President Trump’s remarks about the space program yesterday were a prelude to a briefing by Vice President Mike Pence on activities of the National Space Council, which Pence chairs. It included updates on NASA’s exploration program and on regulatory reform, the latter of which was the focus of the Council’s meeting last month.
During a Cabinet meeting today President Trump displayed models of rockets and enthused about space activities at NASA and in the private sector, especially those of SpaceX’s Elon Musk. He praised both, but was particularly complimentary about the “rich guys” who “love rockets,” though he speculated they would become “a little less rich probably.”
Here are our tidbits for March 7, 2018: DOD policy chief puts FY2019 DOD space budget request at $12.5 billion; join William Shatner and send your name to the Sun! Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Members of the House subcommittee that oversees NASA continued their advocacy for sending humans to Mars in 2033 as the Trump Administration interjects a return to the lunar surface in NASA’s future exploration plans. Several also expressed concern about the proposal to abolish NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and combine it with another part of the agency that focuses on development and operations. Former NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, now the Dean of Engineering at the University of Colorado-Boulder, submitted a statement for the record urging Congress to say no to the latter proposal.
Here are our tidbits for March 6, 2018: Chinese space station Tiangong-1 reentry window narrows; DOD sends Congress interim space organization report; Senators introduce US-Israel space cooperation bill. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Here are our tidbits for March 5, 2018: Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran to retire; NASA seeks feedback on draft deep space interoperability standards; Mike French joins Bryce Space and Technology. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Bill Gerstenmaier, the head of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, said today that the United States is the “partner of choice” for countries wanting to engage in international space cooperation, but that leadership is “ours to lose” if too many changes in direction drive partners away.
Here are our tidbits for March 4, 2018: Reps. Rogers and Cooper still fighting for Space Corps; JAXA-ESA and Russia-China space cooperation agreements signed at ISEF-2. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
Here is our list of space policy events for the week of March 4-10, 2018 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Here are our tidbits for March 2, 2018: China’s 2018 launch plans; NASA Acting Chief Scientist Gale Allen is retiring; former NASA AA for Aeronautics Lisa Porter to be Deputy USD/R&E. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.