Russia’s attempt to launch a cargo spacecraft on a Soyuz 2.1a rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) went awry this morning.  The Progress MS-08 spacecraft and its Soyuz 2.1a rocket are still on the launch pad.  Russia’s Roscosmos space state corporation said it will try again on February 13.  The cause is under investigation, but the incident bears resemblance to an October 12, 2017 scrub of Progress MS-07.[UPDATE: Progress MS-08 was successfully launched on February 13.]

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Here are our tidbits for February 8, 2018:  government shutdown imminent, but hopefully short lived; Musk’s Starman not headed to asteroid belt after all; Bill Gerstenmaier and Jeff Bezos elected to NAE.  Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.

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Here are our tidbits for February 7, 2018:  Congress getting closer to a budget deal; next Space Council meeting February 21 in Florida; Sierra Nevada gets go ahead for Dream Chaser cargo mission to ISS.  Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.

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He may be called Starman after David Bowie’s classic song, but Elon Musk’s spacesuited mannequin in a Tesla Roadster is off to the asteroid belt, not the stars.

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An exuberant Elon Musk marveled at the successful launch of his Falcon Heavy rocket during a post-launch press conference this evening.  The founder and CEO of SpaceX, which built and launched the rocket, and of Tesla, which supplied the payload, told reporters it showed that “crazy things come true.”  As breathtaking as the launch and the landing of two of three boosters was, the view from the camera on the orbiting cherry red Tesla Roadster stole the show.   Unfortunately, the camera batteries will last for only 12 hours.

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SpaceX succeeded in launching the Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time this afternoon.  The rocket lifted off at 3:45 pm ET from Kennedy Space Center, FL.  The three cores of the first stage worked as planned as did the second stage, placing the payload — a cherry red Tesla Roadster — into space.  The mission is not over yet, but so far it has proceeded as planned.

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SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said today that while he is usually stressed before a launch, he is “giddy and happy” as the first flight of his Falcon Heavy rocket is readied for tomorrow.  This is a test launch and for months he has been dampening expectations, but “we’ve done everything we could do to maximize the success of this mission” and “I feel at peace with that.”

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Here is our list of space policy events for February 5-9, 2018 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate will be in session Monday-Wednesday, but the schedule is unclear for the rest of the week.

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Here are our tidbits for February 2, 2018:  Trump heralds early U.S. space achievements at Republican retreat; Gen. Hyten’s vision for USSTRATCOM. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.

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NOAA will add another advanced weather satellite to its geostationary constellation one month from now.  GOES-S, the second of the “GOES-R” series, is scheduled for launch on March 1.  In a media teleconference today (February 1), NOAA officials explained the capabilities of this new generation of satellites and the possibility that the Air Force make want to use one of the older versions.

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