U.S. Congress
Military space needs independent voice, says HASC Chairman Thornberry
Congress this month will decide whether there should be a "space corps" separate from the Air Force.
Buzz Aldrin and Greg Autry: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to run NASA
Finding another James Webb to run NASA was no easy task. President Trump considered several excellent candidates, some of whom we personally admire, but in the spirit of Webb’s leadership, U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine is the president’s nominee for NASA administrator.
Space Corps proposal becoming flashpoint in DoD budget negotiations
Rep. Mike Rogers says Air Force "better shape up or they’ll figure out who is in charge here," while Gen. David Goldfein says "now’s not the time to build seems and segregate and separate."
House panel takes first step towards military “Space Corps”
If made law, the move would require setting up a Space Corps organization by Jan. 1, 2019.
New administration, Congress present opportunities for National System for Geospatial Intelligence
After years of relatively flat budgets, the Republican-controlled Congress and Trump administration might support increased spending for federal defense, intelligence and civil agency programs focused on geospatial intelligence, said Robert Cardillo, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Air Force reorg too timid for House milspace leaders
Following the U.S. Air Force announcement that the service will be creating a new three-star staff position focused on space, two key lawmakers said it doesn’t address the core problems.
For Rep. Rogers, fighting through a war in space starts with fixing acquisition
The Alabama Republican has vowed to make “major reform” of the national security space sector a centerpiece of this year’s defense authorization bill.
McCain’s committee halves HASC’s RD-180 allowance
The Senate Armed Services Committee marked up its version of a defense authorization bill with language that lowers the limit on RD-180 engines to 9, instead of the 18 in the House bill.
Competing amendments relax restrictions on Air Force rocket funding
Key members of the House Armed Services Committee are pushing competing amendments that would do the same thing: let the Air Force spend a bit more on projects not directly related to building a replacement for the Russian RD-180 engine.
Op-ed | National Security in Space: Cleaning up a Mess
Is there no other way to make our point, while preserving access to Russian RD-180 engines?
Full Text | McCain Blasts Appropriators for Lifting RD-180 Ban
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took to the Senate floor Dec. 16 to blast the Senate Appropriations Committee for eliminating restrictions Congress imposed last year on the Pentagon's use of Russian-built RD-180 rocket engines.
Congress Defends Commercial Space Bill’s Resource Rights Provisions
With the biggest commercial space bill in more than a decade now signed into law, members of Congress and their staffs are now turning their attention to reports required by the new law as well as other legislation.
GOES-13 Instrument Failure Punctuates Lawmakers’ Concerns About NOAA Transparency
House lawmakers scolded NOAA’s top satellite official here during a Dec. 10 hearing about a lack of transparency in the civilian agency’s major geostationary weather satellite program, which recently fell six months behind schedule on launching its next spacecraft.
Commercial Launch Sector Gets What It Needs
The U.S. Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which was signed into law by President Obama Nov. 25, is a victory for one industry sector that only recently returned to U.S. territory and another, fledgling sector that finally appears on the verge of becoming a reality.
New Law Unlikely To Settle Debate on Space Resource Rights
Language in a new commercial space law that grants companies rights to resources they extract from asteroids and other solar system bodies provides them with some certainty, but they acknowledge that the law is likely not the last word on the issue.
McCain Urges Appropriators To Uphold RD-180 Ban
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has asked the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), to reject the idea of inserting a provision into a must-pass federal spending bill that would give the U.S. military access to a controversial Russian rocket engine until an alternative becomes available.
