A selection of links to policy, politics, and other government news and resource items related to space (check back for updates):

[ Updates:

• National Space Council:

  • National Space Councils: Outlook For Entrepreneurial Space Industry – SpaceAngels.com
  • The Interplanetary Political Football of Space Exploration – Scientific American Blog Network
  • Some commentary about the National Space Council’s inaugural meeting – The Space Review

• Spaceflight:

  • Back to back to the Moon – The Space Reviwe
  • Why should we go? Reevaluating the rationales for human spaceflight in the 21st century – The Space Review

• Canadian space:

  • Researchers, Heal Thy Selves! – The Commercial Space Blog

• Regulations:

  • GAO Report on Re-locating the FAA’s Space Office and Aviation Advisory Committee on Space Industry use of Airspace – GroundBasedSpaceMatters.com

• Webcasts: The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Oct. 16, 2017; 2-3:30 pm PDT (4-5:30 pm CDT, 5-6:30 pm EDT); We welcome back DENNIS WINGO. The theme for the program is that for space, risk is a four letter word.
2. Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT) : We welcome back NICK NIELSEN to the show. Nick will be talking about settling the Moon, cultural history and issues. Check out his 2017 Starship Congress talk as I have posted the URL for it on the blog.
3. Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017 : Hotel Mars with John Batchelor, Dr. David Livingston. See upcoming show menu on the website for details. Note that this is a pre-recorded session.
4. Friday, Oct. 20, 2017: 9:30-11 am PDT, (12:30-2 pm EDT; 11:30 am-1 pm CDT): We welcome back DR. HAYM BENAROYA. Haym will be discussing lunar development and more.
5. Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017: 12-1:30 pm PDT (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 5 pm CDT): We welcome back KERI KRUKA regarding the upcoming new Raw Science Film Festival to be held in early January in Santa Barbara, CA.

]

• Schedule:

  • What’s Happening in Space Policy October 15-20, 2017 – SpacePolicyOnline.com

• Commercial space advocacy:

  • Commercial Spaceflight Federation Welcomes New Board Leadership and Member Companies – CSF ​

• NASA and commercial space:

  • What Role Will NASA Play in Getting Humans to Mars? – space.com

• Trump space:

  • Trump should stop obsessing over the moon. – The Slate
  • Editorial: It’s time for America to stop staring at the pavement and aim for the stars again | OUR OPINION | richmond.com

• Space Launch System (SLS):

  • Todd May: NASA Will Decide SLS Launch Date “Soon” – SpacePolicyOnline.com

• US military space:

  • Lawmakers Block Mini-Satellites That Could Spy on North Korea – Bloomberg – No funding for proposal for the USAF to experiment with the use of imaging from smallsat radar satellites like those in development at Capella Space.
  • DIUx likely to continue radar initiative in spite of setback – SpaceNews.com –

    • “Entrepreneurs suspect that aerospace prime contractors may have encouraged congressional appropriators to scuttle the DIUx initiative.

      “Larger aerospace firms have a great deal to lose if the Department of Defense pursues more cost-effective approaches,” an entrepreneur who does not have a DIUx contract told SpaceNews. “Their overhead structure makes it difficult to compete at the price point new entrants can offer.”

      Longtime observers of the SAR market, however, are skeptical that commercial startups can deliver on their promises to obtain SAR imagery with microsatellites. They also question the commercial viability of the radar projects.“

  • Elon Musk’s ‘BFR’ and 21st-century space war – The Strategist (ASPI – Australian Strategic Policy Institute)

• Space law:

  • Words Matter: Regulation vs Regulation – GroundBasedSpaceMatters.com

• Satellite spectrum:

  • FCC commissioner O’Rielly gives Intel-Intelsat C-band proposal a positive early review – SpaceNews.com

• Space human-factors:

  • Space radiation won’t stop NASA’s human exploration – Astrobiology Magazine

• Chinese space:

  • Tiangong 1: Out of control Chinese space station about to fall to Earth, expert says – The Science Page

• Indian space:

  • cyber security: US Congressional delegation to visit India to discuss space, cybersecurity – The Economic Times
  • ISRO to focus on socio-economic security – ANDHRA PRADESH – The Hindu

Webcasts:

** John Batchelor – Blue Origin New Glenn quickly – Bob Zimmerman talks about Blue Origin’s New Glenn and other space news topics and policy issues:

** The Space Show – Fri, 10/13/2017 – 09:30 – Dr. Christopher Newman spoke about ” Space law, policy, commerce and programs in the UK plus much more about space & the British people”.

Listen to the audio (mp3).

** Dawn: Ten Years of Exploration | The Planetary Society – “Dawn Mission Director and Chief Engineer Marc Rayman helps us salute the ion-engine powered spacecraft that first orbited asteroid Vesta in the main asteroid belt and then moved to dwarf planet Ceres, revealing two fascinating worlds. The new US National Space Council met in Washington DC last week. Director of Space Policy Casey Dreier reviews it. Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye reports from Australia where he addressed the International Astronautical Congress.”

** Space Policy Edition #17: The 75th Anniversary of the Rocket Age, with Dr. Michael Neufeld | The Planetary Society – “Fifteen years before Sputnik, on a bright 1942 afternoon in northern Germany, a thundering machine of metal and fire pierced the sky, ultimately touching the edge of space for the first time in history. This was the first successful test of the A4 rocket—later renamed the V2 by Nazi propagandists. It opened a new era of opportunity and terror with rocket technology. Dr. Michael Neufeld, Senior Curator of Space History and the Smithsonian, and author of Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War, joins the Space Policy Edition podcast to discuss the significance of this test and how it happened. We also take a look at current budget progress, good news about the Mars Exploration Program, and Space Policy Adviser Jason Callahan recounts his experience at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia.”