Watch the latest news video at <a href=”https://video.foxnews.com/” mce_href=”https://video.foxnews.com/”>video.foxnews.com</a> Theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku criticizes Obama’s NASA proposal to Bill Hemmer of Fox News. Hemmer seems rather ill-informed about the plan, which embraces the private sector in a way that Fox News usually celebrates. The network’s “Fair and Balanced” approach is noticeably absent in this discussion.
Obama Repeats Call for Export Control Reform
Space News
The White House said in a news release following the speech that details of the new National Export Initiative will be announced in the coming weeks, but the release indicated that the effort includes the creation of the President’s Export Promotion Cabinet and an enhancement of funding for key export promotion programs…
ARIANESPACE PRESS RELEASE
January 27, 2010
Today in Rome, Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, and Markus Bertschi, Launcher Programmes Department Head at the European Space Agency (ESA), signed a contract defining Arianespace’s support services for the qualification campaign and combined testing of the Vega light launcher.
ESA MISSION UPDATE
January 27, 2010
Yesterday, Mr René Oosterlinck, ESA’s Director of the Galileo Programme and Navigation-related Activities, signed the first three contracts for the Galileo full operational capability phase. This event marks the start of building the Galileo operational infrastructure.
The Space Frontier Foundation and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation released statements this week praising President Obama’s plan for NASA, which involves canceling the Ares program and funding commercial vehicles to carry astronauts into Earth orbit.
Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center
Florida Rep. Suzanne Kosmas and Sen. Bill Nelson released separate statements criticizing President Barack Obama’s plan to end NASA’s lunar program and refocus its efforts toward commercial space operations.
Under the Obama plan, commercial space is in while Ares, space shuttle and the moon are all out.
Statement by AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey on President Obama’s State of the Union Address
We’re very pleased that President Obama is making it a priority this year to double exports, enforce trade agreements and reform export controls consistent with national security. Trade expansion and export control modernization are longtime priorities of AIA and recognition of their importance by the President sets a positive tone for action this year.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
GOVERNOR CRIST PRESS RELEASE
Governor Charlie Crist today addressed the board of directors of Enterprise Florida Inc. during the group’s annual meeting in Tallahassee to announce his $307.5-million economic-incentive budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2010-11. The Governor, who chairs the board, highlighted his commitment to growing the state’s innovation economy, ensuring a competitive business climate, building a world-class workforce, and establishing Florida as a pre-eminent global trade hub.
Artists' conception of a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. (Credit: SpaceX)
SPACEX PRESS RELEASE
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Space Communication Ltd. (Spacecom) of Ramat-Gan Israel, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, have signed an agreement for launch of a communication satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as early as December 2012. Falcon 9 will insert the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), adding to Spacecom’s existing satellite fleet. Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) is also involved in the transaction.
ORBITEC PRESS RELEASE
SUMMARY: ORBITEC’s Human Support Systems and Instrumentation Division continues its relationship with Bigelow Aerospace to develop and integrate ORBITEC’S cost-effective environmental control and life support systems, subsystems, and components for Bigelow’s Sundancer and other applications in commercial space travel and habitation.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden commented on dramatic changes in store for the American human space program, Mars exploration and killer asteroids during a visit to Israel.
Bolden gave a strong defense of the Obama Administration’s embrace of commercial space companies for human missions. He said that the space agency has always used commercial assets to go to space, noting that the space shuttles were built by private companies, and that launch operations have been privatized. However, a different approach to human spaceflight is necessary as the space shuttle program ends.