Report from Washington, D.C.
Space Foundation Visits Orbital Sciences Corporation
In February, a team from the Space Foundation’s Washington, D.C., office visited Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Va., and toured the mission control centers, as well as the spacecraft manufacturing facilities. It is at this location that the company’s spacecraft are designed, built and tested, including civilian, commercial and national security spacecraft. The tour included a…
House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space Holds Hearing
In February, the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space held a hearing on “Necessary Updates to the Commercial Space Launch Act.” The Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA), first passed in 1984, and amended several times since then, gives authority to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to license commercial launches and indemnify launch providers…
Event Celebrates U.S. and Canadian Space Cooperation
Since 2010, the Space Foundation has held an annual international space cooperation event in the nation’s capitol. On Jan. 22, the Space Foundation celebrated United States and Canadian space cooperation at a reception at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Space Foundation and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the event recognized the…
Fiscal Year 2014 Federal Budget Update Report
On Jan. 17, President Obama signed the $1.012 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 omnibus spending bill into law. The omnibus funds the entire Federal government including NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Defense (DoD). NASA was appropriated an overall budget of $17.646 billion for FY 2014. This is an increase…
Space Foundation Comments on International Space Station Mission Extension
In January, Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham issued a statement regarding the planned extension of the International Space Station mission by four years until 2024. “The Space Foundation strongly supports the decision to extend the ISS mission to 2024,” said Pulham, “and congratulates NASA and the White House for stepping out smartly to…
Key Space Legislation Signed Into Law; Indemnification Needs Fix in January
The update from Washington, D.C., is by Space Foundation Government Affairs Associate Tommy Sanford Dec. 2 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Space Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act, H.R 3547. The bill would extend the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commercial launch indemnification authority for another year. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced a similar…
President Obama Signs National Space Transportation Policy
On Thursday Nov. 21, President Obama signed the new National Space Transportation Policy. Under the policy, NASA will continue to lead the expansion of a domestic commercial space industry for low-Earth orbit transportation, while developing a heavy lift launch capability to take humans further than they have ever explored. This was the product of an…
Committee Action Updates Report
The update from Washington, D.C., is by Space Foundation Government Affairs Associate Tommy Sanford Nov. 5: The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence approved S. 1681, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The legislation’s accompanying committee report, S. Rpt. 113-120, contains language that would require the Intelligence Community (IC) to review policies related…
U.S. Non-military Cybersecurity-Related Provisions Proposed by House and Senate Committees
The Space Foundation routinely tracks relevant NASA, NOAA and National Security Space authorization and appropriations bills. Now, with increasing attention to all-things-cyber, the Space Foundation is expanding its reporting to include similarly-styled documents with respect to cyberspace. There are many legislative proposals currently being considered in Congress regarding cybersecurity, and certainly more can be expected.…
House Science, Space, & Technology Subcommittee Update
On Sept. 20, the House Science, Space, & Technology Subcommittee on Space held a hearing on “NASA Infrastructure: Enabling Discovery and Ensuring Capability.” The hearing was called to review the findings of NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) February 2013 report on NASA’s aging infrastructure and antiquated facilities. Paul Martin, inspector general for NASA, testified…