Plus: Paying a premium for weather data, including on wildfires
| | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | 01/14/2025 |
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The departing Secretary of the Air Force warned that the United States risks falling behind China in military space unless it fundamentally transforms its capabilities. In a talk Monday, Frank Kendall discussed a report recently submitted to Congress emphasizing the need for dramatic expansion in space-based capabilities between now and 2050 to counter growing threats from China and Russia. He argued that the Space Force needs to expand significantly, moving "from the equivalent of a merchant marine to a navy." The report calls for "transformative investment" in several critical areas: missile warning and tracking systems, nuclear detonation detection, real-time targeting capabilities, secure communications and battle management and protection against adversary space systems. [SpaceNews]
NOAA is interested in expanding its use of commercial satellite data. The agency, which has been buying commercial weather data from satellites for several years, says it is willing to pay a premium for observations of oil spills or other events, such as wildfires. Going forward, NOAA will continue to acquire global datasets and respond to events by purchasing data on the spot market. A NOAA official said at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society Monday that buying proprietary data, rather than data it can share freely, "would complicate things immensely," so it would focus on limited geographical regions of interest. [SpaceNews]
The congressman whose district includes NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center says he is keeping an eye on potential changes to the center and its programs by the incoming Trump administration. Speaking at the American Astronomical Society conference Monday, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) says he wants to keep NASA "moving in the right direction" in the next administration. He said he not heard any specifics about changes to Goddard or its programs by the new administration. The first Trump administration tried unsuccessfully to cancel Earth and space science missions led by Goddard. He added he had yet to meet Trump's pick to lead NASA, Jared Isaacman, but said "I don't mind a fresh start." [SpaceNews]
Blue Origin rescheduled its first New Glenn launch only to delay it hours later. The company announced Monday it would make another attempt to launch the rocket early Tuesday, but cautioned weather conditions were not favorable. Less than three hours later, Blue Origin called off the launch, rescheduling it for no earlier than Thursday. Blue Origin said it scrubbed Monday's launch attempt when ice formed in a purge line for an auxiliary power unit on the rocket. [Florida Today]
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SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Monday. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 11:47 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and placed 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. Thirteen of the satellites have direct-to-cell payloads. The booster used for the launch completed its 15th flight. [Space.com]
Conservative groups are raising questions about the choice of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Organizations such as the Claremont Institute and American Accountability Foundation have noted that Isaacman has donated to Democratic campaigns and organizations in recent years, and criticized Isaacman's company, Shift4, for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. They stopped short, though, of calling on President-elect Trump to withdraw Isaacman's nomination. Two leading Republican space advocates, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Rep. Bob Walker, endorsed Isaacman's nomination, calling it "a once-in-a-generation chance to break the bureaucratic morass" at NASA. [Washington Examiner | Breitbart News]
A change in missile export policy could help companies export launch vehicles. The Biden administration released last week an update to its interpretation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) intended to provide what it called "increased flexibility for case-by-case review" of proposed exports of such technologies. Previously, the U.S. had banned the export of launch vehicles to all but a handful of countries, even those that had signed on to the MTCR, but the new policy would allow exports to MTCR signatories. [Breaking Defense]
Former astronaut and NASA official Bob Cabana received a top government award. NASA announced Monday that Cabana had received the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, the highest award for a federal civilian employee. Cabana was a NASA astronaut who flew on four shuttle missions and later served as director of the Kennedy Space Center. He retired at the end of 2023 after two and a half years as NASA associate administrator, the highest civil service post at the agency. [NASA]
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