Washington Updates

The Space Foundation office in Washington, D.C., can be reached at new numbers:New main number: 202.618.3060FAX:  202.618.3079Vice President – Washington Office Brendan Curry heads the five-person D.C.-based team, which is located at 1655 N. Fort Meyer Dr., Ste. 910, Arlington, Va. 22207.See more about the Space Foundation Washington, D.C., office here. This article is part of Space Watch:…

During August, activities in Washington, D.C., focused heavily on space issues commercial. Here are some highlights: NGA Contracts Awarded On Aug. 6, the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) awarded new contracts potentially worth a combined $7.3 billion over the next decade to DigitalGlobe and GeoEye under the EnhancedView program. EnhancedView follows up on previous NGA…

NASA’s Exploration of Near-Earth Objects (NEO) Objectives Workshop, held Aug. 10 in Washington, D.C., was designed to accomplish several objectives: increase the collective understanding of NEOs; solidify what the science community already knows about NEOs; and capture new ideas for future robotic and human missions to NEOs. Several key themes imaged among the many presentations…

The Space Foundation is demonstrating how astronauts conduct experiments on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Oct. 23-24 at the inaugural USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. Using gloveboxes similar to the ones used in space to prevent experiments from floating away and to keep scientists and astronauts safe, the Space Foundation will…

The Obama administration has announced changes to rules governing the export of sensitive military and other technologies, which will streamline export processes and free up U.S. space companies to compete more effectively in the global marketplace. The changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) come after a year-long review by departments of State,…

During July, Congress was focused heavily on the future of the nation’s space policy as space authorization and space appropriation bills came to vote. Authorization bills detail how the various committees believe funds should be spent and generally play a major role in shaping the final allotment of funds. With the controversy in Washington over…