SpaceNews This Week | House members criticize proposed NASA education and Earth science cuts

June 9, 2017 View this email in your browser sponsored by   House members criticize proposed NASA education and Earth science cuts  Jeff Foust — House members criticized a NASA budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 that would cancel several Earth science projects and close the agency's education office. In back-to-back hearings June 8 by the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee and the commerce, justice and science (CJS) subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, members expressed general support for the agency's $19.1 billion proposed budget. However, members of both parties opposed the proposal to defund the Office of Education, which received $100 million in the fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill. The office would receive $37.3 million in 2018 to close out its operations. Ex-Thuraya CEO joins OneWeb Caleb Henry — Thuraya's former CEO, Samer Halawi, has joined satellite internet startup OneWeb, moving from Dubai to the United States to help the company launch a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites. Halawi, who led satellite fleet operator Thuraya for six years, left in March for an undisclosed position. Thuraya's chief technology officer Ahmed Al Shamsi took his place as acting CEO. MDA seeks to provide extensive support to U.S. intelligence and defense agencies Debra Werner —MDA Corp.'s pending acquisition of DigitalGlobe will enhance the firm's ability to offer U.S. defense and intelligence agencies not only imagery, but analysis and answers, said Rob Zitz, SSL Government Systems senior vice president and chief strategy officer. Zitz, a 32-year veteran of multiple U.S. intelligence agencies, joined SSL six weeks ago at the behest of Howard Lance, MDA chief executive and president, to ensure that "capabilities across all parts of the company are brought together to focus on the unmet needs of our intelligence and defense customers. As in any large enterprise, it's hard sometimes to step back and say how can we bring things together," Zitz told SpaceNews at the 2017 GEOINT Symposium in San Antonio, Texas, this week. Proton returns after year hiatus with EchoStar-21 launch  Caleb Henry — Russia's Proton rocket returned to service June 7, almost one year to the date from vehicle's last flight, delivering a U.S. telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. The commercial mission, organized by International Launch Services of Reston, Virginia, lifted off at 11:45 p.m. Eastern Time (9:45 a.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the EchoStar-21 S-band satellite for Englewood, Colorado-based fleet operator EchoStar.  Roscosmos confirmed June 8 that EchoStar-21 separated from Proton's Breeze-M upper stage 9 hours and 13 minutes into the mission after five separate engine burns, as planned. Slow acquisition can't be a national security threat, senior space general says Phillip Swarts — An acquisition system that's been called slow and ponderous can't be allowed to become a national security threat, said Maj. Gen. David Thompson, vice commander of Air Force Space Command, elaborating that the military can no longer afford to have programs that are "years behind schedule and billions over budget." "To be frank, the government approach, and our approach to space acquisition operations, and our approach to our relationship and partnerships with the industrial sector — while they're strong — have to be relooked at, renewed, refigured, and refreshed," Thompson said, speaking June 2 at a meeting of the Aerospace Industries Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce here. House committee passes commercial space regulatory bill Jeff Foust — The House Science Committee approved a bill June 8 that would reform regulation of remote sensing and other commercial spacecraft, despite concerns by one key member that the bill offers the wrong approach for doing so. The committee favorably reported the American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act, H.R. 2809, during a markup session. The bill was formally introduced one day earlier by the committee's chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), and eight co-sponsors. The bill reforms the existing licensing system for commercial remote sensing satellites, streamlining a process that many companies in that sector said results in lengthy delays. It also establishes a "certification" process for commercial spaceflight not otherwise licensed today in order to eliminate any regulatory uncertainty and ensure compliance with the Outer Space Treaty.   Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy | Subscribe Copyright © 2017 SpaceNews Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SpaceNews Inc. 1414 Prince St, Suite 204 Alexandria, VA 22314