Hey there!
The churn continued with a similar velocity this week, with a growing number of U.S. government department and agency personnel receiving the “Fork In The Road” retirement-buyout email, and finding themselves in front of a member of Elon Musk’s DOGE Band of Bros to justify their work.
In the space domain, reports from a number of technology and space-focused media outlets and a letter authored by U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin describe DOGE Bros entering the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. Rep. Raskin represents the district where the headquarters is located.
NOAA, which includes the Office of Space Commerce, administers the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center - critical missions for domestic security. Almost every national critical infrastructure sector in the United States depends on NOAA for accurate quality environmental data and analysis for decision-making, risk models, and to de-risk investment.
NOAA’s 2024 budget was $6.376 billion. Like the entire federal government, it has remained open under a series of continuing resolutions, with the latest one set to expire in five weeks.
According to the website, NOAA (and therefore the U.S. taxpayer) owns and operates eight satellites; operates, but does not own, seven satellites; and owns three satellites operated by commercial entities. NOAA also administers in partnership with the Department of Defense the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program to “provide the military with important environmental information used in planning and conducting U.S. military operations worldwide.” In fact, NOAA calls itself the nation’s “environmental intelligence agency”.
Allegedly DOGE Bros gained access to NOAA’s IT systems on Wednesday, claiming they were hunting for signs of programs related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, colloquially known as DEI. The day before, acting Secretary of Commerce Jeremy Pelter and acting NOAA Administrator Nancy Hann instructed NOAA employees administering NOAA’s Google Cloud systems to give the DOGE Bros “edit access”. In an email, employees were also ordered "to pause “ALL INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS.” (Emphasis theirs),”” with non-U.S. persons and organizations.
To understand where this is likely all going, one need look no further than page 664 in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 document titled, “2025 Mandate For Leadership”, which states: “The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories.”
What’s in this episode
This week, while goods from Canada and Mexico received a month-long reprieve from a 25% tariff, Chinese goods have been slapped with an additional 10% import duty, or tax. Because the policy contains no carve-outs for the minerals or rare earths critical to space systems, space companies may need to brace for a serious bite on their budgets and business plans. China has responded by further tightening export restrictions on key minerals.
Who’s in this episode
Bryan Zetlen - Launch and Payloads Operations Manager, Virtus Solis Technologies, Lecturer, and Engineer with deep experience at NASA, the Federal Communications Commission, Boeing, and Rand
Bailey Reichelt - Founding Partner, Aegis Law, and Member of the Board of Directors, Association Of Commercial Space Professionals
Reading:
Minerals, Rare Earths, and Tariffs
”Trump says he will announce 25% steel and aluminum tariffs Monday, and more import duties are coming” - Christopher Rugaber, AP, February 9, 2025
“Mine Games: Securing America’s Critical Mineral Supply” - Karen Jones and Chloe Skorupa, The Aerospace Corporation, January 2024
“Canadian Tariffs Will Undermine U.S. Minerals Security” - Gracelin Baskaran, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), January 29, 2025
“Trump Blinks on North American Tariffs” - The Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2025
“Tin (and Other Metal) Whisker Induced Failures” - NASA
“A Federal Strategy To Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals” - Donald Trump Executive Order, White House, December 20, 2017
DOGE Bros
“Unmasked: Musk’s Secret DOGE Goon Squad—Who Are All Under 26” - Josh Fiallo, Daily Beast, February 3, 2025
“Musk says he will bring back DOGE staffer who resigned after a report of racist postings” - Michell Price, AP, February 7, 2025
United States District Court Southern District Of New York order granting an application for a temporary restraining order filed by the Attorneys General of 19 States. Here is the Reuters summary of the judgement in its February 8, 2025 article, “US judge temporarily blocks Musk's DOGE from accessing payment systems.”
Money
“ Federal Reserve issues FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) statement” - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 29, 2025
“Transcript of Chair Powell’s Press Conference” - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 29, 2025
NASA
“NASA Pauses Activities of Community-Based Science Groups” - Marcia Smith, SpacePolicyOnline.com, February 3, 2025
“Boeing warns moon rocket program employees of layoffs” - Reuters, February 8, 2025
Iron Dome Executive Order
“Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Capabilities in response to Executive Order "The Iron Dome for America" - Missile Defense Agency, Sam.gov, January 31, 2025
“Exclusive: Here’s who Hegseth may task to put together Trump’s Iron Dome plan” - Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense, February 6, 2025
“EXCLUSIVE: DoD memo seeks review of Space Development Agency’s independent status, plans” - Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense, February 7, 2025
Again, hoping for a slower week…
Ad Astra,
Laura
