Washington Updates

The Coalition for Security and Competitiveness last month released its recommendations for modernizing U.S. export controls. The Space Foundation is among the 14 organizations participating in the effort to improve United States’ technological competitiveness by adopting new policies to govern U.S. export controls and new administrative regulations and procedures to streamline export licensing and compliance requirements.…

A report released Jan. 22 by the National Academy of Sciences says that the $4 million the U.S. spends each year to identify potentially dangerous asteroids is not enough to satisfy the 2005 Congressional mandate that 90 percent of nearby asteroids 460 feet (140 meters) across or larger be identified by 2020. Defending the Earth: Near-Earth…

The Space Foundation, in partnership with the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA), held the last Space Power Lecture Breakfast of 2009 on Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C. Featured speaker Norm Augustine, chairman of the Future of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee and former Lockheed Martin chairman and chief executive officer, talked about the challenges facing…

At a Dec. 2 hearing convened by the Aviation Subcommittee of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the House of Representatives tackled the issue of safety in space transportation. Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL), chairman of the subcommittee, made it clear in his opening remarks that Congress needed an update on the rapidly growing industry. Members…

The House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics focused their attention on safety in human space flight systems, considering both NASA’s Constellation Program architecture and potential commercial crew services to and from the International Space Station, during a Dec. 2 hearing. Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), a long time proponent of NASA…

On Dec. 8, the Space Foundation and the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) held a Space Power Lecture breakfast (pictured) featuring Norman Augustine, retired Lockheed Martin chairman and chief executive officer and head of the Future of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee. Augustine addressed the challenges that lie ahead for the United States as a space power, including…

The following is an edited excerpt from the Space Foundation’s The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity. Often, space-based capabilities are combined to create new capabilities, many of which are changing our lives here on solid ground. For example, “geoinformatics” converges position, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems with remote sensing and position…

At the beginning of November, NASA held a televised award ceremony on Capitol Hill for the two winners of the X Prize Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. NASA administrator Charles Bolden awarded $1.65 million in prize money to Masten Space Systems and Armadillo Aerospace for their successful simulations of landing a spacecraft on the moon…

Marty Hauser, Space Foundation vice president for Washington operations, research and analysis (pictured), represented the organization at a Congressional hearing Nov. 19, hosted by the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. Hauser provided members of Congress with insight into the growing trend of international space capabilities, the important impact…

On Nov. 18, the Space Foundation hosted a discussion and briefing for congressional staff on its Solutions from Space white paper, Space Applications for International Development. The paper recommends that governments in developing nations consider investing in affordable ground technology to provide satellite communication access in rural areas, particularly for clinics, schools, and other community centers.…