Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the next TWO weeks plus a day and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions.

以下是 SpacePolicyOnline.com 未來兩週加一天的太空政策活動列表，以及我們可以提供的有關這些活動的任何見解。除備考會議外，眾議院和參議院均處於休會狀態。

During the Weeks

幾週內

The year’s not over yet!  We still have one more BIG EVENT in 2023, the X-37B launch on Thursday. That’s all this week, though, so we’re including the first week plus a day of the New Year as the annual round of space-related conferences begins anew.

年還沒過完呢！ 2023 年我們還有另一件大事，就是週四的 X-37B 發射。不過，這就是本週的全部內容，因此我們將第一周和新年的一天包括在內，因為一年一度的太空相關會議重新開始。

The X-37B super-secret military spaceplane launch was supposed to happen on December 7, but slipped to December 10, December 11, December 12, December 13, and then a big delay to December 28 due to bad weather or technical reasons. Neither DOD nor SpaceX have been forthcoming about the technical issues, mentioning only the need for “system checkouts.” The X-37B program is a partnership between the Department of the Air Force’s (DAF’s) Rapid Capabilities Office and the Space Force. The Air Force and the Space Force both are part of the DAF.

X-37B超秘密軍用太空梭發射原定於12月7日進行，但延至12月10日、12月11日、12月12日、12月13日，然後因惡劣天氣或技術原因大幅延後到12月28日。國防部和 SpaceX 都沒有透露技術問題，只提到需要「系統檢查」。 X-37B 計畫是空軍部 (DAF) 快速能力辦公室和太空軍之間的合作計畫。空軍和太空軍都是 DAF 的一部分。

Designated USSF-52 (U.S. Space Force-52), this is the 7th flight of an Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) in the X-37B program so is also called OTV-7. There are two Boeing-built OTVs and each flight has extended mission duration significantly. The last flight landed in November 2022 after 908 days in space. That’s about two-and-a-half years. The X-37B looks like a small space shuttle, but does not carry astronauts like the shuttle did.

指定為 USSF-52（美國太空部隊-52），這是 X-37B 計畫中軌道測試飛行器 (OTV) 的第七次飛行，因此也稱為 OTV-7。有兩架波音製造的 OTV，每次飛行都顯著延長了任務持續時間。最後一次飛行在太空飛行 908 天後於 2022 年 11 月著陸。這大約是兩年半的時間。 X-37B看起來像一架小型太空梭，但不像太空梭那樣運載太空人。

A technician walks to the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B uncrewed spaceplane after landing at Kennedy Space Center’s shuttle landing strip, November 12, 2022. Photo credit: U.S. Space Force

2022 年 11 月 12 日，一名技術人員走向美國太空軍的 X-37B 無人駕駛太空飛機，降落在甘迺迪太空中心的太空梭著陸跑道上。照片來源：美國太空軍

This is the first launch of an X-37B on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, although OTV-5 was on a Falcon 9 (the others were on United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets). There’s lots of speculation about what X-37B will be doing with all the extra orbital energy it gets from that more powerful rocket.  The Space Force doesn’t share much information about what the X-37B does while in space, but did say this mission will include operating “in new orbital regimes” and “experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies.”

這是 X-37B 首次在 SpaceX 獵鷹重型火箭上發射，儘管 OTV-5 是在獵鷹 9 號火箭上發射（其他火箭是在聯合發射聯盟 Atlas V 火箭上）。關於 X-37B 將利用從更強大的火箭獲得的所有額外軌道能量做什麼，有很多猜測。太空軍並未透露有關 X-37B 在太空中執行任務的太多信息，但表示該任務將包括「在新的軌道狀態下」運行和「試驗未來的空間域感知技術」。

There’s lots of curiosity about what all that means. COMSPOC, a Space Situational Awareness company, has posted speculative videos of two types of orbits the X-37B might fly: a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) trajectory like those of the previous missions that is essentially circular and takes about 90 minutes per orbit, or a Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) where the orbit comes close to Earth (perigee) over one hemisphere, but then swings high (apogee) over the other hemisphere allowing the satellite to linger over that part of the world for hours instead of minutes on each orbit. HEO orbits are not uncommon, but would be a first for X-37B if that’s where it’s headed. Professional and amateur satellite trackers surely will be trying to find it once it’s launched. Hopefully that’ll be Thursday. Friday is a backup if needed.

人們對這一切意味著什麼感到好奇。太空態勢感知公司 COMSPOC 發布了有關 X-37B 可能飛行的兩種軌道的推測影片：低地球軌道 (LEO) 軌跡，類似於先前的任務，基本上是圓形的，每個軌道大約需要 90 分鐘，或高橢圓軌道(HEO)，其中軌道在一個半球上接近地球（近地點），但隨後在另一個半球上高處（遠地點）擺動，使衛星能夠在世界的該地區停留數小時，而不是幾分鐘。每個軌道。 HEO 軌道並不罕見，但如果這是 X-37B 的發展方向的話，這將是 X-37B 的首個軌道。一旦它發射，專業和業餘衛星追蹤器肯定會試圖找到它。希望那是星期四。如果需要的話，週五是備用。

The New Year starts quietly, but will quickly get busy.

新年悄悄開始，但很快就會忙碌起來。

Congress remains in recess until the week of January 8 even though they have all those FY2024 appropriations bill deadlines looming, not to mention the supplemental for Ukraine/Israel aid and border policy. As a reminder, agencies in four of the 12 regular appropriations bills had their funding extended to January 19 and the other eight to February 2. The Department of Transportation, including the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, is in the first group. DOD, NASA, and the Department of Commerce are in the second.

儘管 2024 財年撥款法案的最後期限即將到來，國會仍處於休會狀態，直到 1 月 8 日這一周，更不用說烏克蘭/以色列援助和邊境政策的補充了。需要提醒的是，12 項常規撥款法案中有4 項機構的資助期限延長至1 月19 日，另外8 項機構的資助期限延長至2 月2 日。交通運輸部，包括美國聯邦航空局商業太空運輸辦公室，屬於第一組。國防部、美國太空總署和商務部位居第二。

The first week of 2024 does have a couple of events that we know about already.  The Mitchell Institute holds its first Schriever Spacepower Series webinar of the year on January 5 with USSF Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber and Nuclear. She and the Institute’s Gen. Kevin Chilton (Ret.) will discuss “the state of space operations and initiatives to assure continued access to and use of the space domain in the face of increasing kinetic, non-kinetic, and cyber threats.”

2024 年的第一周確實有一些我們已經知道的事件。米切爾研究所於 1 月 5 日與美國海軍陸戰隊負責作戰、網路和核子能力的太空作戰副局長 DeAnna Burt 中將共同舉辦了今年首屆施里弗太空力量系列網路研討會。她和該研究所的凱文·奇爾頓將軍（退休）將討論「太空作戰的狀況和舉措，以確保在面對日益增加的動能、非動能和網路威脅的情況下確保繼續進入和使用太空領域。”

On Saturday, January 6, NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) begins a two-day meeting in conjunction with the winter meeting of the American Astronautical Society (AAS). The AAS meeting starts on Sunday, January 7, and runs through Thursday the 11th. They’re meeting in New Orleans. We’ll have more on that next week.

1 月 6 日星期六，美國太空總署系外行星探索計畫分析小組 (ExoPAG) 與美國太空學會 (AAS) 冬季會議一起開始為期兩天的會議。 AAS 會議於 1 月 7 日星期日開始，一直持續到 11 日星期四。他們在新奧爾良見面。下週我們將有更多相關內容。

In the meantime, enjoy the X-37B launch, which will be webcast by SpaceX beginning 15 minutes before launch. Note that the launch window is open for 4 hours. The nominal launch time is 7:00 pm ET, but could be as late as 11:00 pm ET. Following @SpaceX on X is the easiest way to keep up to date or check SpaceX’s website.  We’ll be following it, too, of course @SpcPlcyOnline.

同時，請欣賞 X-37B 的發射，SpaceX 將在發射前 15 分鐘開始進行網路直播。請注意，啟動窗口開放 4 小時。名義啟動時間為東部時間晚上 7:00，但也可能晚於東部時間晚上 11:00。在 X 上關注 @SpaceX 是了解最新動態或查看 SpaceX 網站的最簡單方法。當然，我們也會關注它@SpcPlcyOnline。

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and a joyous New Year!

祝所有慶祝的人聖誕快樂，新年快樂！

These are the events we know about as of Sunday, December 24. Check back throughout the weeks for others we learn about later and add to our Calendar or changes to these.

這些是截至 12 月 24 日星期日我們了解到的事件。請在接下來的幾週內查看我們稍後了解的其他事件，並將其添加到我們的日曆中或對其進行更改。

Monday, December 25, 2023

2023 年 12 月 25 日星期一