After a scrub yesterday, SpaceX successfully launched the new version of Starship today. It was the 12th launch in the series, but the first of Version 3, or V3, with completely redesigned Raptor engines and other significant upgrades. Not everything went as planned, but overall it appears to have been a success.
NASA announced a major reorganization today that Administrator Jared Isaacman said is designed to “accelerate mission delivery.” He also emphasized it is not about a reduction-in-force, program cancellations or closures, but an effort to achieve cost savings and “deliver on the mission.”
SpaceX’s first attempt to launch the new version of Starship, Version 3, almost got off the launch pad today, but several hiccups with less than a minute to go meant a scrub in the end. During the webcast, however, SpaceX had other news — an interview with the man who plans to make the first interplanetary human spaceflight, flying Starship around Mars.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman asserted today that next year Chinese taikonauts “likely” will fly around the Moon and the United States no longer will hold the distinction as the only country to accomplish that feat.
This evening the Senate confirmed Matthew “Matt” Anderson to be NASA Deputy Administrator. His nomination was one of 49 considered together under Senate rules that were revised last year to allow bundled “en bloc” confirmations.
Here is SpacepolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of May 17-23, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session for all or part of the week.
NASA is beginning to share plans for the next Artemis mission, Artemis III, scheduled to launch next year. Artemis III was going to be the first human landing on the Moon since the Apollo era, but NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman reformulated the Artemis program on February 27, inserting an earth-orbiting flight into the sequence. It will test integrated operations between Orion and the landers needed to get the crew down to and back from the lunar surface. The launch date for this reimagined Artemis III mission hasn’t been announced, but some basic elements are now public.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the FY2027 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill today, rejecting deep cuts proposed by the Trump Administration. Instead of the $18.8 billion requested, the committee approved $24.4 billion, the same as what the agency received for FY2026. Still, it favors human spaceflight by cutting other NASA activities like science, which would get $1.3 billion less than current spending.
The Congressional Budget Office issued an updated estimate today of the cost of President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system. Lacking detailed data from the Administration, CBO based its analysis on the capabilities called for in Trump’s January 2025 Executive Order and concluded the total cost over 20 years is $1.2 trillion, about twice its estimate last year, with the bulk of it for Space-Based Interceptors.
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of May 9-16, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.