NASA has made yet another change in the crew assigned to test-fly Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The Crew Flight Test is expected to launch in the next six to nine months. Two instead of three NASA astronauts will be aboard — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Williams had been assigned to command the first operational Starliner fight after the CFT. It’s the latest round of astronaut musical chairs over the past four years of who will be on the first Starliner missions.

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As NASA gets ready to resume a critical test in preparation for Artemis I, the first launch of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, the head of the Artemis effort conceded today that the launch is unlikely before late August or September at the earliest. A variety of factors constrain the launch to a roughly two-week period each month and the July-early August window is slipping away. Meanwhile, the heads of NASA and ESA spoke today in the Netherlands about the prospects for European astronauts landing on the Moon.

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The FAA is giving SpaceX a thumbs up for launching the Starship rocket from Boca Chica, TX as far as environmental impacts go, although 75 mitigation actions are required. The environmental review is only one of several factors the agency will consider before deciding whether to grant a launch license, but it is unquestionably good news for Elon Musk’s company and its customers, including NASA.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of June 12-18, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

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NASA is about to take a look at data on UFOs from a scientific perspective. The 9-month study is not intended to do research on what are formally called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, but to determine what unclassified data is available and what more is needed to figure out what people are seeing. The study is a collaboration between NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate since one motivation for NASA’s involvement is safety of aircraft. Astrophysicist David Spergel will chair the study.

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NASA’s Office of Inspector General issued a harsh assessment of Bechtel’s performance on the contract to build a second Mobile Launcher for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket today. Mobile Launcher 2 is required for the more capable version of SLS NASA needs to execute the Artemis lunar program, but the cost has more than doubled and it will be at least 2.5 years late. The scathing report has been much anticipated since the head of NASA himself excoriated Bechtel in congressional testimony and expressed eagerness to see the OIG’s take on what went wrong.

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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was presented with the 2022 John Glenn Excellence in Public Service Award this evening by Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Nelson is the second NASA Administrator to win the award, joining Charlie Bolden who received it in 2012.

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France is now the 20th signatory to the Artemis Accords that set out non-binding governance principles for operations on the Moon. The United States requires countries that want to participate in the U.S.-led Artemis program to agree to the Accords. An initial group of eight signed in October 2020 and 12 more have joined since from Europe, South America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of June 5-12, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

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China launched a new three-person crew to its Tianhe space station core module this evening. The mission marks a new era in China’s space station program as the crew oversees the addition of the other two modules of Tiangong-3 and prepares for the first crew rotation in December. Tiangong-3 will be much smaller than the International Space Station where crew rotations have been routine for more than 20 years, but it is a major step in their human spaceflight aspirations. Launch took place on schedule at 10:44 pm EDT (June 5, 10:44 am Beijing Time).

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