What's Happening in Space Policy September 8-12, 2014

Here is our list of space policy-related events on tap for the week of September 8-12, 2014 and any insight we can offer about them.  Congress returns to work on Monday.

During the Week

Congress returns from its summer break this week.   Between now and the end of the fiscal year (FY) on September 30, the House is scheduled to be in session for eight days and the Senate for ten.   That is certainly enough time for them to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating when FY2015 begins on October 1 if agreement can be reached.   Republican leaders on both sides of Capitol Hill insist that they do not want another government shutdown like last year, so that bodes well, but one never knows until a bill is passed and signed into law.   House Speaker Boehner has said he plans to pass a bill to fund the government through early December — past the November election.  “Possible” consideration of a CR is on the House schedule this week.

The Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology (SST) Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the ASTEROIDS Act introduced by Reps. Bill Posey (R-FL) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA).  The bill would grant property rights to materials mined from asteroids by U.S. companies (though not property rights to the asteroid itself).   Four scientists and one expert on space law will testify.  The issue of property rights in space has been debated vigorously for decades on a theoretical basis, with opinions strongly held on what is or is not allowed under the terms of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which the United States and 101 other countries are party.  The legislation and this hearing provide an opportunity to address the issue from a more focused perspective.

The first meeting of the National Research Council’s new Space Technology Industry, Government, University Roundtable (STIGUR) is on Thursday.  Note that it is at the NAS building on Constitution Avenue, not the Keck Center on 5th Street.   Chaired by Lockheed Martin Chief Technology Officer Ray Johnson, STIGUR is a forum for dialogue about NASA’s space technology efforts.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are listed below. 

Monday, September 8

• NASA Briefing on Earth Science Payloads Headed to ISS, virtual (watch on NASA TV), 1:00  pm ET

Monday-Friday, September 8-12

• Euroconsult World Satellite Business Week, Westin Hotel, Paris, FR
  • Summit on Satellite Financing, September 8-10
  • Symposium on Market Forecasts, September 11 
  • Summit on Earth Observation Business, September 11-12

Tuesday, September 9

• WIA Breakfast Featuring AF Chief Scientist Mica Endsley, Ritz Carlton Pentagon City, Arlington, VA, 8:00-9:30 am ET
• NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 1:00-2:00 pm ET
• ISU-DC Space Café Featuring NRL’s Jill Dahlburg, The Science Bluc, 1136 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 7:00 pm ET

Tuesday-Friday, September 9-12

• AMOS 2014 Conference, Maui, Hawaii

Wednesday, September 10

• House SS&T Subcommittee Hearing on the ASTEROiDS Act, 2318 Rayburn, 10:00 am ET
• Soyuz TMA-12M Landing, Kazakhstan, 10:25 pm ET (8:25 am September 11 local time at the landing site)  NASA TV coverage of the landing begins at 9:15 pm ET

Thursday, September 11

• National Research Council (NRC) Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) Space Technology Roundtable, National Academy of Sciences building, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm ET
• Lecture by Wayne Hale on Changing the Culture of Human Spaceflight, Rice University, Houston, TX, 7:00 pm CT

Friday, September 12

NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Subcommittee on Research, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm ET