Lobbying « Space Politics

Another push for Pu-238 funding

By Jeff Foust on 2011 June 15 at 7:47 am ET

Plutonium 238 (Pu-238), the radioactive isotope used in the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), is essential to a number of spacecraft missions, particularly those bound for the outer solar system. However, getting the relatively modest funding (no more than a few tens of millions of dollars a year) needed to restart Pu-238 production in the US […]

Is Huntsville’s “best friend” for NASA a freshman Democrat?

By Jeff Foust on 2011 June 14 at 7:33 am ET

On Friday Huntsville’s “Second to None” task force, a group of local officials who lobby on space and defense issues, met with a member of Congress. Not the area’s own representative, Mo Brooks (R-AL), but with Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) from Birmingham. And afterwards local officials declared her their newest ally in supporting NASA, and […]

Briefs: strange space bedfellows, human spaceflight poll, Mars mission budget squeeze

By Jeff Foust on 2011 June 8 at 8:09 am ET

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a Tea Party group saying it’s in agreement with a pair of Democratic senators. Florida-based TEA Party in Space (TPIS), part of the larger Tea Party Patriots coalition, announced Monday that it has “publicly praised” a letter from Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to NASA […]

Commercial space advocates sound the alert

By Jeff Foust on 2011 May 18 at 6:50 am ET

Advocacy groups, concerned about the effect of potential budget cuts in fiscal year 2012 on NASA’s commercial crew and space technology programs, are rallying support for those programs on Capitol Hill this week. Late yesterday the Space Access Society (SAS) sent out an alert about these programs, asking people to contact their representatives by Friday […]

New organization seeks to change the space mindset in Texas

By Jeff Foust on 2011 April 9 at 10:49 am ET

A new organization announced Friday seeks to convince Texas politicians of the benefits of commercial space–and, in the process, become a “tipping point” for a broader national change in perspectives on government versus commercial spaceflight.

Speaking at the Space Access ’11 conference in Phoenix on Friday, longtime space advocate announced the formation of an organization […]

Shuttle diplomacy

By Jeff Foust on 2011 April 5 at 5:52 pm ET

In a week NASA administrator Charles Bolden is scheduled to announce which locations will receive the shuttle orbiters Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour when the fleet is retired later this year. As you might expect, those sites vying for the orbiters are making one last push to convince NASA that they’re the best site to host […]

American students speak; European policy developments

By Jeff Foust on 2011 April 1 at 7:20 am ET

On Thursday the organization Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) released a letter to the White House and Congress signed by 280 of its members from universities across the US, voicing its opinion on space policy. The students offer various recommendations in the letter, most of which are related to supporting commercial […]

Briefly: heavy-lift debate update, silly season, Gordon’s new job

By Jeff Foust on 2011 March 31 at 12:57 pm ET

Space News has some updates on the latest perspectives on heavy-lift development. In one, administration officials are “pushing back” on development of the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket included in last year’s authorization act. OSTP director John Holdren told Space News said that delays in getting a final FY11 budget mean that it would […]

Space leaders call for commercial crew funding

By Jeff Foust on 2011 March 2 at 7:19 am ET

In a letter released Tuesday, a group of 56 “space leaders”, ranging from former astronauts and NASA officials to industry executives, called on Congress to fully fund NASA’s commercial crew development program, claiming it is “critical to the health of the Nation’s human spaceflight efforts.” Funding for that program is 2011 is still pending a […]

Upcoming lobbying efforts

By Jeff Foust on 2011 February 16 at 6:47 am ET

I noted here earlier this month the March Storm citizens’ lobbying blitz on Capitol Hill next month. A couple of similar efforts are also planned for the coming weeks. The National Space Society is planning its annual “Legislative Blitz” for February 27 through March 1. Specifics of the effort aren’t clear beyond urging Congress “to […]

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