NOAA’s Polar Follow On (PFO) program finally got some good news. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $419 million for PFO in its markup of the FY2018 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill last week. The Trump Administration wants to “re-plan” the program, which funds the second set of JPSS polar-orbiting weather satellites, JPSS-3 and JPSS-4, and requested $180 million.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY2018 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill on Thursday (July 27). The news for NASA is mixed. The committee provided $437 million more than the Trump Administration requested, but $124 million less than current spending. That is in sharp contrast to the House Appropriations Committee, which approved a huge increase both above the request and FY2017.
Here is our list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks, July 31-August 11, 2017. The House is in recess until after Labor Day. The Senate plans to be in session for both of these weeks.
As promised, here is the modernized version of SpacePolicyOnline.com. This is the first article we are posting using the new software and is primarily a test to make sure everything is working.
SpacePolicyOnline.com is about to change its look. We’ll have the same objective, non-partisan content as always, but we are moving to a new mobile-friendly software platform with streamlined site navigation. The change is scheduled to take effect on Monday, July 31, 2017. Our news stories, fact sheets, meeting and hearing summaries and event calendar will …
The Senate today approved the Russia sanctions bill that passed the House earlier this week, clearing the measure for the President. It is not known if he will sign it or not. The final version includes language adopted by the Senate last month clarifying that NASA activities with Russia are exempted as are space launches …
The House passed a FY2018 appropriations bill today that includes funding for the Department of Defense (DOD). The defense appropriations bill was bundled with three others into the “Make America Secure” appropriations bill, H.R. 3219. The only space-related amendment that was adopted during floor debate specifies $5 million for the Air Force’s commercial weather data …
The Senate passed a Russia-Iran sanctions act today by a vote of 98-2. During debate, the Senate adopted an amendment to clarify that the bill is not intended to prevent commercial launch service providers from using Russian engines on rockets that launch NASA or commercial payloads. The amendment was sponsored by Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) …
The House Rules Committee did not approve for floor debate an amendment that would prohibit money from being spent on creating a Space Corps within the Air Force. The House is debating an appropriations measure that includes FY2018 funding for DOD and the Rules Committee decides what amendments may be offered. The Space Corps amendment, …
The Senate Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee approved $19.5 billion for NASA in FY2018 according to a committee press release. The figure was rounded, but the press release also said it is $437 million more than President Trump requested and $124 million less than FY2017. That would make $19.529 billion a more precise figure. The request …