SpaceNews This Week | Trump signs omnibus with $20B for NASA, unrequested WGS satellites for Air Force

March 23, 2018 View this email in your browser NASA receives $20.7 billion in omnibus appropriations bill Jeff Foust, WASHINGTON — A final fiscal year 2018 spending bill signed into law March 23 will give NASA more than $20.7 billion, far above the administration's original request. The omnibus spending bill, completed after weeks of negotiations, restores funding for Earth science and education programs slated for cancellation by the White House and includes additional money for the agency to build a second mobile launch platform for the Space Launch System. The appropriations bill gives NASA $20.736 billion for the 2018 fiscal year, which started more than five and a half months ago. That is more than $1.6 billion above the administration's original request of $19.092 billion. A House appropriations bill offered NASA $19.872 billion and its Senate counterpart $19.529 billion. An overarching two-year budget deal reached earlier this year raised spending caps for both defense and non-defense programs, freeing up additional funding. More civil space headlines  Omnibus bill increases funding for NOAA weather satellite and space weather programs House committee advances two space bills ESA to investigate links between debris removal and satellite servicing Relativity reaches deal to use Stennis test stand House members call on Senate to confirm Bridenstine as NASA administrator Omnibus spending bill funds big-ticket military communications satellites that DoD did not request Sandra Erwin, WASHINGTON —  In a surprise last-minute add-on, House appropriators included $600 million in the Air Force budget for two high-capacity communications satellites made by Boeing that the Pentagon did not request. The omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018 funds two Wideband Global SATCOM satellites, WGS-11 and WGS-12. The Air Force did not request funding for these spacecraft nor were these satellites included in any previous marks of the congressional defense committees, or in the fiscal year 2019 budget request. This action caught the satellite communications industry completely off guard. Commercial satellite services providers, particularly, had been told that the Pentagon would not buy any more WGS satellites beyond number 10. WGS-9 was deployed last year, and WGS-10 is scheduled for launch in 2019. Air Force and DoD officials had been talking for months about a plan to move forward with a "hybrid" architecture for future military communications that would include a mix of government-owned satellites and commercial services. More military space headlines Hyten: To keep edge in space, military needs cheaper launch costs, faster satellite development Some fresh tidbits on the U.S. military space budget Is the cost of military space programs going up or down? Depends on how you count DoD and interagency group looking to step up collaboration on space technology Japan to add second launch pad to support H3 rocket Caleb Henry, WASHINGTON — Seeking to double the number of launches it can conduct annually, Japan will add a second launch pad to the Tanegashima spaceport to support its next-generation H3 rocket. Speaking at the Satellite 2018 conference March 12, Ko Ogasawara, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' vice president and general manager for space systems, said current launch infrastructure is constraining the company's ability to launch more than around four missions per year. By comparison, Arianespace, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, average twice that amount or more annually.  Ogasawara said MHI has only one launch pad for H2A, the rocket it currently builds and launches mainly for domestic government missions. He estimated it takes roughly two months to refurbish the pad between missions, limiting the maximum number of launches Tanegashima can support. More launch and satellite headlines Alaskan spaceport to host secretive commercial launch OneWeb asks FCC to authorize 1,200 more satellites Zero 2 Infinity gets 3D-printed engine part for Bloostar launch vehicle Spacecom less than two months from Amos-8 purchase Smallsat launch providers face pricing pressure from Chinese vehicles Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy | Subscribe Copyright © 2018 SpaceNews Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SpaceNews Inc. 1414 Prince St, Suite 204 Alexandria, VA 22314