The U.S. Space Force released its Commercial Space Strategy this week, but the Chief of Space Operations cautioned it is “not a panacea.” It sets out priorities and shows how the Space Force’s relationship with industry is changing, but does not answer all the questions. DOD issued its own Commercial Space Integration Strategy last week. Officials say the two are aligned.
Congress gave Japanese Prime Minister Kishida a standing ovation today when he spoke about plans for a Japanese astronaut to land on the Moon as part of the U.S.-led Artemis program. Kishida and President Biden announced yesterday that a Japanese astronaut will be the first non-American on the lunar surface and Japan will provide a pressurized lunar rover.
Russia successfully launched its relatively new Angara 5 rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Siberia today. Development of the Angara series of rockets and the Vostochny launch site have suffered years of delays and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago all but ended its commercial space launch business. Still, the launch is a step forward for Russian space launch capabilities.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio just announced that two Japanese astronauts will join future American missions to the Moon and one will become the first non-American to land on the surface. They also signed an implementing agreement for Japan to provide a pressurized rover for astronauts to use on the Moon.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy today released a Space Sustainability Strategy that calls for the agency to develop a framework for space sustainability. What came out today was just the first step — a strategy for Earth orbit. Next will be cislunar space and more to come after that. NASA soon will post a job opening for a Director of Space Sustainability to lead the effort.
The last flight of a Delta rocket lifted off today from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, bringing to an end more than 60 years of service. The rocket evolved considerably over those decades and this version, Delta IV Heavy, for many years was the most powerful in the U.S. fleet. Carrying a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, Delta IV Heavy ends its service with a near-perfect record.
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, April 1-7, 2024, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of April 7-13, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Russia’s Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft returned two professional astronauts — a Russian and an American — and a spaceflight participant from Belarus to Earth today. The trio landed in Kazakhstan just after noon local time (early morning EDT). NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara completed a 6-month mission aboard the International Space Station while the other two were in space for just two weeks.
Ed Dwight will finally get to reach space on Blue Origin’s next flight of New Shepard. Like Wally Funk and the other “Mercury 13” women who thought they were in line to become NASA astronauts in the early 1960s, Dwight was the only African American in the training process back then. Like them, he was not selected as white males exclusively became astronauts until 1978. He will fly on NS-25, the first Blue Origin passenger flight in almost two years. The date was not announced.