This is a good change, particularly if it lights fires under other contenders than Vast. But NASA should never have been in the business of “certifying” commercial space facilities. The industry does need to develop some building codes, though.
Category Archives: Space
A Rare Event
Neil de Grasse Tyson says something smart.
I’m so glad we have smart science man to warn us against the dangers of conquering the moon people and taking their cheese https://t.co/ZrFGE6otC8
— Spencer A. Klavan (@SpencerKlavan) August 7, 2025
Trump’s Second-Term Space Policy
Yes, it’s an ongoing mess.
[Wednesday-morning update]
Yes, putting a nuclear reactor (in fact, several of them) on the Moon is a great idea, but it’s out of context with the policy mess. If we want to put reactors on the Moon, we have to come up with a scalable, affordable transportation infrastructure to get not only them, but lots of things there. We don’t currently have one, and no one in the administration seems to be concerned about it.
Why And How To End SLS Now
My long awaited (at least by me) study for the Reason Foundation is now online.
[Friday-morning update]
The best word to describe NASA’s lunar program is “delusional.”
[Bumped]
[Update Saturday morning]
A nice summary of the policy paper.
Starship’s Fate
Well, it’s next weekend, and we’re back from Vegas. Here‘s a good article on the state of play for the beast. I suspect that the hed wasn’t written by the author.
[Update early afternoon]
This seems related, somehow. Sarah Hoyt’s thoughts on The Man Who Sold The Moon.
[Sunday-morning update]
Happy Moon Day
I’ll be on The Space Show at noon PDT to talk about the 56th anniversary.
Light Blogging
I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I had a hernia repaired a couple weeks ago, and I’ve been having some post-surgery complications. I’ve also been writing an op-ed for the WSJ, and answers to FAQs for the Reason project. We’re going to Vegas on Monday for the AIAA ASCEND meeting, where we’ll be all week.
For those concerned, though, I should be fully recovered and back up to speed by next weekend.
[Monday-morning update]
Driving to Vegas today for AIAA/ASCEND. I’ll try to check in during the week from there.
[Bumped]
Starliner
A comprehensive rundown on its future, and that of Commercial Crew in general.
Two Billion Dollars?
Why would the National Space Council need that much money? What would they spend it on?
The NASA Budget Battle
Bob Zimmerman has the latest. Space policy will continue to be a mess until someone with vision for it is put into place (and probably even then). It’s not at all clear that Duffy knows which end the fire comes out of.