| | | | | |  | | By Jacqueline Feldscher | Presented by |  | | | With Bryan Bender | | | — Retired Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, who led NASA during the Obama administration, said the president missed the chance to make history with his NASA pick. — Ellen Lord talks about her new job at Voyager Space Holdings and the exciting possibilities in the commercial space realm. — Italian company Leaf Space sees the U.S. as a "primary market" for space. 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: Dominance in space means maintaining assets while developing new ones. With rapid prototyping, we're rewriting the rulebook for spacecraft design to increase resiliency and get new assets to orbit sooner. Learn more. | | | | | | BOLDEN STILL WANTS WOMAN TO LEAD NASA: President Joe Biden this week officially sent former Sen. Bill Nelson's nomination to be NASA administrator to the Senate, where he's expected to win easy confirmation. His nomination received overwhelming bipartisan support on Capitol Hill on Friday, and many in the space industry were quick to praise the selection of the former senator and astronaut. But one of his former crewmates from the STS-61C shuttle flight argued that Biden passed up a chance to make history. "I'd still like to see the first woman in the job soon, but it's not going to be right now," former NASA Administrator and retired Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden told us. "I would have preferred to have seen a woman get the job. I love Bill Nelson and I respect him and think he'll do a great job, it's just my preference." Bolden, who was the first Black person to lead NASA, defended Nelson against criticism that he was not an early supporter of the commercial space industry, saying critics should "go back and read history and read the 2010 [NASA] authorization act" co-authored by Nelson, which codified NASA's plans to use commercial providers to transport crew and cargo to the International Space Station. He also predicted Nelson will benefit from his long-term knowledge of the nation's space program, his close relationship with Biden and his political experience — something Bolden himself lacked and that he said "cost me my first two years." "I think he's got all the tools to make him a really good administrator . … If the Biden administration gives him an equally qualified and capable deputy, I don't think there's anything that will stop him other than the will of the American people and the willingness of Congress to work in a bipartisan manner," Bolden said. "That's always the wild card." | | | 'A FABULOUS PLACE TO BE': Ellen Lord, who oversaw Pentagon acquisitions until January, has joined the board of directors of Voyager Space Holdings, which is seeking to create "a vertically integrated publicly traded NewSpace company." Why space? When it comes to "the nexus of business growth as well as national security," she told us, "I think the space domain is one really vital area. With the standup of [Space Command] and Space Force and everything going on with the private citizens getting involved in space, this is a fabulous place to be." What are the big opportunities? "When I look at examples of what Voyager is doing that I think [are] very interesting, it's how they are positioning themselves to use some of the more innovative business models … in terms of providing services, like on the space station," added Lord, who was CEO of Textron Systems before serving as undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. "And now looking perhaps at private space stations." Related: NASA to offer funding for initial studies of commercial space stations, via Space News. | | | |   | | | 'A PRIMARY MARKET': Leaf Space, an Italian company that offers ground station services to satellite operators and launch companies, announced Wednesday that it is opening a U.S. office to take advantage of opportunities to work with the American government and commercial sector. "We see the U.S. as a primary market. It's one of the biggest space markets in the world and most of our customers have been migrating to the U.S.," Jai Dailani, the U.S. managing director and business development lead at Leaf Space, told us. "There are plenty of opportunities, not only on the commercial side, but also ... plans from government agencies to look at commercial providers of services for their missions. The timing of it is right for Leaf Space in that regard." The establishment of an American office will allow Leaf Space, which was founded in 2014, to expand the services it can offer to some of its 15 existing customers, including in-space transportation company Momentus, satellite communications company Swarm and Kleos Space. The company does not yet know how many employees it will hire in the U.S., or a final location for the headquarters, Jailani said, adding that it's "a bit far away" for the company to be considering its lobbying strategy or Washington presence. "We are actively in talks with government entities as well as industries that provide services to these entities," he said. | | | A TICKET TO ORBIT: A reality TV show that will send the winner to space will begin accepting applications in the last quarter of this year. Thomas Reemer and Deborah Sass, founders of the production company working on the show, are not the first people to try to create a televised competition with a ticket to space on the line, but the rise of commercial space companies means this attempt could actually be successful. "We tried the first iteration in 2009 to 2011, but it didn't work because the space shuttle program was grounded and all the seats were used by NASA," Reemer said. "Fast forward five years and it comes back because SpaceX and Boeing come into the market." Two dozen finalists will compete in challenges that test whether they are ready to go to space, including withstanding G forces or assembling equipment in a pool to simulate the microgravity environment. The show, however, is intended to test more than just physical preparedness for spaceflight and will also evaluate contestants on qualities like teamwork and thinking fast under pressure. The 24 finalists will be evenly split among men and women from both developed and developing countries. "There is no barrier to entry. That is why Space Hero will be a huge global success," Sass said. "The whole purpose of this is democratizing space and making space mainstream." The winner, who will be selected by both a "space council" of celebrities and global voting is expected to blast off to the International Space Station through Axiom Space in the first quarter of 2023. The show will film in the second quarter of 2022. | | | SCOOP, THERE IT IS: The Center for Space Policy and Strategy released a paper this week on air-scooping electric propulsion , a capability that would allow satellites orbiting close to the planet to use ambient air to propel themselves back into their proper orbit, fighting the pull of Earth's gravity. Though the idea behind the technology has existed for decades, it's close to being demonstrated, despite remaining technological challenges and financial risks, the paper explores. QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Congratulations to Alex Sanz, deputy director of newsgathering at the Associated Press, for being the first to correctly answer that former Sen. Bill Nelson served in the Army Reserves during the Vietnam War. This week's question: Which astronaut came down with a cold during the Apollo 7 flight in 1968? The first person to email jklimas@politico.com gets bragging rights and a shoutout in the next newsletter! | | | | A message from Northrop Grumman: Dominance in today's space environment means developing and deploying new assets quickly. With Northrop Grumman, you have a partner dedicated to delivering on those key requirements. With rapid prototyping, we can get a satellite from design to orbit in 20 months. It's rewriting the rulebook for what is possible in space, getting new satellites in orbit sooner. Because at Northrop Grumman, we're dedicated to ensuring your advantage in space, from launch to orbit. That's Defining Possible. Learn more about our space capabilities. | | | | | | — Top NASA appropriator says 2024 deadline to return to the moon is critical to competition with Russia, China: Space News — Biden should make human exploration of Mars a top priority: Scientific American — How Covid-19 has changed NASA's culture: Fast Company — A piece of the Wright Brothers' plane is on NASA's history-making Mars helicopter: CNET — Listen: Nanoracks CEO talks about commercializing space: Aviation Week — Lockheed Martin and Omnispace are developing a space-based 5G network: Reuters — The Space Force doesn't have a PR problem: War on the Rocks — Small, cheap spy satellites mean someone is always watching: The Economist — The GAO will review the decision to move U.S. Space Command to Alabama: The Hill — U.S. and Russia meet to discuss responsible behavior in space: POLITICO — Russia is developing its own reusable space plane: Reuters — You can build your own Space Shuttle Discovery with Lego: Creative Bloq — Apollo 13 NASA flight director Glynn Lunney dies at 84: NPR | | | MONDAY: The Open Lunar Foundation and Arizona State University host a virtual conversation on "fractured lunar futures" and the international race to the moon. MONDAY: The World Space Week Association hosts a webinar on women in space. WEDNESDAY: The 11th Australian Space Forum includes remarks from Australian Space Agency officials. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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