WASHINGTON Congress is starting to set its own directions for the U.S. space program as it approaches the final act in NASA’s Fiscal 2003 funding process without a clear idea of the Bush administration’s long-term plans for the agency.

WASHINGTON Faced with a transportation security supplemental budget request that’s been slashed by more than $1 billion, the Bush administration is waffling on its heretofore staunch commitment to federalize screeners at 429 airports by Nov. 19 and to begin probing all checked bags for bombs by Dec. 31.

COLORADO SPRINGS Combining U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Space Command is not a merger or a takeover, but the creation of a new command having a global perspective, according to Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Called Strategic Command or Stratcom, this new entity may become a pathfinder for the Pentagon’s military transformation plans.

Los Angeles Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus drone started taxi tests earlier this month, and officials hope to make a first flight by the end of the summer. The X-47A Pegasus demonstrator is part of Northrop’s bid for the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV-N) program to build an autonomous carrier-based surveillance and attack drone, for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Navy.

WASHINGTON Threatened with FAA layoffs of air traffic services personnel in September, congressional conferees nonetheless appropriated less to the agency than Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta says it needs, and the approved package came with strings attached.

Washington Satellite services continue to drive growth in the worldwide satellite industry, estimated at 16% this year in a new report by the U.S. satellite industry association. A survey conducted by Futron Corp. for the Satellite Industries Assn. (SIA) projected revenue of $91.3 billion this year for all industry sectors, up from $78.5 billion in 2001 revenues.

TOKYO A report on the worst near-collision in Japanese airline history—one with 677 lives at stake—has aroused public concern about the quality of the nations air traffic control system, especially because what went wrong in the skies west of Tokyo was hauntingly similar to the July 1 tragedy in Germany.

NEW YORK General Electric is executing a wide-ranging technology development and maturation effort to acquire and bank the technologies that will be needed for widebody transport engines entering service between 2008 and 2015. The efforts are being conducted under two programs, the Generation X project, which is seeking 2008 engine technologies like those needed by Boeing’s Mach 0.98 Sonic Cruiser; and Generation Y, a longer-term endeavor aimed at powerplants coming into service around 2015.