Washington Updates

The Space Foundation is among 14 organizations signing a July 13 letter to President Barack Obama encouraging U.S. export control modernization to improve the United States’ technological competitiveness. The Coalition for Security and Competitiveness, which was formed in 2007 to draw attention to the need for fundamental export control modernization, asked the president to “adopt…

On July 28, the Space Foundation, in partnership with the National Defense Industrial Association, held the second Space Power Lecture Series breakfast of the year, with Dr. Peter Wegner, director of the Operationally Responsive Space Office, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., as the featured speaker. Dr. Wegner spoke to an audience of Congressional members and…

On July 15, Major General Charles Bolden, USMC (Ret.) was confirmed as the 12th NASA Administrator and Lori Garver was confirmed as NASA Deputy Administrator. Both began their new positions on July 17. “Charlie Bolden is an American hero who brings deep NASA knowledge and experience, and unsurpassed leadership skills to the key position of…

Dr. Peter Wegner, director of the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., addressed an audience of 62 government and industry leaders and Congressional members and their staffs at a Space Power Lecture Breakfast July 28 in Washington, D.C. The breakfast was jointly sponsored by the Space Foundation and the National Defense…

Space Foundation Research Analyst Micah Walter-Range participated as a panelist in the A Day Without Space: Economic Security Ramifications conference hosted by the George Marshall Institute and the Space Enterprise Council of TechAmerica on July 28 in Washington, D.C. Dr. Scott Pace¸ director of the Space Policy Institute and professor of practice in International Affairs…

Jim Maser, president of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), speaking last month at a Space Foundation Correspondents Group breakfast in Washington, D.C., said that the U.S. needs a long-term vision for space to allow industry to better align human resources and research and development dollars with government plans. He said the unstable and discontinuous nature…

On June 24, the Space Foundation, in partnership with the Secure World Foundation, hosted a discussion and briefing on space weapons for congressional staff. See related story in this issue of Space Watch. On June 17, the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, chartered to examine NASA’s human spaceflight plans and programs, held…

Participants at this fall’s 2nd Global Space Development Summit, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in partnership with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Space Foundation and the Chinese Society for Astronautics, will examine critical developments on issues of space exploration and Earth observations. Scheduled for Nov. 12-13 in Washington,…

The Space Foundation and the Secure World Foundation co-hosted a standing-room-only policy briefing on space weapons June 24 in Washington, D.C. The audience comprised primarily congressional staff, representing the House and the Senate at both an office and a committee level. Other attendees included representatives from a number of major aerospace companies. Space Foundation Vice…

On May 6, the Space Foundation hosted a Space Foundation Correspondents Group breakfast with Gen. C. Robert Kehler, USAF, commander, Air Force Space Command. Speaking with about a dozen reporters, Gen. Kehler said that the United States is working to update its Cold War-era space situational awareness (SSA) system, a need made more urgent by…