Mark Sirangelo is joining the University of Colorado Boulder as an “entrepreneur in residence.” Sirangelo recently left Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) where he headed its Space Systems Division and the development of the Dream Chaser spaceplane.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next FOUR weeks, August 5-31, 2018, and any insight we can offer about them. The House is in recess throughout this period. The Senate is in recess until August 15. (Except for pro forma sessions, of course.)
Today, NASA introduced nine astronauts who will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on the first flights of the Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew systems. Eight are members of the NASA astronaut corps while the ninth, Chris Ferguson (a former NASA astronaut), works for Boeing. NASA said additional crew members will be assigned later by its ISS partners.
Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for August 2, 2018: Danny Herman passes away; Chris Shank is back at the Pentagon; Jim Maser is new SVP for space at Aerojet Rocketdyne. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
On the heels of Boeing’s announcement yesterday of delays in the test flights for its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle, today NASA posted a new schedule both for Boeing and SpaceX. Boeing’s dates for uncrewed and crewed test flights have slipped more than SpaceX’s, but the upshot is that it will be a race to see whether either system is operational before NASA loses access to Russian Soyuz spacecraft at the end of 2019. Right now, Soyuz is the only way to get any astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved the Space Frontier Act, S. 3277, this morning on a voice vote with no debate. Three amendments were adopted: a Cruz amendment in the nature of a substitute; an Inhofe amendment regarding spaceports; and a Peters amendment on space debris. The next step will be a vote by the full Senate.
Boeing announced today that the uncrewed test flight of its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle will slip to the end of 2018 or early 2019, and the crewed test flight will not take place until mid-2019. Both had been scheduled to take place this year.
Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for July 31, 2018: Space Corps report delayed; Trump picks Droegemeier for OSTP Director; space makes the cut as top R&D priority for FY2020. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
A report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) today expresses skepticism about NASA’s timetable for transitioning to an era of commercial space stations. The Trump Administration wants to end government support of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025 and rely on the commercial sector instead.
Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for July 30, 2018: Jody Singer is new acting director of MSFC; ESA DG Woerner gets new two-year term; NOAA still troubleshooting GOES-17; GAO gives thumbs up to DOD hosted payloads. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.