Space Policy – Spaceflight Now

Our interview with Steve Jurczyk, NASA’s acting administrator

April 20, 2021 Stephen Clark

Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now’s editor, asked NASA’s acting administrator about the space agency’s commercial crew and Artemis programs during a one-on-one virtual interview Tuesday, April 20.

Biden administration renews mandate for National Space Council

March 30, 2021 Stephen Clark

President Biden will renew the National Space Council, a space policy group revived by the Trump White House after 25 years of inactivity, to assist in “generating national space policies, strategies, and synchronizing America’s space activities,” an administration spokesman said Monday.

Biden to nominate former Sen. Bill Nelson as NASA administrator

March 19, 2021 William Harwood

Former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a longtime space advocate whose district included the Kennedy Space Center and who flew aboard the shuttle Columbia in 1986 as a congressional observer, is President Biden’s choice to serve as NASA’s next administrator, the White House announced Friday.

Biden backs Artemis moon program; watchdog says it’ll cost $86 billion

February 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

The Biden administration supports continuing NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts back to the moon, the White House said last week, without stating whether it will back away from the program’s already-in-doubt schedule for a lunar landing by the end of 2024.

NASA lays out $28 billion plan to return astronauts to the moon in 2024

September 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA officials released a nearly five-year, $28 billion plan Monday to return astronauts to the surface of the moon before the end of 2024, but the agency’s administrator said the “aggressive” timeline set by the Trump administration last year hinges on Congress approving $3.2 billion in the next few months to kick-start development of new human-rated lunar landers.

NASA challenges companies to mine lunar soil

September 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Thursday it plans to purchase lunar soil from a commercial company, an effort the agency’s top official said is intended to set a precedent for the transfer of ownership of extraterrestrial material and stimulate a market harvesting resources from bodies throughout the solar system.

NASA’s chief of human spaceflight resigns on cusp of critical crew launch

May 19, 2020 Stephen Clark

The head of NASA’s human spaceflight programs has abruptly resigned, announcing his departure from the space agency two days before before he was to chair a crucial readiness review ahead of the launch of the first crewed U.S. space mission in nearly a decade.

Trump administration requests funding boost for NASA’s Artemis moon program

February 10, 2020 William Harwood

The Trump administration is requesting $25.2 billion for NASA in fiscal 2021, a 12 percent increase that includes $3.3 billion to kickstart development of a human-rated lander for the Artemis moon program. Nearly half of the budget request, $12.3 billion, is devoted to new and ongoing projects focused on the return to the moon and eventual flights to Mars.

Bipartisan House bill spurns 2024 moon landing goal, favoring focus on Mars

January 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

A NASA authorization bill released by the House Science Committee Friday proposes major changes to the direction of the agency’s human spaceflight programs, with a goal to land crews on the moon by 2028, not the 2024 schedule set by the Trump administration.

NASA expected to detail costs for fast-track moon landing program next month

January 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA will release a budget profile with a cost estimate for the agency’s Artemis moon program in February in conjunction with the White House’s fiscal year 2021 budget request, according to NASA’s deputy administrator.