JANUARY 8–14, 2023: WHAT'S GOING ON IN SPACE POLICY

 

Posted: January 8, 2023, 5:22 PM ET | Updated: January 8, 2023, 5:35 PM ET by Marcia Smith

Over the Week

The House eventually chose Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker early on Saturday morning after a turbulent start. The majority leader of the House is Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA). The House Minority Leader is Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

The House is scheduled to vote on a set of rules for the 118th Congress tomorrow (Monday), which will kick off the formal committee creation process. This week, a lot of laws are scheduled for votes, but none of them pertain to space.

It's unclear what the major development in space policy will be this week.

Virgin Orbit will launch tomorrow, with the name "Start Me Up" taken from a Rolling Stones song from 1981. This will be the company's first launch from the UK. During a one-hour launch window that starts at 22:16 UTC, the Boeing 747 aircraft Cosmic Girl will lift off from a runway at Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay (5:16 pm EST). The LauncherOne rocket will drop down over the Atlantic Ocean south of Ireland about 40 minutes later, activate its engines, and send seven customers' cargo into orbit.

The CEO of Virgin Orbit, Dan Hart, stated at a news conference this morning that everything is on schedule for tomorrow but stressed that mission success comes first and delays might occur due to weather or technical difficulties. It was "blowing a hoolie" there just now, according to a reporter who was on the ground in Newquay. Up to mid- to late-January, there are backup launch options.

While the payloads are for customers ranging from U.S./U.K./European government agencies and commercial organisations to the Sultanate of Oman, the launch service was purchased by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The launch will be streamed live on Virgin Orbit's YouTube account.

The Mojave Air & Space Port in California has served as the launch site for all of Virgin Orbit's flights thus far. Although this is the company's first overseas launch, it intends to grow internationally. In addition, it is the first orbital launch ever from British or European land (excluding the part of Russia that is on the continent of Europe). In 1971, the U.K. launched its Prospero satellite from Woomera, Australia, using the U.K. Black Arrow rocket. From Hammaguir, Algeria, France launched its Diamant rocket for the first time in orbit between 1965 and 1967. French Guiana's Kourou has become the new home of the Diamant launch operations. Europe's Ariane and Vega rockets are now based at Kourou thanks to the establishment of ESA in 1975. (From 1967 until 1988, Italy used the San Marco launch pad off the coast of Kenya for launches of the American Scout rocket.)

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) and American Meteorological Society (AMS) conferences, which are taking place in Seattle and Denver, respectively, are two more significant events this week. Both have virtual alternatives. There are far too many sessions on astrophysics and earth science/climate change research to list here. They are jam-packed with really fascinating material. Check out their programmes and make your selection.

Ironically, the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, a 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) NASA earth research satellite, will reenter the atmosphere today or tomorrow as earth scientists discuss the utility of satellites for comprehending the Earth system (ERBS). The danger of injury to anybody on Earth is "extremely low" — around 1 in 9,400, according to NASA — but "some components are likely to survive reentry."

The DOD was estimating a reentry time of 6:40 pm ET today, or 17 hours, NASA just disclosed on Friday. The projection for tonight is 10:49 PM ET, or 13 hours from now. The debris from the 1984-launched ERBS satellite might land anywhere on the planet between latitudes 57° north and 57° south. Hopefully the remaining bits will land on Earth's surface, which is 70% water. As of the time of this writing, it hasn't returned as far as we know.

On Tuesday afternoon, we'll highlight another occasion. Christian Davenport, a space correspondent for the Washington Post, will have a Washington Post Live conversation about "The New Space Age" with Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA Johnson Space Center. Maybe he can find out when NASA intends to release the identities of the Artemis II crew (smile).

Additionally, RussianSpaceWeb.com's Anatoly Zak tweeted this morning that Roscosmos would make a decision on Wednesday about the Soyuz MS-22 predicament. Remain tuned.