SpaceX succeeded in catching its huge Super Heavy booster back at the launch pad for the second time today, but the Starship second stage was lost. After investigating what happened, they concluded a fire developed in the aft end of the vehicle resulting in a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly, or RUD. SpaceX asserts the debris fell within the prescribed hazard area in the Caribbean and is asking anyone who finds debris not to handle it and contact them or local authorities.

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Blue Origin successfully launched the New Glenn rocket for the first time this morning, but fell short on landing the reusable first stage on a barge in the Atlantic.  The company, owned by Jeff Bezos, already launches the New Shepard rocket carrying passengers and other payloads on short suborbital flights, but this was its first attempt at orbital flight. Named after John Glenn, the first U.S. astronaut to reach orbit, New Glenn will deliver payloads to Earth orbit and beyond, including Human Landing Systems to the Moon for NASA.

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Two lunar landers, one American and one Japanese, are on their way to the Moon this morning. The two are unrelated except for sharing a ride on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and are taking different routes to their lunar destinations. Blue Ghost Mission 1, built by the U.S. company Firefly, will land on March 2. The SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon lander/rover, built by Japan’s ispace, will take longer, arriving at the end of May or early June.

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Jared Isaacman’s expected nomination as NASA Administrator is winning both support and criticism from Republicans.  Two prominent Republicans involved in crafting the Contract with America that led to Republicans gaining control of the House in 1995 for the first time in decades praise him as a man with “the right stuff” to lead the agency at this critical juncture. But others complain about his contributions to Democratic candidates and that his companies embrace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, which they oppose. For his part, Isaacman is enthusiastic about taking on the role and ensuring America never settles for second place in space.

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Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is still on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch was scrubbed about 3:00 am ET this morning, two-thirds of the way through the three-hour launch window after a series of unexplained delays. The main goal for this first mission, humorously designated “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,”  is just to safely reach orbit, but that will have to wait. The company, owned by Jeff Bezos, has not announced when they will try again.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of January 12-18, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

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NASA will wait until the middle of next year to decide on the fastest, cheapest way to get the samples now being collected on Mars by the Perseverance rover back to Earth. Agency officials said today they will continue engineering studies of two options, one using an upgraded version of JPL’s sky crane and the other a commercial “heavy lander,” to determine which will get the samples here soonest at the lowest cost.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of January 5-12, 2025 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

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After an endorsement from President-elect Trump, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) won reelection as Speaker of the House today at the opening of the 119th Congress. The initial round of voting appeared to hand him defeat, but after a lengthy interval while the vote was held open, two opponents were convinced to change their minds. He won with 218 of the 219 Republicans voting for him.

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Although it does not officially end until tomorrow, January 3, 2025, at noon, the 118th Congress is essentially over.  Here is a look at how space-related legislation fared in the 118th and a look ahead to the 119th.

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