Why the Space Force is hostage to politics — FAA briefing Congress today on SpaceX launch license — UAE probe approaches the Red Planet

Presented by Northrop Grumman: Delivered every Friday, POLITICO Space examines the policies and personalities shaping the second space age.

Feb 05, 2021 View in browser   By Jacqueline Feldscher Presented by Quick Fix — Why establishing the Air Force was not as political as creating the Space Force. — The FAA is briefing the Hill today on reports that SpaceX violated a December launch license. — The UAE's Hope probe to Mars will reach the Red Planet's orbit next week. 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.   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 Spotlight This week's dust up ended when White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the Space Force has the "full support" of the new administration, a day after a flippant remark when asked about the newest military branch, setting off a partisan frenzy. | Getty Images A MODEL FOR ESTABLISHING A NEW SERVICE: The daylong back and forth this week between the White House and Capitol Hill Republicans about the Space Force — plus the scores of casual observers on social media calling the branch dumb — shows just how politicized the new branch became under former President Donald Trump. And some experts wonder if the service can convince the public that it is the nation's Space Force, not Trump's Space Force. This week's dust up ended when White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the Space Force has the "full support" of the new administration, a day after a flippant remark when asked about the newest military branch, setting off a partisan frenzy. But the Space Force didn't have to be this way. In fact, the United States established a new branch more than seven decades ago that — while it still had its critics at the time — was not politically tied to a single person and earned immediate legitimacy. We look back at the birth of the Air Force for parallels to the Space Force — and how it was very different. The Air Force and Space Force sprung out of the same thought process that new technologies will fundamentally change how wars are fought, said Mike Hankins, curator of Air Force history at the Smithsonian Institution. When aviators were fighting for the establishment of the Air Force, their argument was that everything was going to be different going forward, which required a change in strategy and doctrine that should be led by a new service. Military space strategists are making the same case today. There were still critics at the time, including within the other military services; Hankins cited Navy concerns about what the formation of an Air Force would mean for its own fleet of aircraft, carriers and budget. And of course early on, powerful interests in the Air Force also fought against the creation of a separate space service for some of the same reasons, until Trump gave them little choice. But the Air Force's evolution was very different. Advocates spent 30 years writing papers and articles and books about why the military needed a seperate Air Force, Hankins said. "We don't have as much of that public advocacy," he said about the Space Force. "There is some … but it's not on the same scale. … All these advocates for [the Air Force] were really speaking to the public, articulating it, and making the case for years. I think there's a lot of confusion about what Space Force is, what it does, and what it doesn't do." The split also happened more gradually, with the establishment of the Army Air Corps in 1926, more than 20 years before breaking it off entirely on its own. Because of this longer time scale, the service was never linked to one particular administration or politician, Hankins said. By contrast, Congress first proposed the idea of a Space Corps in 2017, and two years later, the Space Force was established as an independent entity without giving the public time to get onboard. And don't forget the war: In 1945, after four years fighting a global wart that depended heavily on airpower, the public also got to see for themselves why air warfare was so important, including dropping the atomic bomb to end the conflict. There was a sense of "if we're going to use these weapons either for deterrence or actually using them, it will be an airplane that does it. There were all these pieces that were like, 'This is why airplanes are important,'" Hankins said. This is harder with mostly invisible capabilities in orbit, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond acknowledged this week. "Space doesn't have a mother. You can't reach out and hug a satellite. You can't see it. You can't touch it. It's hard to have that connection," Raymond told reporters. So will it take a conflict to get the public onboard? We really don't want to find out, said retired Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the head of the National Defense Industrial Association. "It's usually a catastrophic event," he said. "Then everyone is like, 'Oh, I get it now.'" ALSO: The Space Force is not NASA and there are no troops in orbit. Here's what else we can say about what the service is and isn't.     In Orbit MOON SHOT STILL A GO: The Biden administration this week also threw its public support behind Trump's much-ballyhooed plan to return astronauts to the moon. "Lunar exploration has broad and bicameral support in Congress, most recently detailed in the FY 2021 omnibus spending bill," Psaki said at Thursday's briefing. "Certainly, we support this effort and endeavor." We are eager to see the details, including whether the aggressive timeline of 2024 will still hold, especially since NASA has hit pause on the lunar lander program. More: White House endorses Artemis program, via Space News. FAA BRIEFING HILL ON SPACEX LAUNCH VIOLATION: The FAA is briefing both chambers of Congress today on reports that SpaceX violated a launch license for a December launch, according to two sources. The agency that issues licenses for launch to protect the safety of the general public, said Tuesday that SpaceX had asked the agency for a waiver ahead of a Dec. 9 Starship test flight that would have allowed them to put the public at more risk than what is allowed by law. The FAA denied the waiver, but SpaceX launched anyway, prompting an investigation that delayed the issuance of a waiver for another test flight of the company's Starship spacecraft, which is designed to carry people to mars. The test, which was originally set for Jan. 28, ended up happening on Tuesday instead. The Starship exploded upon landing this week. The crash investigation will also be overseen by the FAA. UAE PREPARES TO MAKE HISTORY: The United Arab Emirates is poised to become the fifth country to reach the Red Planet if all goes well on Tuesday when its Hope probe is expected to enter Mars' orbit. The spacecraft will collect data on Mars' atmosphere and climate. Its arrival, which would also make UAE the second country to successfully reach Mars on its first try, will be live streamed at 10:30 a.m. The mission is expected to send back early data within a couple months, said Dimitria Atri, a research scientist at the NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Space Science. Final data should be sent back to Earth by October. It's a busy month on Mars. Later in February, NASA's Perseverance rover is expected to land on the surface and China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft will join the Hope probe in orbit. Industry Intel GPS TRADE GROUP TAKES OFF: The GPS Innovation Alliance had just three members in 2018 when we first talked with the group's executive director, J. David Grossman. This week, the D.C.-based advocacy group announced that L3Harris had joined, bringing the group to nine members, including Garmin, Lockheed Martin and Collins Aerospace, a spokeswoman said. The growth fulfills Grossman's goal to have the group, which was established in 2013, represent the entire industry and broaden the portfolio of issues they educate the government about. When he took the job, the group represented GPS device makers, like John Deere, which makes tractors with GPS. But the group lacked representation from the companies that build the satellites and ground stations that make GPS work. Adding those types of companies to its ranks has allowed the organization to delve more into issues such as satellite or ground station modernization, Grossman said. What's next? Grossman also wants to make sure he's representing businesses that rely on GPS, and hopes to add member companies in the aviation or automobile industries. One of his top priorities for 2021 will be educating the wave of new people working on these issues in the new Congress and the Biden administration.   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   Making Moves Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Science, has been tapped to serve temporarily in the newly created role of senior climate adviser at the space agency until a permanent appointment is made. The Biden administration also tapped officials to fill six NASA positions: Bhavya Lal, who served on the NASA landing team, is acting chief of staff. Phillip Thompson, who worked on runoff campaigns for Sen. Jon Ossoff and Sen. Rafael Warnock, will be the White House liaison. Alicia Brown, a staffer for the Senate Commerce Committee, will be the associate administrator in the Office of Legislative and Interagency Affairs. Marc Etkind, a former general manager for the Science Channel, will be the associate administrator in the Office of Communications. Jackie McGuinness , a former communications director for Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), will be NASA's press secretary. Reagan Hunter, a former employee of NASA's Johnson Space Center, will be a special assistant in the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Congratulations to Sean Bedford, the legal and contracts manager at Masten Space Systems, for being the first to correctly answer that it was two years, eight months and one day between the Challenger disaster and the next shuttle flight. This week's question: What was the first NASA mission to successfully land a spacecraft on the surface of another planet? The first person to email jklimas@politico.com gets bragging rights and a shoutout in the next newsletter! Reading Room — Astronauts today look very different from those who originally had the "right stuff": The Atlantic — Billionaire Jared Isaacman prepares to make his space tourism dream a reality: Phys.org — America's new strategy for nuclear power in space: Lawfare — Texas startup wins NASA award to bring cargo to the moon: Bloomberg — More Colorado officials join call for Biden to re-do Space Command HQ search: The Hill — ULA CEO Tory Bruno warns launch bubble could burst: Space News — Space could help wine grapes survive climate change: TechCrunch Event Horizon MONDAY: The SmallSat Symposium begins virtually and runs through Thursday. MONDAY: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine hold a virtual meeting on increasing diversity in space missions. TUESDAY: Space Foundation 365 hosts a conversation on the State of Space in 2021, including remarks from Gen. David Thompson, the Space Force's vice chief of space operations, and former astronaut Kathryn Sullivan. TUESDAY: Cowen's annual Aerospace/Defense and Industrials Conference will virtually run until Thursday. WEDNESDAY: NASA hosts a webinar on technology innovations on the Mars Perseverance rover. WEDNESDAY: Space Foundation 365 hosts a panel on women in space that includes five women currently serving in the Space Force. THURSDAY: The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs hosts a meeting on getting more women involved in space-related careers.   Follow us on Twitter Bryan Bender @bryandbender Dave Brown @dave_brown24 Jacqueline Feldscher @jacqklimas   Follow us

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