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A senator and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s science subcommittee wants the U.S. government to ensure that any hosted payloads hitching rides on commercial satellites are subject to “launch America” requirements. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent an Aug. 23 letter to Vice President Mike Pence requesting that the National Space Transportation Policy that calls on NASA and the Defense Department to use U.S.-built space transportation vehicles “to the maximum extent possible” remove an exemption for hosted payloads. Pence serves…
