NASA gets a budget but Congress cuts moon effort — Colorado pols fret losing Space Command HQ — Watchdog calls for more FAA space transportation infrastructure funds

Delivered every Friday, POLITICO Space examines the policies and personalities shaping the second space age.

Dec 23, 2020 View in browser   By Bryan Bender Programming note: We're publishing today ahead of the newsletter's winter break. We'll be back to our normal schedule on Jan. 8. Quick Fix — Congress locks in a NASA budget but scales back the Artemis project to return to the moon. — Colorado leaders worry they may lose U.S. Space Command as a decision nears on its future headquarters. — A new watchdog report calls on the FAA to devise new ways to encourage investment in space transportation infrastructure. WELCOME TO POLITICO SPACE, our must-read briefing on the policies and personalities shaping the new space age in Washington and beyond. 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. Space Spotlight CLEARING THE DECKS: Congress is closing out the year with a number of space funding and policy bills that will set the groundwork for major projects and debates in the new year over the future of the civilian space program. The Senate on Friday passed by unanimous consent the NASA Authorization Act of 2020, which aims to set policy for the space agency for the first time since 2017 on a host of high-profile programs. The legislation is not expected to pass the House before the end of the congressional session, but Sen. Ted Cruz, who chairs the Commerce Aviation and Space Subcommittee, says the bill can be a starting point for the next Congress to get something final passed quickly. Among the highlights: The authorization bill backs the Artemis program to return humans to the moon, though it doesn't set a deadline like the Trump administration did. "NASA needs the resources to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024," Senate Commerce Chair Roger Wicker said in a statement. The bill also extends the operation of the International Space Station from 2024 to 2030; grants acquisition authorities to accelerate the development of technologies; mandates research to ensure humans can operate safely in deep space for long duration; and directs NASA to step up its efforts to defend against asteroids. And the money, too: As part of the end-of-the-year omnibus spending package to keep the government running, Congress approved nearly $23.3 billion in annual appropriations for the space agency, about $2 billion less than NASA requested, as Space News reports. What gives? For one, the appropriations package scrimped on the Human Landing System, a key part of the moon program, by providing only $850 million when NASA requested $3.3 billion. That could pose a major risk to achieving the 2024 timeline. "The budget request gave us what we needed to achieve a 2024 moon landing, and as of right now, this agency is meeting all of its milestones," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said at a meeting of the National Space Council this month. "Ultimately, if we don't get the $3.3 billion, it gets more and more difficult." Read up: "NASA Appropriations and Authorizations: A Fact Sheet," via the Congressional Research Service. In Orbit A YEAR OF FIRSTS: NASA on Monday outlined its major milestones for 2020, heralding the first-ever commercial launch of astronauts by SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to the space station — and the first from U.S. soil in nearly a decade. It also recounted a series of steps in preparing for a return of American astronauts to the moon, including inking partnerships with Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX to design a human landing system, awarding a contract to Northrop Grumman to build a moon-orbiting crew cabin for the Gateway, as well as signing eight international partnerships for the moon program. And let's not forget another first: the touchdown of a robotic spacecraft on the asteroid Bennu in October. "We made history with a U.S. commercial partner, made groundbreaking discoveries, advanced science, furthered aeronautics research and technology development, and even joined in the fight against Covid-19," Bridenstine said in a statement. "We met an incredibly challenging year with incredible achievements and established a path for continued success." It was also a banner year for public engagement. "As the pandemic limited in-person events around the world, NASA's virtual events and digital platforms provided new opportunities to connect people around the world with agency content," the agency reported. What does that mean in the real world? "NASA now has more than 240 million social media followers so far in 2020 — up 15 percent from 207 million in 2019." Related: The year in space travel, via The Wall Street Journal. WHO WILL GET THE SPOILS? The Air Force is closing in on the decision on where it will permanently locate the headquarters of the revived U.S. Space Command. And the political slugfest among the six locations still in the running is getting fiercer as it gets down to the wire. Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, where the command is now, is competing with Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Patrick Space Force Base in Florida, Port San Antonio in Texas and Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama. A new argument put forward by Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado, one of the biggest proponents of keeping it in Colorado Springs, is that moving it from Colorado Springs would be unnecessarily costly. It would take six years to do all the environmental assessments and construct new facilities if Space Command gets a new home. "Taxpayers have invested billions of dollars into Colorado Springs, much of which would be squandered if USSPACECOM is uprooted, Lamborn wrote in Defense News on Friday. Colorado is clearly pulling out all the stops. Gov. Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera also weighed in this week in the Colorado Springs Gazette, arguing that the growing presence of the nascent Space Force in the region is reason to keep the headquarters where it is. But other locations are also trying to be more attractive for hosting the nerve center of military space operations. For example, the Omaha World-Herald reported on Sunday that the University of Nebraska, University of North Dakota, Kansas State University and Purdue University are teaming up to develop "new degree programs and research initiatives specifically designed for the Space Command." When will there be a decision? "Expect early 2021, but Covid has a vote," Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek tells us. But a well-placed government official says the political powers-that-be want to settle on a decision by the end of the Trump administration. The Air and Space Force leadership, meanwhile, want to keep Space Command in Colorado to avoid the big bill of moving it, the source said. But Colorado's boosters are apparently concerned. "I think they are worried that this is going to become a political plum for someone else," the official said. CONJUNCTION JUNCTION: We hope you also got a chance to gaze at Saturn and Jupiter as they did their orbital dance on Monday night, the closest they've been visible from Earth since March 4, 1226. The "great conjunction" apparently took place more recently, on July 16, 1623, but it was likely not visible because of the position in the sky near the sun, Scientific American laid out. So we got a chance to see what Galileo, who discovered Jupiter's four moons, could not. The next shows will be Nov. 2, 2040, and April 7, 2060. But they are not expected to be as dazzling. This is our favorite image of the celestial event shared by the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. (which discovered Pluto). Let's hope it is an omen that in the new year we can all get a little closer again. Top Doc KEEPING UP WITH DEMAND: The FAA needs to study a broader range of options for investing in space transportation infrastructure, the Government Accountability Office recommended in a new report to Congress published on Tuesday. "Demand for commercial space launches is expected to increase," GAO says. "Twelve launch sites held operator licenses in Aug. 2020, and 11 more were seeking licenses from the Federal Aviation Administration." But the government watchdog maintains that the FAA's two grant programs designed to encourage new investments are likely insufficient and the agency needs to undertake a "comprehensive examination" of other potential options. "Without a comprehensive examination of potential options — both funding and financing tools, as well as alternatives to making funding available to spaceport operators — federal efforts may result in inefficient federal investments; unclear benefits to the nation's overall launch capabilities; or unnecessary substitution of state, local, and private sector investment with federal investment," the report warns. Industry Intel TAKING ON MUSK AND BEZOS: The surprise announcement on Sunday that Lockheed Martin is acquiring rocket and missile engine leader Aerojet Rocketdyne was publicly couched by both companies in decidedly corporate mumbo jumbo about strengthening the defense industrial base and retaining leadership in space. And there was a healthy dose of adjectives such as complementary, advanced and transformative. But it's really about competing with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, CNBC reports. "We have seen SpaceX as an emerging threat [and] they are more than an emerging threat right now," Lockheed Martin CFO Ken Possenriede said on the company's third quarter earnings conference call in October. The deal is widely expected to go through, much like Northrop Grumman's acquisition of Orbital ATK two years ago. "We don't expect any issues with the deal closing. There will likely be a similar process as Northrop Grumman went through with Orbital ATK, with likely some pushback from key customers such as Raytheon and Boeing," said Wall Street aerospace analyst Greg Konrad. 'AN ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD': Speaking of SpaceX, Viasat on Tuesday appealed to the Federal Communications Commission to review SpaceX's plans to reposition to a lower orbit some 3,000 satellites from its Starlink constellation. Citing the National Environmental Policy Act, Viasat said it is concerned that the "proposed modification is likely to worsen the space-debris crisis." "The launch and reentry of these satellites is likely to release harmful chemical compounds into the air that could contribute to ozone depletion and to global warming," the petition states. "And given the satellite quantities at issue, there is also a risk that satellites that do not burn up on reentry could harm humans and the environment." SpaceX, which is a competitor to Viasat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Congratulations to Byron Hood, a senior vice president at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, for being the first to correctly answer that astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders were the first to spend Christmas in space on the Apollo 8 mission. This week's question: Who lost out to Chuck Yeager to be the first person to break the sound barrier piloting the Bell X-1 and why? The first person to email jklimas@politico.com gets bragging rights and a shoutout in the next newsletter! Reading Room — Protecting our assets from space debris, by Sen. Roger Wicker, via Space News. — How we're building a 21st century Space Force, By Gen. Jay Raymond: The Atlantic — Space Force leader to become 8th member of Joint Chiefs: Defense.gov — Celebrating the holidays in space: NASA — NASA killed all 27 monkeys held at research center on single day in 2019: The Guardian — House passes two space bills: Space News — A new space race begins: Russia aims to beat Tom Cruise by sending an actor to space in 2021: IndieWire — George Clooney's The Midnight Sky is a sad, quietly effective apocalypse drama: Vanity Fair — Raytheon completes purchase of Blue Canyon Technologies: C4ISRNET Event Horizon THURSDAY, JAN. 7: The Aerospace Corporation will host a discussion titled "Growing the space warfighter: opportunities and challenges for Space Force Personnel," at noon.   Follow us on Twitter Bryan Bender @bryandbender Dave Brown @dave_brown24 Jacqueline Feldscher @jacqklimas   Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to edwardlorilla1986.paxforex@blogger.com by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.