Report from Washington, D.C.
Biweekly Washington, D.C. Updates for the Week Ending September 16, 2022
This Week in Washington The National Space Council convened for a second time under Vice President Harris’s leadership, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen announced his resignation from NASA, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a nomination hearing for Lt Gen Chance Saltzman, and Senators Hickenlooper and Lummis introduced the ORBITS Act. United States Space Policy Updates The…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Updates for the Week Ending September 2, 2022
This week in Washington: The House and Senate are in August recess. The Artemis 1 launch slipped to Saturday, September 3rd. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) extended SpaceX’s commercial crew mission contract by $1.6 billion and 5 launches. Boeing, Raytheon, and Ursa Major were awarded government contracts for missile and engine development. United…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Updates for the Week Ending August 19, 2022
This week in Washington: The House and Senate are in summer recess, though the House came back in for a quick vote on CHIPS. President Biden signed the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act into law earlier this week. Vice President Harris announced the next National Space Council meeting in September with a focus on…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Updates for the Week Ending August 5, 2022
This week in Washington: President Biden nominated Lieutenant General Chance Saltzman to succeed General Jay Raymond as the head of Space Force, the NASA Authorization Bill was passed for the first time in five years as a part of the CHIPS and Science Act and will head to the President’s desk, the Senate Appropriations Committee…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Update for the Week Ending July 22, 2022
This week in Washington: The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act passed the House, the Senate Armed Services Committee released its version of the NDAA requesting an additional $45 billion in defense spending, NASA and Roscosmos reached an agreement exchanging seats on Crew Dragon and Soyuz launches, and the NASA Authorization Act was included in the…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Update for the Week Ending June 24, 2022
This week in Washington: The House Armed Services Committee passed its FY23 National Defense Authorization Act markup, which will now advance to the House floor, the Federal Aviation Administration ruled to allow SpaceX launches to proceed despite environmental concerns, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Space Launch System rocket passed its final wet dress…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Update for the Week Ending June 10, 2022
This week in Washington: National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markups called for Pentagon reports on hypersonic missile threats, NASA’s Office of the Inspector General’s released its audit on the Mobile Launcher 2 Contract, the Space Development Agency (SDA) awarded its first Tranche-1 O&I contract, and France signed the Artemis Accords. United States Space Policy Updates…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Update for the Week Ending May 27, 2022
This week in Washington: The Department of Defense’s Program Integration Council (PIC) successfully coordinated five-year planning documents for space acquisition among interagency members, a Congressional conference committee met to start reconciling competitiveness bills, including language in USICA (United States Innovation and Competition Act) authorizing NASA to select a second company for the Human Landing System…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C., Update for the Week Ending May 13, 2022
This week in Washington: Senator Bernie Sanders’ effort to remove a $10 billion provision for a second Human Landing System was defeated on the Senate floor, Frank Calvelli was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, and a Department of Defense Inspector General released a report finding US Space…
Read MoreBiweekly Washington, D.C. Update for the Week Ending April 29, 2022
This week in Washington: Vice President Harris declared a commitment to end ASAT tests; Travis Langster was announced as DoD’s Principal Director of Space Policy; Richard DalBello was tapped to lead NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce; and NASA awarded $278.5 million in contracts for near-Earth space communication development. US Space Policy Updates Travis Langster was…
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