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):

• Schedule:
  • What’s Happening in Space Policy May 23-29, 2021 – SpacePolicyOnline.com
  • IAF moves forward with in-person conference in Dubai – SpaceNews
• NASA lunar programs:
  • SpaceX Dragon XL could double as a crew cabin for lunar space station – Teslarati
  • South Korea to join NASA’s Artemis project: reports – SpaceNews
  • 3 Students Named Winners of Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest | NASA
  • Artemis human landing system selection:
    • SpaceX HLS Contract Gets Protection in Revised Senate Bill – SpacePolicyOnline.com
    • Redundancy now, or redundancy never? – The Space Review
    • Op-ed | Multiple Providers Limit Risk in Returning to the Moon – SpaceNews
• Biden space:
  • Nelson cites China’s growing space prowess, calls for sustained NASA funding – Spaceflight Now
  • Nelson Sees Jobs Bill as Solution to HLS and Other Funding Needs – SpacePolicyOnline.com
  • NASA chief Bill Nelson talks rockets, Moon plans, and partnerships – The Verge
  • NASA seeking more than $10 billion in infrastructure bill – SpaceNews
  • Nelson uses Chinese Mars landing as a warning to Congress – SpaceNews
  • Bill Nelson pledges action on Artemis, Mars and China in 1st hearing as NASA chief | Space.com
  • New NASA administrator, citing China missions, calls for sustained support in Congress – CBS News
  • Appointments:
    • Melroy, Spinrad Sail Through Confirmation Hearing – SpacePolicyOnline.com
    • Melroy wins strong support at hearing to be NASA deputy administrator – SpaceNews
    • Senate panel advances Biden pick as WH science adviser – ABC News
• NASA programs:
  • Cost and schedule overruns continue to grow for NASA programs – SpaceNews
• Commercial Cargo & Crew:
  • NASA, SpaceX Announce Target Launch Time for Next Resupply Services Mission – SpaceX/NASA Blogs –
    “NASA and SpaceX are targeting 1:29 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 3, for the company’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped by the uncrewed Cargo Dragon spacecraft, is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.“
• US and China in space:
  • NASA Statement on China’s Zhurong Mars Rover Photos | NASA
  • Op-ed | Beijing’s Troubling Space Ambitions – SpaceNews
  • Why China Could Vanquish the U.S. in New Space Race | RealClearPolitics
  • China space station’s giant robotic arm sparks concerns in US | South China Morning Post
• NASA science programs:
  • NASA to delay next New Frontiers competition – SpaceNews
• Congressional space:
  • Lucas and Babin Urge NASA not to Diminish Planetary Exploration | Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
• Space technology:
  • NASA 3D-Printed Engine Hardware Passes Cold Spray, Hot Fire Tests | NASA
• Human spaceflight:
  • NASA adds astronaut to commercial crew mission – SpaceNews
• ISS & other space stations:
  • Redwire Successfully Delivers First Pair of iROSA Solar Arrays to Augment International Space Station Power Supply | Redwire
• Commercial space:
  • Space & America’s Future: Private Sector Drives Progress | National Review
  • Build back better – The Space Review
  • Commercial LEO:
    • Sierra Space Signs In-Space Manufacturing Agreement – Sierra Space
  • Human spaceflight:
    • Discovery adventure TV show to launch winning contestant to space station
    • Discovery channel to launch contest to fly winner to space – Behind the Black
• Regulation – spectrum, export control, launch, etc:
  • SpaceX:
    • The FCC’s big bet on Elon Musk and his SpaceX Starlink satellite internet service – Vox
  • FAA Milestone: 400 Licensed Commercial Space Launches and Counting – FAA
• Space traffic & environment issues:
  • UBC researchers publish paper on risks of mega-constellations – SpaceQ
  • Satellite mega-constellations create risks in Low Earth Orbit, the atmosphere and on Earth | Nature
  • Orbital debris removal:
    • Astroscale drives space debris program with further Sunrise funding – SpaceWatch.Global
• US states space:
  • Gov. Lujan Grisham attends successful Virgin Galactic launch in Southern New Mexico | Office of the Governor
  • Raphael Warnock asks FAA to slow review of spaceport in Camden County – SavannahNow.com
  • Warnock Urges FAA Not To ‘Cut Corners’ On Spaceport Review | 90.1 FM WABE
• Weather & remote sensing satellites:
  • Private sector seeks bigger role in NASA Earth science programs – SpaceNews
  • World’s first, satellite-based monitoring system goes global to help save coral reefs | EurekAlert
• Space weather:
  • How space weather could wreck NASA’s return to the moon | MIT Technology Review
• US Defense space:
  • Launch:
    • United States Space Force partnering with VOX Space for first DoD launch – Los Angeles Air Force Base – VOX Space is the Virgin Orbit subsidiary dealing with military payloads.
    • Falcon Heavy’s first national security launch slips to October – Spaceflight Now
    • With ULA’s new rocket Vulcan behind schedule, Space Force agrees to let Atlas 5 fill in – SpaceNews
    • A Starcruiser for Space Force: Thinking Through the Imminent Transformation of Spacepower – War on the Rocks
  • Weather satellites:
    • A race against time to replace aging military weather satellites – SpaceNews
    • Op-ed | Arming warfighters with advanced weather systems: What must happen next – SpaceNews
  •  Technology:
    • Space Force looking to build new radar sites to track objects in high orbits – SpaceNews

International space

• Australia:
  • Opinion: SpaceX’s reusable rocket technology will have implications for Australia by Malcolm Davis – SpaceWatch.Global
  • Australian military to set up space division with $7bn budget – The Guardian
• China:
  • Space station:
    • China’s core space station module Tianhe completes in-orbit tests – Xinhua
  • Tianwen-1 lander and Zhurong rover landing on Mars:
    • NASA Statement on China’s Zhurong Mars Rover Photos | NASA
    • China’s New Mars Rover Could Accelerate a Growing Space Race | Discover Magazine
    • China’s Mars Rover: On a Roll – Leonard David
    • Why the China Mars rover’s landing site has geologists excited – Nature
    • On its first try, China’s Zhurong rover hit a Mars milestone that took NASA decades – The Conversation
    • Red China Reaches Red Planet as Beijing Joins Mars Club | The Heritage Foundation
    • Interview: China’s Mars mission paves way for more capable missions, says Australian space scientist – Xinhua
  • China/Russia lunar co-op:
    • Why the China-Russia space alliance will speed up human exploration of Mars – The Space Review
  • Science missions:
    • China successfully launches new ocean observation satellite – Xinhua
• Europe
  • Astroscale drives space debris program with further Sunrise funding – SpaceWatch.Global
  • ESA creates new job of Director of Commercialisation – SpaceWatch.Global
  • FROM ORBIT TO SOIL: How Earth Observation Can Help Achieve the European Green Deal – SpaceWatch.Global
  • Space Venture Europe 2020: Historic year for European New Space start-ups – SpaceWatch.Global
  • European space: Balancing cooperation with competition – London Business News
  • Deep space communication and navigation – ESA
  • Europe making progress on sovereign LEO constellation as OneWeb and Starlink race ahead – SpaceNews
  • Space Café WebTalk with Katherine Courtney Recap: Are we sleepwalking into the next catastrophe? – SpaceWatch.Global (incl. video)
  • Cool test of Proba-V companion – ESA
  • Moonlight lunar communications and navigation system:
    • ESA awards study contracts for lunar communications and navigation systems – SpaceNews
    • SSTL to lead consortium for ESA Moonlight – SSTL
    • Moonlight: bringing connectivity to the Moon – ESA
    • ESA to unveil its plans for lunar satellites – ESA
    • Europe pushes Moonlight, a lunar satellite constellation – SpaceWatch.Global
• Germany:
  • NewSpace Industry Report 2020 Germany – SpaceWatch.Global
• India:
  • Guess what’s keeping Indian space startups busy during lockdown – CanIndia News
  • Op-ed | India at the Inflection Point: A New Era in the Space Ecosystem – SpaceNews
• Japan:
  • Russian, Japanese satellites to come within 200 meters of each other on May 19 – TASS
• Nigeria:
  • Viasat secures full suite of operating licenses in Nigeria – SatellitePro ME
• Russia:
  • First mission of Russia’s nuclear-powered space tug to take 50 months – Science & Space – TASS
  • Russia continues to work with other states in space despite sanctions — Glavkosmos company – TASS
  • Russia to be glad to see Musk at Global Space Exploration Conference in St. Petersburg – TASS
  • Russia has plans for space launches from Kourou in coming years — space official – TASS
  • Russian, Japanese satellites to come within 200 meters of each other on May 19 – TASS
  • Tourism:
    • Russia has no intention to cede space tourism market to US — Glavkosmos company – TASS
  • Lunar missions:
    • Russia’s space corporation to submit its updated lunar program to government in June – TASS
    • Russia’s Return to the Moon: Luna-25 – Leonard David
  • China co-op:
    • Why the China-Russia space alliance will speed up human exploration of Mars – The Space Review
• South Korea:
  • South Korea to join NASA’s Artemis project: reports – SpaceNews
• Sweden:
  • In Sweden’s Far North, a Space Complex Takes Shape – The New York Times
• Tunisia:
  • #SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Building Blocks in the Space sector, Tunisia Case – SpaceWatch.Global
• UK:
  • UK funds beam-hopping satellite for OneWeb-led consortium in 2022 – SpaceNews
  • More than 3,000 jobs created as space sector grows across the UK – GOV.UK
  • New government funding helps UK companies lead the way for future Moon missions – GOV.UK
  • The State of UK Space – SpaceWatch.Global – “the neuco team of Laurie Scott, Andrew Ball and Ewan Lawrenson spoke with UK space leader, Ian Jones, about the past, present and future of UK Space“.

Webcasts:

** NASA chief cites China’s Mars landing & moon plans in budget hearing – VideoFromSpace

NASA’s new administrator Bill Nelson cites the advancements that China is making with a Mars landing and potential landings on the moon’s south pole in a House Appropriations Committee hearing for the space agency’s 2022 budget. See photos from China’s Mars rover: https://www.space.com/china-mars-rove…

** Zhurong Sends Back 1st Images of Mars, Tianhe Module Tests, SASTIND Smallsat Regulations – Ep 34 – Dongfang Hour – YouTube

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup! Without further ado, please find below the news update from the week of 17 – 23 May:

1) Another Fruitful Week for China’s Space Exploration Program
2) Completion of first batch of tests for the Tianhe Module
3) SASTIND Publishes New Regulations on Smallsat Manufacturing
4) Opinion Piece by Galaxy Space’s Xu Ming on China SatNet

Do remember to check out also our weekly newsletter which does a broader coverage, going over pieces of news that we don’t have time to discuss in the weekly podcast (https://www.dongfanghour.com/).

See also Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 17 May – 23 May 2021 – SpaceWatch.Global

** Moonlight: bringing connectivity to the Moon – ESA

As international teams across the world forge plans to revisit the Moon, ESA is elaborating how best to facilitate this exploration. As part of its Moonlight initiative, the agency is encouraging European space companies to put a constellation of telecommunications and navigation satellites around the Moon. To succeed, the proposed lunar missions will require reliable navigation and telecommunication capabilities. Building these independently would be costly, complex and inefficient. If this work were outsourced to a consortium of space companies, each individual mission would become more cost-efficient. Having one system dedicated to lunar telecommunications and navigation could reduce design complexity, liberating missions to concentrate on their core activities. Because missions could rely on this dedicated telecommunications and navigation service, they would be lighter. This would make space for more scientific instruments or other cargo.

** The Space Show – Friday, May.21.2021 – Dr. Namrata Goswami discussed “space policy, Artemis, the Biden Space Policy, China and space plus more“.

** The Space Show – Tuesday, May.19.2021– Chris Carberry of Explore Mars Inc. talked about their upcoming Mars Innovation Forum (May 25-27, 2021, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm EDT Daily) and about the Space Drink Association.

** E60: Challenges of the US Space Industrial Base – Aerospace Corp Space Policy (Vimeo) – Center for Space Policy & Strategy (CSPS)

** 102 – Industrial IoT, Cubesat Constellations, and Getting VSATs to Work With LEO – Constellations Podcast

** Space Café WebTalk – Aarti Holla-Maini – 30. March 2021 – spacewatch. global – News Room – YouTube

In this week’s Space Café Webtalk “33 minutes with…”, SpaceWatch.Global publisher, Torsten Kriening, had the chance to speak with Aarti Holla-Maini, who, since 2004, has been the Secretary-General of the EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA). ESOA is a CEO-driven satellite association, with 22 satellite operators from across multiple orbits as members.

Aarti is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on space technology, the Global 5G Coalition Network, and the Essential Digital Infrastructure & Services Network.

Starting her career at Airbus, Aarti has over 22 years’ experience in the aerospace industry. This week, she shared her insights into how an improved understanding of satellite communications by society and government can create a better, more inclusive, and secure global society.

** May 21, 2021 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

** May 19, 2021 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

** Launching: The Space Bar Show – A Retrospective – Space Court Foundation – YouTube

Signal Detected: (0:12) Intro: (0:54) Two space lawyers walk into a space bar: (1:03) Fletcher’s Used Satellite Emporium Commercial: (5:18) JG Relay Commercial: (6:20) In walks Scorpio…(“Space Junk Killed That Dude!”): (7:14) Power of Lox, by Dave and the Daves: (12:00) Don’t Land So Close To Me, by Dave and the Daves: (15:57) The History of Space Law (intro): (18:42) The Long Lost von Braun Zoom Call: (19:12) Interview with Jim Dunstan: (24:22) Safety Zone, by Dave and the Daves: (29:52) Last Yuri’s Night, by Dave and the Daves: (32:38) Happy Birthday von Karman!: (36:22) Stellar Decisis Trailer: (37:24) We should leave…: (39:17) Credits: (39:48)

** Welcome to Destination Station! – ISS National Lab

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