This afternoon President Trump announced that he will nominate Jared Isaacman to be NASA Administrator. Isaacman was Trump’s original nominee for the job on January 20, but he withdrew it on May 31 after a falling out with Elon Musk who had recommended Isaacman. The Senate could act quickly on the nomination since Isaacman was already approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, but with the government shutdown breaking the record for the longest in history and many other nominations pending, time will tell if they treat this with urgency.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of November 2-8, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. The House continues to be in recess indefinitely except for pro forma sessions.

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China launched a new three-person crew to their Tiangong-3 space station today. Shenzhou-21 lifted off at 11:44 am EDT and arrived at the space station about three hours later where the crew was greeted by the current residents with whom they will swap places. Tiangong-3 has been permanently occupied by crews rotating on roughly 6-month schedules since 2022. Coincidentally, today is the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Russian-American crew that initiated permanent occupancy of the International Space Station. They floated through the ISS hatch two days later on November 2, 2000 and not a day has gone by since then that people haven’t been aboard.

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Two former NASA administrators are weighing in on the Artemis program and whether the U.S. will get back to the Moon before Chinese taikonauts arrive. Charlie Bolden and his successor Jim Bridenstine agree that getting a new set of American footprints on the Moon by mid-2027, the most recent official target, or even January 2029, a date mentioned by Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, will be challenging. But they differ on the importance of beating China versus holding fast to the long-term goals set by the United States and its international partners. Meanwhile, SpaceX provided an update on the Starship Human Landing System, an essential element of the program as currently designed.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of October 26-November 1, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them.  The Senate is in session this week.  The House continues to be in recess indefinitely except for pro forma sessions.

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In interviews on Fox News and CNBC today, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said he is opening up the contract for a Human Landing System (HLS) to get Americans back on the Moon before China gets there — and before the end of President Trump’s term. SpaceX has the contract to put the first U.S. crew back on the Moon on Artemis III using an HLS version of Starship, but they are behind schedule. Duffy wants competition and innovation from Blue Origin and other U.S. companies to make sure the U.S. meets the goal. Blue Origin already has a contract with NASA to build a second HLS, Blue Moon MK 2, but its first flight is not planned until Artemis V around 2030. NASA said this afternoon SpaceX and Blue Origin may submit “acceleration approaches” by October 29 and other companies will be able to respond to a Request for Information.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of October 19-25, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. The House remains in recess indefinitely except for pro forma sessions.

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Jared Isaacman is among a group of candidates being interviewed by NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy to take the top job at the agency on a permanent basis.  President Trump nominated Isaacman for the position on January 20, but withdrew it at the end of May in a move widely attributed to Trump’s falling out with Elon Musk who had recommended Isaacman. When a decision on a new nominee will be made is unknown, but Isaacman has been through part of the confirmation process already, which would accelerate getting someone in place as the Trump Administration strives to get Americans back on the Moon before China gets there.

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SpaceX achieved a second successful Starship test flight in a row this evening. Integrated Flight Test-11 or IFT-11 lifted off from Starbase, Texas and splashed down in the Indian Ocean about an hour later, welcome news after three failures earlier this year. This was the last flight of this version of Starship, however, so the next launch will introduce new uncertainties as the United States strives to get American astronauts back on the Moon before China gets there — a goal for which Starship is essential.

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The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is laying off another 550 workers beginning tomorrow.  JPL Director David Gallagher said the move is due to an ongoing reorganization that began in July, not because of the government shutdown. The number represents an 11 percent cutback and comes on top of two layoffs last year.

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