The Biden administration will keep the National Space Council — reestablished initially by the Trump administration — and Vice President Kamala Harris plans to chair it.
Why it matters: Many see the National Space Council as integral to policy development and inter-agency collaboration as the nation increasingly relies on space for national security and other uses.
Oxitec, a British startup determined to prevent instances of mosquito-borne disease, released thousands of genetically modified mosquito eggs in the Florida Keys this week as part of a test approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and Florida's agriculture department.
Why it matters: It marks the first release of genetically modified mosquitoes in the U.S. and has some locals worried about how this will impact the broader ecosystem, according to CNN.
NASA has told Elon Musk's SpaceX to pause work under an exclusive Moon program contract until the Government Accountability Office rules on rival bidders' challenges, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Companies including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin vied for the contract as a source of funding to build a lunar spacecraft. The high-profile project is looking to send humans back to the Moon for the first time since 1972.
