TYB
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techland/end-chevron-doctrine-will-unleash-space-exploration-212268
The End of Chevron Doctrine Will Unleash Space Exploration
August 9, 2024
When weighing factors that affect America’s strength in our renewed era of great-power competition, too many analysts overlook domestic regulatory law. June’s Supreme Court ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the forty-year-old judicial doctrine known as “Chevron deference,” requires us to think carefully about a crucial domain of American power: outer space.
The celestial writ of administrative agencies determines how American corporations and government entities behave in space—and hence our capacity to meet challenges from Russia and China.
It may take years for the impacts of this decision on legislation and administrative law to become fully apparent, especially for the space community.
Right away, however, it seems there are significant opportunities to shape new rules that will guide our future interactions with the universe that lies beyond our skies.
Contrary to the concerns of some, the Loper Bright decision does not condemn us to anarchic chaos. Instead, it allows us to address the weaknesses of a sometimes opaque and clunky top-down process by providing a more deliberative and open one.
Chevron deference originated from a 1984 Supreme Court ruling, changing the way that administrative and regulatory agencies could act when statutory language was unclear.
Courts were instructed to grant significant discretion to regulatory bodies in interpreting ambiguous laws, intervening only if an interpretation was deemed impermissible.
This deference placed detailed technical decisions in the hands of the executive branch. Over the past four decades, Chevron has been central in rule and regulation development, significantly shifting the balance of power from the judiciary to the executive.
Michael Listner, writing in Space Review, provides a good overview.
Some assert that this decision bodes ill for future space activities. But the decision cannot easily be reversed.
It is more useful to discuss the opportunities and challenges it presents for the space community rather than lament the passing of an idealized pre-Loper world.
Importantly, the Loper decision does not eliminate regulatory agencies or rulemaking. These agencies will continue to make rules, and people will still be able to contest those rulings in court.
Congress will still delegate regulatory authority through legislation. The end of Chevron deference changes the forum for debate when laws are unclear, leaving us to navigate this new landscape.
Looking at the vast expanse of possibilities that shape the landscape of space activity, we must consider the basic nature of space activities themselves.
One essential fact is that our knowledge of practical details of what we do in and with the rest of the universe is inherently limited. Nobody can foresee with certainty all future discoveries or innovations, nor can we predict our chances for success.
Everyone—from judges to regulators, legislators, and industry leaders—is (and may always be) on the early part of the learning curve. Over the last seventy years, we have learned much about outer space.
Yet, compared to the vastness of the universe, our knowledge is just an infinitesimal drop in the bucket. We should approach discussions about our future in space with extreme humility.
Space offers countless stumbling blocks for those who approach it with hubris.
The problem the Chevron doctrine presented for space was not about creating regulations but about how those regulations would be developed. Background discussions and debates are critical.
The difficulties of operating in space and the humility they demand mean that, above all else, we need to be careful about showing our work when making difficult decisions.
The regulatory process may involve listening sessions, public comments, and the creation of precedent. However, these are all secondary activities, not necessities.
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The judiciary has a long record of tackling matters through open and public debate. Decisions come with opinions that refer not just to earlier precedents but to foundational principles.
Courts often have multiple judges making rulings, generating majority, dissenting, and concurrent opinions where judges are compelled to explain their reasoning and the facts and precedent that inform it.
This engagement on basic questions of meaning, value, and principles disappears when the rulemaking process buries those debates in an opaque interagency process.
Rules are issued without clear records of careful debate or probing questions intended to expose and examine the basic reasoning and premises behind decisions.
Moreover, the process can give rise to questions about agency motivation. By putting disputes before an independent third party, we can address concerns about whether an agency is acting in its own best interests or truly advocating for all stakeholders.
At the other end of the spectrum, Congress could pivot towards a common law approach to space, leaving the development and evolution of behavioral norms to the open debate and precedent that would emerge from an environment of permissionless innovation.
Unlike her authoritarian rivals, America has a robust and effective private sector devoted to space activities. Companies like SpaceX are vastly lowering the costs of orbital access, rewriting the book on space infrastructure.
While Russia is developing space weapons and China is aggressively pursuing moon missions, both are overly reliant on rigid and inefficient centralized government processes.
There is nothing comparable to America’s profit-seeking space sector in these countries. Therein lies our advantage.
A decentralized and precedent-based system for creating space rules can advance America’s national interests while thwarting the ambitions of its competitors. International treaties might establish broad principles but provide little guidance on routine activities.
Changing international regulatory structures is enormously difficult since it requires concurrence on basic principles among treaty parties. What are the chances America, Russia, and China will see eye-to-eye on rules for an essential site of strategic competition?
However, there are ways forward that play to America’s strengths. The Artemis Accords, an agreement spearheaded by NASA and the State Department, lays the foundation for such a system by asserting the permissibility of private property rights in space.
The Accords have been signed by more than forty nations, with more sure to come.
This is a major step towards creating a pro-commerce space environment—which, given America’s decisive advantage in business and wealth creation, promotes our security against our rivals’ machinations.
To be clear, we cannot leave space governance entirely to the market. America must respect her treaty obligations, which require overseeing the space activities of her private citizens and government actors.
Congress and the president will continue to make national space policy. Judges will continue to determine the suitability of private and public acts with existing law.
Administrative agencies, acting under a clear legislative grant of authority, still have an important role to play in ensuring compliance with space best practices.
The challenge is how to include and engage all these different sources of expertise.
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A sensible path forward involves compromise, balancing executive rulemaking with judicial deliberation. Congressional legislation can specify cases where an implementing agency has the authority to act as a regulatory surrogate.
Simultaneously, Congress can use its legislative authority to create and equip courts to address space issues. Courts can bolster their technical capabilities with special masters to investigate technical issues, amicus curiae briefs, and other tools.
This approach allows us to address routine technical rulemaking. The establishment of best practices for the bigger questions can proceed at its own pace instead of demanding an unnatural degree of prescience from legislators and regulators.
We are venturing into new territory for regulations and administrative law. Short-sighted, unwise, or rash decisions about what we will permit or forbid in space can lead to an interminable stream of negative consequences.
The best way to establish a clearly understood, well-reasoned, and thoughtful approach to governing space is through public debate, real experience, and careful engagement. That includes allowing for the emergence of some forms of private rulemaking.
We need a combination of wise statesmanship and bold entrepreneurship to create a space environment conducive to America’s needs.
The end of Chevron deference offers a unique opportunity to build institutions and capabilities that will unite us in plotting a course to the stars that will redound to our wellbeing on earth.
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Sun unleashes X-class solar flare, blasts 3rd coronal mass ejection toward Earth in a week
August 9, 2024
There are now three different coronal mass ejections (CMEs) heading toward our planet, which could mean increased opportunities this weekend to see the aurora across the northern U.S. and Europe.
CMEs are massive blasts of magnetic field and plasma that originate from solar flares from the sun, which can lead to powerful geomagnetic storms for us on Earth.
These storms are what give skywatchers the chance to witness the stunning showcase of colors across the night sky known as auroras.
Two CMEs were already Earth-bound from M-class solar flares that erupted on Wednesday (Aug. 7) and scientists at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) confirmed in their forecast discussion that another one originated from an X-class flare on Thursday (Aug. 8).
These CMEs are timed up perfectly with the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 11 and 12, meaning skywatchers could potentially catch not one stunning celestial spectacle this weekend, but two.
X-class solar flares are the most powerful class of solar flares, and the X designation is followed by a number 1 through 9 that indicates their strength, with 9 being the highest.
Thursday's blast from sunspot region AR3777 came in at a X1.3 and peaked around 3:35 p.m. EDT (1935 UTC).
This was the strongest yet from this active region, and the flare resulted in disruptions to shortwave radio, producing a blackout across North America including the Hawaiian Islands, according to NOAA.
There are no speed limits for CMEs, in fact, Spaceweather.com shared in a post that Thursday’s eruption surpassed 2.2 million mph (1,000 km/s)!
With the trio of CMEs forecast to arrive between now and the end of the weekend, a geomagnetic storm watch remains in place through Sunday (Aug. 11).
The current projection would be for a G2 (Moderate) solar storm but scientists will continue to monitor the impacts once the CMEs begin to arrive at Earth.
The possibility for viewing the auroras of course will depend on local weather conditions, but SWPC forecasters suggest it could be visible for locations across the northern and upper Midwest ranging from New York to Idaho.
You can always check your specific location through NOAA's 30-minute forecast model or the experimental Aurora Viewline which continue to be updated.
https://www.space.com/sun-3rd-solar-flare-week-geomagnetic-storm-watch-aug-2024
>a reminder who chairs the National Space Council: Vice President Harris.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/spacecouncil/
kek
Space Perspective unveils mothership boat for stratospheric balloon trips
August 9, 2024
Space Perspective has announced the completion of its new "marine spaceport" where its stratospheric balloons will take intrepid tourists to the edge of space.
The vessel, Marine Spaceport (MS) Voyager (named in commemoration of Voyager 1 interstellar probe mission), took two years to build.
Space Perspective says it is the first-ever spaceport for human spaceflight that will be on open water, and will be located on the Space Coast of Florida.
The massive world-class powerhouse spans 294 feet (90 meters) long and is equipped to both launch and retrieve the spaceflight experience company's SpaceBalloons, pressurized modules that will transport travelers on a six-hour expedition to the edge of space.
"The capability to launch and retrieve the Neptune capsule at sea creates worldwide scalability along with an unprecedented closure of the routine operations safety case," Taber MacCallum, founder and co-CEO of Space Perspective, said in a press release.
"We are proud to bring a new spaceflight capability to Port Canaveral and the Space Coast."
The launch system includes a set of rollers that will assist in preparing the balloons for liftoff, moving them around while in the vertical position on the 200-foot (61-meter) deck.
This will help minimize the launch footprint versus typical balloon launches by allowing them to take place without the assistance of aircraft carriers.
Space Perspective says the vessel also has extra maneuverability built with four generators and four engines, a Mission Control on its bridge, and support equipment for the capsule that will hang beneath its balloons, Spaceship Neptune, that can be used for both the launch and recovery process.
Following its launch and adventure to space and back, the final phase will be similar to water splashdowns of SpaceX Dragon capsules and originally from the Apollo era.
After splashdown, Spaceship Neptune will be stabilized by fast boats and then hoisted up back onto MS Voyager by a 52-foot (16-meter) lifting frame.
Space Perspective says it is the world's first carbon-neutral company providing trips to the edge of space and is working toward making the trip to space more a reality than in the past.
The company says their experience was created as a more pleasant way for explorers to experience the wonders of the edge of space without having to complete training or experience weightlessness.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/tech/space-perspective-unveils-mothership-boat-for-stratospheric-balloon-trips
Legendary space artist Adolf Schaller dies at 68
Published: August 9, 2024
One of the world’s pioneering and most talented space artists, Adolf Schaller, died in early August at age 68.
He leaves a published body of work that establishes him as one of the greatest space artists.
His attention to ongoing discoveries, from the solar system to distant galaxies, resulted in portrayals reflecting both what is known about these places and his vision of their visual appeal.
Born in 1956, Schaller’s life spanned the Space Age from its beginnings with Sputnik 1 to many recent discoveries in near and distant space.
In the mid-1970s, Astronomy magazine was a pioneering presenter of space art, and Schaller’s earlier work seen there formed a large part of that magazine’s initial “golden age.”
An editor of Astronomy, Terence Dickinson, later published several editions of a magnificent book, The Universe and Beyond (Camden House, 1992), which contained numerous illustrations by Schaller, many executed specifically for the book.
Schaller later became part of the team of artists for Carl Sagan’s PBS show Cosmos, and created many pieces of animation artwork as well as painted globes and landscape model backdrops for the series.
He later lent his talents to the PBS shows Planet Earth and Infinite Voyage. Schaller also produced many layers of art for a brief zoom to the galactic center for Douglas Trumbull’s film Brainstorm.
Schaller’s Europa landscape input for the film 2010 was too exacting for the director, who fired him when the artist’s informed knowledge clashed with the director’s preconceptions.
Schaller’s space art later appeared in press releases by many observatories and in redesigned exhibits for Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
A book by Dickinson and Schaller, Extraterrestrials: A Field Guide for Earthlings (Camden House, 1994), further shows the breadth of his conceptual and artistic abilities.
Adolf Schaller’s vision will be missed, but his work will continue to inspire.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/legendary-space-artist-adolf-schaller-dies-at-68/
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1934123/uk-mod-ufo-summit-pentagon
UK MoD sent two intelligence officials to classified Pentagon UFO summit
UPDATED: 15:08, Fri, Aug 9, 2024
Two British intelligence officials were sent to a classified international summit about UFOs at the Pentagon, it has emerged, despite the UK Ministry of Defence claiming to have had no interest in the subject since 2009.
The UFO community are convinced that world governments know more than they are letting on about the existence of aliens while governments have taken an interest in examining the phenomenon of UFOs after several unexplained sightings.
On Tuesday Express.co.uk reported that the MOD branded an earlier study by the British military into the potential existence of alien life from UFOs reportedly seen across the country, including by its pilots, a waste of taxpayer's cash.
The spokeswoman said: "In over 50 years, no sightings of extra-terrestrial intelligence, Unidentified Flying Objects and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena reported to us indicated the existence of any military threat to the United Kingdom.
"It remains more valuable to prioritise MOD resources towards other Defence-related activities. In 2009 the MOD UFO desk was closed because it served no defence purpose and was taking staff away from more valuable defence-related activities.
"There was no defence benefit in such investigations and therefore, it was deemed an inappropriate use of defence resources."
It prompted Nick Pope, a former MOD civil servant who investigated UFO phenomena, up to the 1990s to make contact with a very recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response from the MOD that suggested otherwise.
Only four days earlier the MOD sent him the FOIA response which said two members of staff from Defence Intelligence (DI) had visited the USA in connection with UFOs, now called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) by world governments.
Mr Pope had asked: How many MOD personnel attended the "inaugural UAP Caucus Working Group" held at the Pentagon on 24 May 2023?
He also asked for their grade or rank, which division they came from and if they were defence intelligence staff.
The reply said: "In regard to questions one and four, at the time of the meeting, two members of staff from Defence Intelligence (DI) were in attendance."
It would not discuss ranks or divisions due to "personnel security."
Very little is known about what went on at the meeting, but it was arranged by Five Eyes (FVEY), an anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
They work together on a treaty for cooperation in signals intelligence.
Grant Lavac, a UFO researcher based in Melbourne, Australia, obtained redacted parts of an agenda for the meeting under US freedom of information laws.
He posted them on X adding: "AARO’s Five Eyes forum on UAP that was led by former AARO Director, Dr Sean Kirkpatrick in May 2023 was officially called the 'FVEY Inaugural UAP Caucus Working Group'.
"Today I received a copy of the meeting agenda through FOIA.
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"The inaugural Working Group meeting took place at the Pentagon on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, and was attended by representatives from AARO, ODNI, FAA, NASA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
"With an entire agenda item devoted to 'FVEY Partner UAP Updates', it would be very interesting to know what each Five Eyes partner brought to the table and contributed to the discussions… particularly Australia, as AU DoD hasn’t investigated the #UAP topic since 1996 and currently has no recording/reporting protocols in place for Defence personnel."
The papers said the talks were to "cultivate shared awareness of allies' UAP issues: Detection, identification, mitigation and challenges and opportunities for mission-specific collaboration."
Mr Pope said: "This latest MOD statement obtained by the Express is virtually identical to ones I drafted for the MOD Press Office in the 1990s, as part of our standard policy to play down the true extent of our interest and involvement in UAP.
It's a clever piece of doublethink. It skilfully sidesteps the fact that while UAP hasn't displayed overt hostility, unidentified objects in UK airspace displaying unusual speeds, manoeuvres and accelerations are - in and of themselves - a defence and national security concern.
"I support this continued involvement because Defence Intelligence leads the world in many areas of intelligence collection and analysis, with scientific and technical intelligence being a particular area of strength.
"So I'm pleased that the MOD continues to make a significant contribution to the US-led effort to solve the UAP mystery - even if this isn't being disclosed to the media or the public."
The MOD has previously said:
"The UK keeps our national security posture under constant review and the UK is well-prepared to deal with threats within our airspace, with the RAF monitoring and policing UK airspace, defending the nation from any threats.
"We maintain an open and ongoing dialogue on a range of defence issues, including through the Five Eyes alliance."
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Maybe that's a good lure for some of those lefties to break the seal
Chekt, exactly.