International Affairs
Biweekly Washington D.C. Updates for the Week Ending on May 2, 2025
Written by: Molly Prochaska
United States Space Policy Updates
- The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (SCST) held a nomination hearing for Paul Dabbar, President Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce (SCST, May 1)
- The Senate Armed Service Committee (SASC) held a nomination hearing for Matthew Lohmeier to be Undersecretary of Air Force (SASC, May 1)
- The SCST has advanced Jared Isaacman’s nomination to be NASA Administrator with a vote of 19-9. (SpaceNews April 30)
- The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (HSST) passed six bipartisan bills at a full committee markup. (HSST, April 29) Read Space Foundation’s summary of the markup here.
- House and Senate Armed Services Committees proposed legislation that would increase Pentagon spending by $150 billion, with $25 billion earmarked for a new missile defense initiative known as Golden Dome. (SpaceNews, April 27)
- NASA has released a Request for Information (RFI) for astronaut crew rescue services for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. (SAM.gov, April 23)
International Space Policy Updates
- The New Zealand Air Force intends to establish a space squadron. (Reuters, April 30)
- China is evaluating the potential of establishing its first overseas launch site in Malaysia. (SpaceNews, April 28)
- The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that two U.S. institutions, Brown University and Stony Brook University, have been selected to borrow lunar samples collected from its Chang’e-5 mission. (SpaceNews, April 26)
- The CNSA announced the selection of cooperation projects for the Chang’e-8 mission, including a joint-project involving a private company for the first time. (SpaceNews, April 25)
- U.S. Space Force’s Space Operations Command’s Mission Delta 2 hosted defense leaders from Angola, Kenya, and Nigeria to discuss Space Situational Awareness and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) data sharing opportunities. (SAF/IA, April 22)
- The inauguration of the African Space Agency (AfSA) was held on April 20 at its headquarters in Cairo. (African Space Agency, April 17
Space Industry Updates
- AeroVironment Inc. announced its acquisition of BlueHalo, forming AV. AV will operate in two business segments, Autonomous Systems and Space, Cyber, and Directed Energy. (AeroVironment, May 1)
- Lockheed Martin completed the assembly and testing of NASA’s Orion Artemis II spacecraft, transferring possession to NASA. (Lockheed Martin, May 1)
- True Anomaly announced the closure of its Series C financing, raising $260 million in additional funding for growth, vertical integration, facility expansion, product development and implementation. (True Anomaly, April 30)
- Axiom Space announced the appointment of Tejpaul Bautia as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Former CEO Dr. Kam Ghaffarian will continue as Executive Chairman of Axiom Space. (Axiom Space, April 25)
- The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) confirmed L3Harris’ Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellite prototype demonstrated its ability to track hypersonic missiles from space. (SpaceNews, April 25)
- Evan Scott has been named Chief Financial Officer of Lockheed Martin. (Lockheed Martin, April 17)
Reading Corner
CSIS | Space Threat Assessment 2025
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has released its 2025 Space Threat Assessment. Writers note that rather than focusing on novel challenges, this year’s edition focuses on the continuation of trends such as widespread jamming and spoofing of GPS signals in and around conflict zones and adversaries continuing to develop advanced maneuvering capabilities in low earth and geostationary orbits.