A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):
- Coronavirus impact on space activities:
- Lunar missions:
- Science programs:
- SLS/Orion:
- NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Program Costs and Contracts – NASA OIG (pdf)
- NASA’s future monster rocket is once again over budget and behind schedule – The Verge
- NASA inspector general says SLS moon rocket costs continue to climb – Spaceflight Now
- New inspector general report slams NASA’s SLS management | Behind The Black
- SLS: $17 Billion And Counting, with First Launch Still a Year Away – SpacePolicyOnline.com
- Orbital traffic:
- Satellites and rural broadband:
- American states space:
- US military:
- HASC Grills MDA Chief On ’21 Budget, Space-Based Sensors – Breaking Defense
- Space Force:
- Barrett points to recent activities as a clear example for why the US Space Force is needed – U.S. Air Force
- Space Force Legislative Plan Delayed – Air Force Magazine
- Experts Worry Secrecy Will Hinder Space Acquisition Reform – Air Force Magazine
- JUST IN Space Force Needs Acquisition Leadership – National Defense Magazine
- Cybersecurity:
- International space
- China:
- China launches new BeiDou navigation satellite – Xinhua
- Successful launch takes China a step closer to completing Beidou navigation constellation – SpaceNews.com
- China’s polar-observing satellite completes Antarctic mission – Xinhua
- China’s Mars mission likely still on track for July launch despite coronavirus outbreak | Space.com
- Europe:
- India:
- Japan:
- Netherlands:
- Philippines:
- Guatemala:
- Russia:
- Saudi Arabia:
- UK:
- Spaceport moves closer to launch as plans drawn up – STV News
- Spaceport plans move ahead as formal proposal lodged | The Shetland Times Ltd
- Spaceport plans could see rockets blasting off from remote Scottish island as early as this year | The Scotsman
- Public to have chance of giving their view on Shetland space centre plans | Press and Journal
- Ross-shire representatives cross party lines to back Sutherland spaceport proposal; Spaceport ‘could help reverse depopulation and create jobs’ – Ross-Shire Journal
- Brunswick Landing could be hub for spaceport complex – Portland Press Herald
- China:
Webcasts:
** NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Program Costs and Contracts – NASA OIG
The Office of Inspector General examined NASA’s management of the major Space Launch System contracts – core stage, upper stage, RS-25 engines, solid rocket boosters – to assess whether the programs are meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals.
More than 8,500 satellites are projected to be launched between 2019 and 2028 according to Euroconsult. With such so much growth on the horizon, regulatory efforts could become challenged to keep pace with these technological developments.
Listen to Alexandre Vallet the Chief of the Space Services Department in the Radiocommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as he shares insights into the role of regulations and the ITU in this new environment. Find out how the spectrum can be protected, interference can be avoided and how a level playing field for new and incumbent players can be ensured in this evolving new space world.
** Michael Maloney – Satellite Design For Recovery – Cold Star Project S02E23
Michael Maloney, founder of the advocacy organization Satellite Design for Recovery, is on the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan to talk about the need for including a critical but not-yet-required component to the design of all objects launched into Earth orbit. Satellites and other orbital objects should have mandated design requirements for rendezvous, capture and disposal. The cost of not doing so will be chaos in orbit. Mike is here to tell us about these consequences. Satellite Design for Recovery website: https://satdfr.org/
** The Space Show – Wed, 03/11/2020 – Professor Madhu Thangavelu of USC talked “about his past and now current space design class focusing on returning to the Moon”.
** Hotel Mars/TheSpace Show – Wed, 03/11/2020 – John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston “discussed the impact of Covid-19 on upcoming space conferences and potential economic concerns for NewSpace”.
** Ep. 63: War in space – Defense One
The United States Space Force is now officially a thing, complete with a commander and plans to put about 16,000 members of the military to work defending U.S. interests in space. But what exactly does it mean for the U.S. military to “deter aggression” in space? How could a war in space happen? And what are American interests in space, anyway? This episode, we’re going to answer those questions as best we can with the help of four experts on space weapons and policy and strategy.
Guests include Jeffrey Lewis, professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Calif.; Jonathan McDowell, astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.; Bleddyn Bowen, lecturer in International Relations at the University of Leicester, in the UK, and author of the forthcoming book, “War in Space“; and Brian Weeden, director of Program Planning at the Secure World Foundation.
** Day of Action 2020 – Planetary Society
115 members traveled to Washington D.C. from 28 states for one massively successful day of action to #FundSpace. Will you join us next year? Get involved at planetary.org/advocacy
** March 10, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black
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