The European Space Agency announced today they are targeting June 15-July 31, 2024 for the first launch of Ariane 6 following a successful engine test last week. Europe is in a launch vehicle quandary right now with virtually no independent access to space after decades of relying on their own rockets. Ariane 6 is years late, but now months closer to first flight.
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee approved the Commercial Space Act today on a strictly party-line basis, but the top Republican and top Democrat on the committee agreed to work together to find common ground before the bill proceeds to a vote by the full House. Today’s action completed a markup that was sidetracked two weeks ago when the White House suddenly produced its own proposed “mission authorization” language just before the markup began.
NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan is one step closer to final approval today. A dual-quadcopter that will fly over Titan’s surface, Dragonfly successfully passed a milestone review that allows it to move into final design and fabrication. NASA delayed committing to actually proceeding with the mission because of budget uncertainty, however, and slipped the projected launch date another year to 2028.
Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com last week, November 20-26, 2023, 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 November 26-December 2, 2023 and any insight we can provide about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Steve Jurczyk, whose 32-year NASA career saw him rise to the very top of agency leadership, died on Thanksgiving Day from pancreatic cancer. He was 61.
Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket appeared to take another step forward today. ESA declared the full duration firing of the core stage engine a success. European officials have been waiting for the results of this test before announcing when this new version of the Ariane rocket will leave the launch pad for the first time. Europe is in the midst of a launch vehicle crisis, attempting to regain independent access to space.
Six members of California’s congressional delegation sent a letter to NASA Adminstrator Bill Nelson today urging him not to scale back Mars Sample Return funding right now. Saying they are “mystified” by the agency’s decision to pause the MSR program, revealed at a NASA advisory committee meeting last week, they asserted the decision violates Congress’s authority.
North Korea claimed that it successfully launched a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit on November 21. The United States condemned the launch and a statement from the Department of Defense referred to it as an “attempted space launch,” suggesting it did not achieve orbit, although by November 22 amateur satellite observers reported that two objects were being tracked by DOD. North Korea’s two prior satellite launch attempts this year failed.
As the International Space Station celebrates its 25th anniversary, the Director of NASA’s Commercial Space Division said today that the agency is working closely with partners to avoid a space station gap. If it does happen, though, the situation is “not irrecoverable” because NASA can use U.S. spacecraft that ferry crews to Earth orbit as mini-space stations until commercial successors are available.