| | | | | |  | | By Jacqueline Feldscher | Presented by Northrop Grumman | | | | — Visits to U.S. Space Command finalists will be done by the end of next week as the Pentagon prepares to make a final decision next month. — The Space Force is working on a new accelerator program just for universities to debut in Spring 2021. — The White House published a new National Space Strategy this week. But does it matter? WELCOME TO POLITICO SPACE, our must-read briefing on the policies and personalities shaping the new space age in Washington and beyond, where we're wishing everyone who celebrates a Happy Hanukkah and sharing that you can spin a dreidel in zero gravity. Email us at jklimas@politico.com or bbender@politico.com with tips, pitches and feedback, and find us on Twitter at @jacqklimas and @bryandbender. And don't forget to check out POLITICO's astropolitics page for articles, Q&As, opinion and more. | | | | A message from Northrop Grumman: What if you could get a second chance in space? Revitalize a satellite when it's low on fuel? Or move a spacecraft to another location? In our mission to Define Possible in space, we've built a spacecraft that can do just that: MEV. | | | | | | SPACE COMMAND SALES PITCHES BEGIN: The Air Force this week began began eyeballing the six bases competing to host the headquarters of the reestablished U.S. Space Command and is expected to wrap on the visits by Dec. 18, spokespeople for two cities in the running told us. A small team of Air Force personnel led by a colonel are evaluating proposed locations of the headquarters, the utilities and infrastructure available and any planned renovations for the 1,400 personnel, Reggie Ash, the chief defense development officer at the Colorado Springs Chamber, said. The Air Force will also conduct virtual site visits on Dec. 21 and 22, when each community in the running will have an hour to show off why the city is such a great place to live, including highlighting support for the military, Ash said. The Air Force intends to choose in January between Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico; Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska; Patrick Space Force Base in Florida; Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado; Port San Antonio in Texas; and Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama. Cities are starting to bring out the big guns. Former head of U.S. Strategic Command Retired Adm. James Ellis and retired astronaut Clayton Anderson on Thursday announced their support for basing the command at Offutt. Ellis argues that locating it with the U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees nuclear weapons, "would make a great deal of sense." Meanwhile, retired Gen. William Shelton, a former commander of Air Force Space Command, made the case for Colorado Springs in an op-ed in the Colorado Springs Gazette. | | | |   | | | | | | TAPPING THE 'UNIVERSITY ECOSYSTEM': The Pentagon plans to launch a new space technology accelerator in the spring geared towards universities, Gabe Mounce of the Air Force Research Laboratory tells us. The Air Force already has a Catalyst Space Accelerator and the Hyperspace Challenge to help space startups grow and network with government customers. Next it is developing "a university version of the Hyperspace Challenge" after participation in the 2020 cohort from Johns Hopkins University and New Mexico State University. "There's a lot of innovation happening across the university ecosystem," Mounce said. "Even though we have a lot of great mechanisms to access university research, we felt there was an opportunity to create synergies for us and the companies." He also said the need to operate virtually this year has allowed more players to participate. In total, 58 industry officials helped evaluate companies' pitches, which resulted in 30 introductions being made to the startup participants. The virtual approach will likely continue in some form after the coronavirus. "Should we just do it this way the whole time?" Mounce said. "Or try to go back to at least a partial element where we ... still do it like this for virtual, but could still have an in person event too?" | | | WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS NATIONAL SPACE POLICY: The Trump administration has published a new National Space Policy, one of the last efforts to leave its fingerprints on the nation's long-term space plans. The document was announced at the National Space Council's final meeting Wednesday, where chair Vice President Mike Pence took a victory lap on space achievements ranging from setting a timeline to return humans to the moon to supporting private space companies and establishing the Space Force. "I believe it is a tribute to the president's leadership, as well as the leadership of all the military personnel that are gathered here today, that literally, in just a year and a half after the president first called for the establishment of a Space Force ... he was able to sign it into law," Pence said. The 40-page document , which was last updated in 2010 by the Obama administration, prioritizes the health of the space industrial base, international partnerships and the need to operate sustainably in space and minimize space debris. But some say the policy isn't as relevant just weeks away from a new president. "I just think it's a little too late for trying to put a stamp on something," veteran space policy wonk Erin Neal, founder of Velocity Government Relations and staffer to former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, told Breaking Defense. "It is just trying to say that they did something." SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO SPACE: Santa is set to visit the International Space Station on Christmas Eve to celebrate the 20th anniversary of continuous human presence on the orbiting lab. Earth-bound viewers can watch the fly-by on NORAD's Santa Tracker. The seven astronauts who will be aboard better hope they were good this year. The stop will take Santa 250 miles above Earth but he's expected to stay on schedule for other gift deliveries since the reindeer can travel faster and make up time in zero gravity. | | | | A message from Northrop Grumman: Space missions have always lived on a fixed timeline. Satellites carry a limited supply of fuel, so it's always been accepted that they'll eventually have to be retired. But now that Northrop Grumman has created the revolutionary Mission Extension Vehicle, we've defined a new era of possible for your satellites. MEV provides propulsion, so expensive satellites no longer have to be decommissioned while they're still useful. MEV-2 | | | | | | Bethany Ehlmann, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, will be the next president of the Planetary Society. QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Congrats to Nicholas Partridge, a specialist for strategic partnerships at the Air and Space Museum, for being the first to correctly answer that Bill Clinton was the only president to attend a shuttle launch. This week's question: Who was the first Jewish American astronaut to go to space? The first person to email jklimas@politico.com gets bragging rights and a shoutout in the next newsletter! | | | — The first woman to walk on the moon is among the 18 Artemis astronauts NASA named this week: New York Times — Scientists figure out how to make oxygen on Mars: CNN — There are no rules for repairing satellites in orbit — yet: Wired — Boeing is expecting to conduct its next Starliner test flight in March: Space.com — The big takeaways from Morgan Stanley's annual space summit: CNBC — SpaceX Starship test flight deemed a success, despite explosion upon landing: Nerdist — Relativity Space, which 3-D prints its rockets, signed a new customer: Forbes | | | TODAY: The American Geophysical Union fall meeting continues online through Thursday. TODAY: European Space Week concludes online. TODAY: The AFWERX Accelerate virtual conference concludes. TODAY: The Space Foundation hosts a panel on exploration missions from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. MONDAY: The Space Force Association hosts an event with Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, the commander of Space Operations Command. TUESDAY: Retired Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, the FAA's associate administrator for commercial space transportation, speaks at a virtual Space Foundation event. TUESDAY: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks at the State of Space event hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership. WEDNESDAY: The Satellite Industry Association hosts a two-day Defense Department commercial satellite communications workshop. WEDNESDAY: Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno, the Space Force director of staff, speaks at a Washington Space Business Roundtable to mark the first anniversary of the Space Force. THURSDAY: The Aerospace Corporation hosts its weekly space policy show on NASA's Artemis program. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment