Washington Updates

On May 13, the State Department and Commerce Department published their interim final export control rules on spacecraft and related components that will allow for the transfer of commercial communication satellites and some remote sensing satellites from the more restrictive U.S. Munitions List (USML) to the Commerce Control List (CCL). The new regulations will go…

On May 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 325-98. The bill provides policy guidance to the Department of Defense on strategic areas such as space and missile defense. The bill also authorizes funding to be appropriated for specific defense space programs. On…

On April 29, the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee marked up the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2014, H.R. 4412. The bill would authorize Fiscal Year 2014 appropriation levels for NASA at the $17.6 billion level agreed to in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, Public Law 113-76, which was signed into…

On April 30, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces marked up its section of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill provides policy guidance to the Department of Defense (DoD) on strategic areas such as space and missile defense. The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to mark up the…

In March, the Space Foundation issued a statement supporting the Administration’s FY15 budget proposal for NASA, calling the budget proposal a “balanced approach to sustaining key NASA programs and capabilities, while increasing emphasis on next generation capabilities — within a budget constrained environment.” “The president’s proposal of $17.46 billion in FY15 funding for NASA is very…

On March 5, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense held a hearing, “National Security Space Launch Programs.” The Department of Defense (DoD) has begun implementation of a new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) acquisition strategy to maintain reliability and stability in the industrial base, while reducing costs and introducing competition. The first phase of the…