Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of March 22-28, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
During the Week
It’s a busy, busy, busy week that started already this morning with the successful launch of Russia’s Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station from the repaired Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Progress MS-33 (which NASA calls Progress 94) lifted off the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this morning and will dock at the ISS on Tuesday. Photo credit: NASA
The spacecraft, which NASA calls Progress 94 because it’s the 94th Progress to resupply the ISS, will dock with the ISS on Tuesday at 9:34 am ET. Although everything apparently went well with liftoff, RussianSpaceWeb’s Anatoly Zak reports that one of the two KURS antennas needed for an automated docking didn’t deploy and cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov will perform a manual docking using the TORU backup system.
On Capitol Hill, the Senate is meeting in a rare weekend session right now debating how to fund all or part of the Department of Homeland Security (controversial because it includes funding for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol), and whether to pass the SAVE Act that concerns voter eligibility. Both topics are well outside the scope of this website, so we’ll leave it there, but the Senate will be busy all week long before leaving — along with the House — for a two week spring recess scheduled to begin on Friday. Whether they can get Matt Anderson’s nomination to be NASA Deputy Administrator done before then, with the Artemis II launch on the horizon, remains to be seen. Senate leadership’s priority is getting Markwayne Mullin confirmed as DHS Secretary, but they might be able to get a few others through. Time will tell.
The Senate and House have several space-related hearings plus a markup this week, all of which will be webcast by the various committees:
National Security Space
Wednesday, March 25, 3:00 pm ET: HASC Strategic Forces Subcommittee, National Security Space Programs and Activities (Mark Berkowitz, OSD; Thomas Ainsworth, DAF; Brett Markham, NGA; William Adkins, NRO; Lt. Gen. Douglas Scheiss, USSF)
Thursday, March 26, 9:30 am ET: SASC Full Committee, Posture of U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command (Gen. Stephen Whiting and Adm. Richard Correll)
Civil/Commercial Space
Wednesday, March 25, 10:00 am ET: House SS&T space subcommittee, The Future of Low Earth Orbit: From the ISS to Commercial Platforms (Joel Montalbano, NASA; Dave Cavossa, CSF; Charlie Precourt, ASAP)
Wednesday, March 25, 10:00 am ET: Senate Commerce markup of several bills including two regarding satellites — S. 1962, the Secure Satellite Act, and S. 3404, the Satellite Cybersecurity Act
We’ll note with a bit of a smile that the House will take up the “Smart Space Act of 2026,” but it’s about financing for constructing public buildings, not the space program.
All of that is competing for our attention with these events just in D.C., not to mention elsewhere:
Monday-Thursday: the annual SATShow, Satellite 2026, this year combined with GovMilSpace, plus side events at and near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center;
Monday-Friday: the National Academies’ annual Space Science Week at the National Academy of Sciences building on Constitution Avenue with meetings of each of the space science committees and a plenary session on Tuesday that includes high ranking NASA officials, and a public event on Wednesday night with the singer Jewel on imagination and science;
Tuesday, March 24, 2:00 pm ET: the Atlantic Council’s “Shaping the New Space Age” at their headquarters with representatives from the UAE Space Agency and Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, Viasat, ESA, and Space42;
Wednesday, March 25, 1:00-5:30 pm ET: Meridian International’s Space Diplomacy Summit with House SS&T Chair Brian Babin (R-Texas), former NASA administrator and Managing Partner of the Artemis Group Jim Bridenstine, UN Outer Space Affairs Office Director Aarti Holla-Maini, and many more prestigious speakers;
Thursday, March 26, 1:00-5:30 pm ET: the annual USRA/SPI (University Space Research Association/Space Policy Institute) symposium with the theme “Science for a New Era of Exploration: Path from the Moon to Mars” with an impressive group of speakers including NASA SMD Associate Administrator Nicky Fox, JPL Chief Scientist Jonathan Lunine, and former NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green.
We’ll stop there and let everyone peruse the full list of events below.
We will mention, however, that NASA is having an all-day meeting at NASA HQ on Tuesday that will be livestreamed. Few details have been made public, but the focus is on how NASA will execute President Trump’s December 18, 2025 Executive Order on Ensuring American Space Superiority. NASA refers to it as the National Space Policy although it’s not as comprehensive as previous presidential national space policies, including Trump’s in 2020. In any case, the focus on Tuesday is Artemis, and international and industry leaders will be there along with the media. A news conference is at 4:30 pm ET. The information we were given isn’t embargoed, but NASA hasn’t put out an official announcement yet. If they do later today or tomorrow (Monday) morning we’ll update this.
Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below. Check back throughout the week for others we learn about later and add to our Calendar or changes to these.
Sunday, March 22
Monday, March 23
Monday-Thursday, March 23-26
Monday-Friday, March 23-27
Munich Space Summit, Munich, Germany
Space Science Week (National Academies), National Academy of Sciences building, 2101 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC (open sessions livestreamed, some committees meet jointly with others)
Plenary Session, Tuesday, March 24, 10:00 am-6:00 pm ET
Public Lecture, Wednesday, March 25, 7:00 pm ET (livestreamed): An Instrument Nature Can Play: Data, Sound, and the Work of Imagination in Science, with singer Jewel
Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA), March 25-26
Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS), March 23 and March 25-26
Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space (CBPSS), March 25-26
Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space (CESAS), March 24 (8:45-9:45 am ET, with CORF), and March 25-26
Committee on Solar and Space Physics (CSSP), March 25
Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP), March 24 (8:45-9:45 am ET) and March 25-27
Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF), March 24 (8:45-9:45 am ET with CESAS)
Tuesday, March 24
Progress MS-33 Docks with ISS, 9:34 am ET (NASA coverage begins 8:45 am ET)
NASA Meeting on Executing the President’s National Space Policy, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 9:00 am-5:30?pm ET (livestreamed)
Shaping the New Space Age (Atlantic Council), 1400 L St., NW, Washington, DC, 2:00-4:00 pm ET (livestreamed)
Wednesday, March 25
House SS&T Sbcmte Hrg on Future of LEO: From ISS to Commercial Platforms, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am ET (webcast)
Senate Commerce Markup Including Two Satellite Bills, 253 Russell Senate Office Building, 10:00 am ET (webcast)
Space Diplomacy Forum (Meridian International), 1630 Crescent Place, NW, Washington, DC, 1:00-5:30 pm ET (livestreamed)
HASC Sbcmte Hrg on National Security Space Programs, 2118 Rayburn House Office Building, 3:00 pm ET (webcast)
Thursday, March 26
ESA Pre-Launch Bfg (in English) for SMILE Mission, 9:00 am ET (watch on ESA TV)
SASC Hrg on Posture of U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command, SD-G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, 9:30 am ET (webcast)
FCC Open Meeting including Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff, 45 L St., NE, Washington, DC, 10:30 am-12:30 pm ET (webcast)
Science for a New Era of Exploration: Path from the Moon to Mars (USRA/SPI), Holiday Inn, Washington, DC, National Mall, 550 C St., SW, Washington, DC, 1:00-5:30 pm ET (livestreamed)
Thursday-Friday, March 26-27
Last Updated: Mar 22, 2026 5:21 pm ET