A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched DOD’s X-37B spaceplane into orbit this evening. Two reusable Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicles exist and this is the seventh flight for the program. Little is known about what these super-secret missions do while they are in space other than demonstrating very long flight durations. Each flight has broken the previous record, which currently stands at 908 days. X-37B looks like a small Space Shuttle, but does not carry people like NASA’s Space Shuttle did in the past.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks plus a day and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions.

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Today’s third meeting of the Biden-Harris National Space Council was quick, lasting just over an hour. International partnerships were one focus of the gathering and the highlight was the opening speech by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a member of the Artemis II crew. The White House’s proposals for regulating novel space activities — mission authorization — and export control reform were other key issues.

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Vice President Kamala Harris will lead a meeting of the National Space Council this afternoon that includes representatives of all 33 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords. Among other things, she will announce that an international astronaut will land on the Moon alongside American astronauts by the end of the decade. She also will release a policy framework on mission authorization as a companion to proposed legislation sent to Congress last month.

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The Senate tonight approved two critical national security space nominations after months of delay while Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) blocked military promotions. Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting and Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein each were promoted to General. Whiting will be the new commander of U.S. Space Command. Guetlein will be Vice Chief of Space Operations.  The Senate also passed a short extension to the FAA’s “learning period” for commercial human spaceflight as it gets ready to adjourn for the year.

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Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket is back in business today, more than 15 months after a failure grounded all launches. The company markets New Shepard both to take passengers and experiments into space for a few minutes of weightlessness. Only experiments, not people, were aboard the failed flight in September 2022. The same was true today, but they hope to resume passenger flights soon.

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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com last week, December 11-17, 2023, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next two weeks, December 17-31, 2023, and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate will be in session at least part of the week of December 18. Otherwise both chambers are scheduled to meet only in pro forma sessions during this period.

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U.S. Space Command reached Full Operational Capability (FOC) today, almost four-and-a-half years after it was reestablished by then-President Trump. Still undecided, however, is where USSPACECOM’s permanent home will be located. The ongoing battle between Colorado and Alabama continues in the just-passed FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

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The Artemis II crew made an unannounced visit to the White House today, meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The President’s and Vice President’s schedules released last night made no mention of the impending meeting of the country’s two top elected officials with the four people who will be the first to circle the Moon since the Apollo era. [This article was updated after NASA released more information on December 19.]

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