November 5 News Items

New President Will Maintain Defense Spending, Experts Say (Source: AIA)
Analysts say Democrat Barack Obama's win in Tuesday's presidential election will have little effect on defense spending, as the next president will be loath to make cuts that could cost Americans jobs during an economic downturn. "The basic, core defense budget will not be reduced because I don't think it can afford to be reduced," said Clay Jones, chief executive officer of Rockwell Collins. Obama understands the "criticality of an adequate defense budget and importance of strong defense," said Marion Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. (11/5)

Will Space’s Influence in the House be Diminished? (Source: SpacePolitics.com)
The outcome of the 2008 elections had little influence on the standing of space in the Senate. The most prominent advocates of NASA and space policy were not up for reelection this year. The story is different in the House, and for space advocates not for the better. Colorado's Mark Udall won a seat in the Senate. Alabama's Bud Cramer and Florida's Dave Weldon did not run for re-election. And Florida's Tom Feeney (ranking Republican on the space subcommittee) and Texas' Nick Lampson (who was offered chairmanship of the space subcommittee) were defeated.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA), who had been the vice-chair of the space subcommittee, presumably is in line to chair the subcommittee. The chair and ranking member of the full science committee, Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Ralph Hall (R-TX), will be back, as well as another staunch space advocate on the appropriations committee, John Culberson (R-TX). It will, though, be a time of transition in the House just as NASA approaches its biggest transition since the end of Apollo. (11/5)

Is Florida Well Positioned for Space in Congress? (Source: ERAU)
Dave Weldon and Tom Feeney held senior positions on key committees that influenced our nation's space policies and spending. With both of them out of the picture, will Florida's space interests be heard in Congress? That could depend on the committee assignments of the new members replacing Weldon and Feeney. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) and Suzanne Kosmas (D-New Smyrna) both have a clear interest in space issues and their mixed party affiliations could be an advantage, since Weldon and Feeney were both in the minority. Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez are similarly situated, allowing space issues to be handled with bi-partisan support.

Florida is expected grow in its number of electoral college votes, and in its number of House members, making the state a more important prize in the 2012 presidential election and potentially adding another Central Florida/Space Coast voice in Congress. It is probably a good assumption that the space program will be at another critical juncture in 3-4 years, meaning space issues will receive continued attention in the political arena. (11/5)

Did Space Help Deliver Florida for Obama? (Sources: SpacePolitics.com, ERAU)
All the attention that space policy got in the 2008 election for president was primarily focused on Florida’s Space Coast. Brevard County (typically a Republican stronghold) was part of the so-called “I-4 Corridor” that was key to winning the state. So how did the election go in Brevard, one of the few places where space policy is a major issue? Obama got 44% of the vote in Brevard, compared to 55% for McCain. Compare this to 58% won by George W. Bush in 2004 and it's clear that Obama chipped away at Brevard's Republican majority.

Another key I-4 Corridor county, Volusia, lies on the northern boundary of KSC. Obama won Volusia by almost 14,000 votes. Between Brevard and Volusia counties, Obama’s numbers improved by 6 and 4 points respectively, for a total of 23,000 votes. According to one Obama campaign official that followed the Obamanauts movement, "these kinds of small but significant shifts help deliver Florida and the nation to President-elect Obama."

Obama developed a detailed space policy white paper that appealed to many space industry voters, and he garnered several high-profile pro-space endorsements, but it is near-impossible to tell whether space was a tipping-point issue for individual voters on the Space Coast and in the I-4 Corridor. (11/5)

China Successfully Launches 2 Meteorological Satellites (Source: RIA Novosti)
China put into orbit on Wednesday two remote sensing satellites to gather hydrological and meteorological data. Both satellites were launched on board a Long March 2D carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Chuangxin 1-02 and Shiyan Satellite 3 were successfully inserted into orbit. China has recently unveiled comprehensive space exploration plans, including plans to build its own orbital space station and laboratory before 2020. (11/5)

New Mexico County's Spaceport Tax Turned Down by Voters (Source: Alamogordo Daily News)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority had hopes of adding Otero County to the regional spaceport district and its tax rolls. As of 11 p.m. with all votes but absentee in the spaceport tax was losing with 47.74 percent f the voters in favor of the tax and 52.26 percent against it. Spaceport America Executive Director Steve Landeene said where he and other supporters were able to talk to folks, they had a 100 percent turnaround of opinion. "But the question is, did we get to everybody?" Landeene said. "Did we get enough and did the message resonate?" (11/5)

Mitsubishi Heavy Nears Launch Deal for South Korean Satellite (Source: TradingMarkets.com)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been awarded a preferential negotiation right to launch a South Korean satellite in 2011 using a domestic H-II rocket. This would be the firm's first deal involving a client other than the Japanese government and one that could vault it into the ranks of the world's major satellite launchers. Mitsubishi Heavy competed with a Russian company in the bid for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute's multipurpose satellite: Kompsat-3. (11/5)