Lobbying « Space Politics

How not to do space advocacy

By Jeff Foust on 2008 January 29 at 7:21 pm ET

Late this afternoon I got the following email:

Dear Space Advocate,

This week, the presidential candidates will be at the podium again discussing the significant topics of our nation, and YOU have a chance to ask about whatâ€™s important. As a supporter of space, this is your opportunity to get questions about Space Exploration […]

ProSpace agenda, and activism issues

By Jeff Foust on 2008 January 18 at 7:21 am ET

ProSpace has released its agenda for its March Storm lobbying blitz in early March, with two major themes: “Developing Space Resources” and “Develop Commercial Space Infrastructure”. The former calls for support of space-based solar power and NEO detection and risk mitigation efforts. The latter calls for expanded funding for COTS and the passage of the […]

Mars Society: bill provision could “cripple” Vision

By Jeff Foust on 2008 January 4 at 6:42 am ET

As you might expect, the Mars Society is disappointed that the final FY08 appropriations bill includes a provision that prohibits NASA from spending any money on work “related exclusively to the human exploration of Mars.” In a press release issued this week, the organization “expressed its disappointment” with both that language and with the overall […]

SEA plans February budget blitz

By Jeff Foust on 2007 December 15 at 4:32 pm ET

The Space Exploration Alliance (SEA) is planning an annual “legislative blitz” in February, bringing together to people to meet Congressional staffers on space policy issues. The February 10-12 event will be focused on the FY2009 budget proposal, which will have been released about a week earlier. “Participants will be the first members of the space […]

On Clinton space policy and saving Mars

By Jeff Foust on 2007 November 12 at 7:21 am ET

A couple of space policy pieces in today’s issue of The Space Review:

Chris Carberry explains why it’s so critical for space advocates to ask Congress to strike the language in the House version of the NASA budget that prohibits funding of human Mars exploration projects. His concern: that if the language was left in […]

The NSS joins the “Save Mars” bandwagon

By Jeff Foust on 2007 November 7 at 7:29 am ET

Since this summer the Mars Society has battled language in the House version of the appropriations bill that prohibits NASA from spending money on projects exclusively intended for human Mars exploration. Now, as conferees prepare to work out differences between the House bill and its Senate version (which lacks the offending provision), the NSS is […]

From FAA to AIA

By Jeff Foust on 2007 August 22 at 9:25 pm ET

The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) announced yesterday that outgoing FAA administrator Marion Blakey will become the president and CEO of the AIA in November, two months after Blakey leaves the FAA. The AIA announced earlier this year that its current president and CEO, John W. Douglass, would retire at the end of the year; he […]

Groups still pushing for big NASA budget increase

By Jeff Foust on 2007 June 29 at 8:07 am ET

Even though House and Senate appropriators are moving ahead with bills that provide modest funding increases for NASA, some organizations are still pressing Congress for a much larger budget increase. Yesterday a group of organizations led by the AIAA formally asked Congress to increase NASA’s budget by $1.4 billion, about five to ten times the […]

Mars Society continues its counterattack

By Jeff Foust on 2007 June 28 at 12:41 pm ET

As you may recall, last week The Mars Society went to battle stations in response to a provision in a House appropriations bill that would prevent NASA from spending any money on programs directly associated with the human exploration of Mars. In a less hyperbolic followup this week, the organization reports that its members have […]

“Mars is under attack!”

By Jeff Foust on 2007 June 21 at 10:04 pm ET

They’re manning the battlestations at the Mars Society, which issued a statement with that title to protest the inclusion of language in the House appropriations bill that would prohibit any spending on human exploration of Mars. “THIS ANTI-MARS LANGUAGE MUST BE REMOVED!” the society argues (emphasis in original.) “Otherwise, the program may turn into [a] […]

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