Stories from Payload’s weekly space policy newsletter, Polaris.
The fireworks start at 10am ET, when the two-time SpaceX astronaut and billionaire nominee to lead the space agency appears before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. That will be his second appearance this year, after his first nomination for the job was pulled in May.
Next week is the official start of “let’s circle back on that in the new year” season—but not for Congress, where lawmakers have a handful of time-sensitive priorities on their holiday to-do list.
Necessary national security safeguard, or out-of-touch barrier to communication with a leading space power? That was the question at the heart of a debate last week on whether the Wolf Amendment is still in America’s best interest, almost 15 years after it became law.
The accords celebrated their fifth anniversary last month. As such, here’s a roundup of where they stand.
The nominee to lead the Pentagon’s space policy wants to streamline collaboration between the Space Force and NRO.
“The reality is we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to secure this country,” he said. “We can’t just pretend like we don’t need to know what’s happening out there, from a national security perspective.”
“Everyone is using space data,” she told Payload. “This data is getting integrated into more industries, and used across the government. That’s the trend we see driving demand.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr previewed some to-dos for the agency to make the US “the friendliest regulatory environment in the world for innovators to start, to grow, and to accelerate their space operations.”
Whistleblowers told Congress that they’re already worried about the cuts affecting the safety of the agency’s programs, with one telling lawmakers that they are “very concerned that we’re going to see an astronaut death within a few years,” according to the report.
In a letter sent to FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Monday, the writers said lifting equivalent power-flux density (EPFD) limits on non-geostationary sats would benefit both consumers and the industry.
A space bill being considered by Congress is directing the defense secretary to look for opportunities to collaborate in orbit with Indo-Pacific allies.
House lawmakers submitted 1,100+ amendments to the NDAA. The rules committee met yesterday to decide which ones will be considered on the floor this week. Here’s what’s in, and what’s out.
