spacetoday.net: News briefs: September 29-30

Posted: Mon, Oct 1, 2001, 10:43 AM ET (1443 GMT)
The Air Force postponed the launch of a Titan 4B booster late Sunday evening, citing unspecified technical problems. The rocket was scheduled to lift off Monday afternoon from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and place a classified spacecraft into orbit. The launch has been tentatively rescheduled for Tuesday... Former astronaut Marc Garneau has been named as the new president of the Canadian Space Agency. Garneau, the first Canadian to fly in space, flew on three shuttle missions between 1984 and 2000 before becoming the executive vice president of the CSA earlier this year. Garneau succeeds Mac Evans, who is retiring in November after over 30 years of space-related government service... Congress is expected to agree on an omnibus budget bill for fiscal year 2002 by the middle of October, according to a Spacelift Washington article on SpaceRef.com. That bill is expected to include $14.9 billion for NASA, the amount the House approved earlier this year; the Senate had passed a budget closer to the $14.5 billion originally proposed by President Bush. Congress may also include provisions in the defense budget that would support the development of reusable launch vehicles by the private sector, if the efforts of New Mexico senator Pete Domenici are successful.