Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for May 28, 2018: astronaut and artist Alan Bean dies; FY2019 NDAA advances in House and Senate; Chinese lunar smallsat apparently fails. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has announced that he will create a Space Policy Advancing Commercial Enterprise (SPACE) Administration that will operate under his direct supervision. It will coordinate the Department’s engagement in commercial space activities and each bureau within the Department with space responsibilities must designate a liaison to the new Administration.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks, May 27-June 8, 2018. The House and Senate are in recess this coming week. The Senate returns to work for legislative business on June 4; the House on June 5.
President Trump signed Space Policy Directive-2 (SPD-2) today. Its focus is reforming commercial space regulations and creating a “one-stop shop” for the commercial space sector at the Department of Commerce. The White House released the text of SPD-2 this afternoon.
NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Director Bob Cabana hopes to have the second Mobile Launcher (ML) for the Space Launch System (SLS) under contract in the next 10 months and ready to support SLS launches 5 years from now. He also is excited about the first commercial crew test flights that are scheduled to take place this year.
President Trump signed Space Policy Directive-2 (SPD-2) today with Vice President Mike Pence at his side. SPD-2 implements recommendations made by the White House National Space Council at its February 2018 meeting. Pence chairs the Space Council. The Directive is focused on reforming commercial space regulations and creating a “one-stop shop” for the commercial space sector at the Department of Commerce.
Here are SpacePolicyOnline.com’s tidbits for May 23, 2018: House appropriators clear funding bill for FAA space office; U.S. Postal Service issues Sally Ride stamp. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
At a Senate budget hearing today, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine assured Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) that he now agrees that climate change is happening and humans are the primary cause. Schatz opposed Bridenstine’s confirmation as NASA Administrator in part because of their disagreement on this issue, but today he praised Bridenstine for the evolution of his views and commitment to ensure the integrity of NASA’s climate science research.
NOAA revealed today that the premier instrument on its new GOES-17 geostationary weather satellite is not working properly. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) has 16 channels to observe the Earth in different wavelengths. Thirteen are in the infrared (IR) and near-infrared (near-IR) bands and need to be cooled to do their job, but something is wrong with the mechanical cooling system. NOAA and other experts are trying to determine the root cause and how to remedy it.
The White House is objecting to the House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC’s) call for a U.S. Space Command to be created as a subunit of U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The provision is part of the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) approved by HASC on May 9. The House began consideration of the bill, H.R. 5515, today (Tuesday). The White House’s Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) says the provision is premature.