Other « Space Politics

Are spaceships like farm subsidies?

By Jeff Foust on 2011 April 27 at 6:45 am ET

In a related story to the previous post about Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) op-ed on human spaceflight, the Daily Caller reports on similar comments made by George LeMieux, the Florida Republican planning to run for the Senate against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. (LeMieux served in the Senate in 2009 and 2010, filling out the remainder […]

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 […]

Upcoming hearings

By Jeff Foust on 2011 March 25 at 6:06 am ET

While Congress has been in recess this week, it will be back in business next week, with a busy schedule of hearings on tap:

At 10am on Wednesday, March 30, the space subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee will hold a hearing titled “A Review of NASAâ€™s Exploration Program in Transition: Issues […]

The United States, Brazil, and space cooperation

By Jeff Foust on 2011 March 20 at 3:26 pm ET

Lost in yesterday’s developments in Libya was the release of a joint statement by US President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during President Obama’s visit to Brazil. The lengthy statement covered a wide range of topics, including, interestingly, three paragraphs devoted to space policy:

President Rousseff welcomed the emphasis the U.S. National […]

The fierce urgency of now for American space industry

By Jeff Foust on 2011 March 9 at 7:18 am ET

The president of Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne had a blunt warning this week for policymakers: get a plan in place for NASA’s future now or industry will suffer the consequences.

“NASA has a very short period of time to work with Congress and come up with a unified position and get their act together, and […]

Briefs: another CR, NASA budget hearings, India’s budget

By Jeff Foust on 2011 March 1 at 6:11 am ET

The House is expected to take up today a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government operating for two more weeks and thus avoiding a government shutdown at the end of the week. The House CR would include $4 billion in cuts, although none of them would appear to directly affect NASA or other […]

FAA 2012 budget proposal includes space access prize

By Jeff Foust on 2011 February 28 at 11:23 am ET

Speaking this morning at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Orlando, George Nield, the FAA associate administrator for commercial space transportation, announced that the FAA’s 2012 budget request includes $5 million for a space access prize. “I’m a big proponent of the value of prizes to stimulate innovation, so I’m pleased to announce that in […]

NOAA and DOD highlights

By Jeff Foust on 2011 February 15 at 7:12 am ET

The FY2012 budget proposal includes $1 billion for the Joint Polar Satellite System, the NOAA/NASA successor to the NPOESS satellite program. The funding, if allocated, would be used to “undertake continued development of instrument, spacecraft, and ground segment development to meet launch readiness dates,” the fact sheet summarizing the budget request states. As Space News […]

Other, mixed reactions to the budget

By Jeff Foust on 2011 February 15 at 6:05 am ET

Like some members of Congress, a handful of organizations have spoken out about the NASA budget request, although their reactions are more varied. Aerospace Industries Association president and CEO Marion Blakey said she was “disappointed” by the NASA budget because it fell short of previous projections for NASA spending, such as the nearly $19.5 billion […]

Conservatives for commercial space

By Jeff Foust on 2011 February 9 at 6:06 am ET

A group of conservatives calling on the government to turn over more of its activities to the private sector would seem hardly surprising or newsworthy. However, in the often distorted world of space policy of the last year, such a declaration is perceived at the very least as necessary.

“It’s been a funny year in […]

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