Today the House Appropriations Committee approved the funding levels for NASA recommended by its Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee last week. The committee reduced NASA’s funding by half a billion dollars compared to the request, but it is $1.4 billion more than the current level. One program that got more than requested is the asteroid-hunting NEO Surveyor, pushing back on NASA’s proposal to delay it for at least two years.

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The House Appropriations Committee is on the verge of quintupling funding for NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce and elevating its position within NOAA as requested by the Biden Administration. Though still short of the expansive plans once envisioned by the Trump Administration, it is an important step in bringing resources to bear to address space debris. At the same time, OSC Director Richard DalBello said last week that a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Commerce and DOD to implement Space Policy Directive-3 should be completed this summer.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of June 26-July 2, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House will meet only in pro forma sessions this week, but committees will meet Tuesday-Thursday. The Senate is in session this week, but could leave a bit early for the July 4 recess.

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NASA formally announced today that the Wet Dress Rehearsal of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I flight test is complete. The stack will be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building next week to get ready for launch. Officials were not willing to commit to a launch date today, but the next window is at the end of August and early September.

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Launch of NASA’s Psyche mission, the first to study an asteroid made mostly of metal, will have to wait at least until next year. The spacecraft is ready, but the project team ran out of time to test the Guidance, Navigation and Control software, critical to ensuring it gets where it needs to go. The software was delivered late, and may be fine, but they need to validate it before committing to launch. Options in 2023 and 2024 are under review.

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NASA has concluded that Monday’s Wet Dress Rehearsal test of the Artemis I rocket met enough of its objectives that another test is unnecessary. That brings the agency one step closer to setting a launch date for this uncrewed test flight of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft around the Moon. More than three years behind schedule and billions over budget, it is a much-anticipated milestone that one day will lead to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface.

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The House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA is recommending $25.45 billion for the agency in FY2023. While a substantial increase over current funding of $24.04 billion, the total is half a billion less than the $25.97 billion President Biden requested.

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The House Appropriations Committee is warning the U.S. Space Force against starting more programs than it can afford. In a draft of its report on the FY2023 defense appropriations bill, which it will mark up tomorrow, the committee criticized the newest military service for submitting a five-year budget projection that is not credible given its “ambitious” plans.

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Today’s fourth attempt at a critical test of the Artemis I rocket got much further than three tries in April, but still fell short. Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson called it a “good day” and an “exciting day” for the program and her team, but they need a chance to look at all the data before deciding whether a fifth test is needed.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of June 19-25, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

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