Tag: Space Policy
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China Unveils Action Plan to Boost Commercial Space Firms and Overseas Expansion
China’s space agency has released a two-year action plan aimed at accelerating the growth of its commercial space sector and encouraging private companies to expand overseas and participate in international cooperation, according to a policy document issued this week. The plan, released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Tuesday, calls on Chinese commercial…
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5 things in Trump’s budget that won’t make NASA great again
If signed into law as written, the White House’s proposal to slash nearly 25 percent from NASA’s budget would have some dire consequences. It would cut the agency’s budget from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion. Adjusted for inflation, this would be the smallest NASA budget since 1961, when the first American launched into space. The proposed funding plan…
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Trump executive order calls for a next-generation missile defense shield
One of the new Trump administration’s first national security directives aims to defend against missile and drone attacks targeting the United States, and several elements of the plan require an expansion of the US military’s presence in space, the White House announced Monday. For more than 60 years, the military has launched reconnaissance, communications, and…
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Elon Musk: “We’re going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction.”
Although SpaceX founder Elon Musk is known for outspokenness and controversial comments on his social media site X, he has been relatively restrained when it comes to US space policy in recent years. For example, he has rarely criticized NASA or its overall goal to return humans to the Moon through the Artemis Program. Rather,…
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How might NASA change under Trump? Here’s what is being discussed
Although the details remain in flux, the transition team reviewing NASA and its activities has begun to draft potential executive orders for changes to space policy under the Trump Administration. Sources familiar with the five people on the team, who have spent the last six weeks assessing the space agency and its exploration plans, were…
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Trump nominates Jared Isaacman to become the next NASA administrator
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday he has selected Jared Isaacman, a billionaire businessman and space enthusiast who twice flew to orbit with SpaceX, to become the next NASA administrator. “I am delighted to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),” Trump…
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Varda looks to Australia after delays in obtaining US reentry approval
Varda Space Industries says it has reached an agreement with a private range operator in Australia for spacecraft landings as early as next year after the US government declined to grant approval for the reentry of Varda’s first experimental mission carrying pharmaceuticals manufactured in orbit. After years of applications, reviews, and discussion, the Federal Aviation…
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Biden administration renews mandate for National Space Council
President Biden speaks with members of the Perseverance rover team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on March 4. Credit: White House photo by Adam Schultz President Biden will renew the National Space Council, a space policy group revived by the Trump White House after 25 years of dormancy, to assist in “generating national space policies,…
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Biden to nominate former Sen. Bill Nelson as NASA administrator
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Sen. Bill Nelson speaks during a Senate hearing in 2012. Credit: NASA/Paul Alers Former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, a longtime space advocate whose district included the Kennedy Space Center and who flew aboard the shuttle Columbia in 1986 as a congressional observer, is President Biden’s choice to serve…
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Lawmakers question NASA’s plan for a 2024 moon landing
José Serrano, D-New York, speaks during a hearing Wednesday before the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Amid questions from lawmakers about the cost of the Trump administration’s proposal to accelerate a human return to the moon’s surface to 2024, the chairman of the House subcommittee responsible…