first half of the year (before the elections overwhelm everything else), the House and Senate have another full plate.

On the floor, the Senate will debate its version of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the House will take up the FY2017 Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA).  The IAA is on Tuesday’s suspension calendar, indicating that it is expected to pass with minimal debate.  The unclassified bill and report require three space-related briefings or reports (on JICSPoC, on actions taken in response to the December 2015 National Research Council report on space defense and protection, and improving U.S.-Japan space cooperation) all of which also are required by the House version of the NDAA.

In committee, the full House Appropriations Committee will markup the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science bill (NASA and NOAA) and the Transportation-HUD bill (FAA space office) on Tuesday morning.  At the same time, the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee will be marking up the FY2017 defense bill, with full committee markup on Thursday.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the American Geophysical Union are holding a lunchtime briefing in one of the Senate meeting rooms (385 Russell) on Wednesday about a really important, but not widely known, issue that could affect utilization of NOAA’s new GOES-R weather satellites.  The first in the GOES-R series will be launched this fall. The space-to-ground frequency band for GOES-R is being threatened In the ever growing battle between space- and terrestrial-based services over spectrum allocations. The demand for spectrum to satisfy our insatiable desire for mobile broadband services is coming up against our need for critical weather forecasts. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to make the 1675-1680 MHz band available for sale.  That band is used for transmitting data from the GOES satellites and for other earth science purposes.  AMS has a fact sheet explaining the issue and three experts at the Wednesday briefing (including Scott Pace from GWU’s Space Policy Institute) will go into it in more detail.  Note than an RSVP is required (lunch will be served).

Of the many other events coming up, one may especially pique the interest of folks who will be in D.C. on Tuesday.  New America, which describes itself as “a nonprofit civic enterprise: an intellectual venture capital fund, think tank, technology laboratory, public forum, and media platform,” is having an event “over drinks” from 5:30-7:00 pm ET, on “What Can D.C. Learn from Sci-Fi?”  Science fiction author Charles Stross will be interviewed by two “tech policy experts (and science fiction fans)” from New America and the American Civil Liberties Union.  One topic is “why the idea of space colonization is unrealistic.”  New voices in the world of space policy are always welcome, so this should be enlivening.

NASA will expand the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) that is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday morning.  NASA TV coverage begins at 5:30 am ET and there will be a media teleconference at 10:00 am ET with NASA’s Jason Crusan and Bigelow Aerospace President Robert Bigelow.  BEAM was delivered to ISS on the SpaceX-8 cargo mission and transferred to a docking port on the Tranquillity module last month.

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

Monday, May 23

• NASA and National Security (AFA Mitchell Institute) featuring NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, Capitol Hill Club, 300 First St., SE, Washington, DC, 7:00-9:00 am ET

Tuesday, May 24

• What Will It Take to Get Astronauts to Mars? (Ctr for American Progress) featuring NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, 1333 H Street, NW, Washington, DC, 10:00-11:00 am ET
• Senate Appropriations Defense Sbcmt Markup FY2017 Defense Bill, 192 Dirksen, 10:00 am ET
• House Appropriations Full Cmte Markup CJS and T-HUD FY2017 Bills, 2359 Rayburn, 10:30 am ET
• AIAA National Capital Section Awards Dinner Featuring NASA Deputy Admin Dava Newman, Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center, Arlington, VA, 5:30 pm ET
• What Can D.C. Learn from Sci-Fi? (New America), 740 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 5:30-7:30 pm ET

Tuesday-Wednesday, May 24-25

• 5th Interplanetary Cubesat Conference (iCubeSat 2016), Oxford, UK

Tuesday-Thursday, May 24-26

• IAA Human Space Exploration Conference, Korolev, Russia (outside Moscow)

Wednesday, May 25

• Radio Spectrum for Earth Science (AMS/AGU), 385 Russell, 12:00-1:00 pm ET

Thursday, May 26

• Expansion of BEAM module attached to International Space Station:  NASA TV coverage begins 5:30 am ET; media telecon, 10:00 am ET
• AF Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III Speaks to Air Force Association Breakfast Meeting, Sheraton Pentagon City, Arlington, VA, 7:00-9:00 am ET
• Senate Appropriations Full Cmte Markup FY2017 Defense Bill, 106 Dirksen, 10:30 am ET