The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is disbanding the Space Enterprise Council that it fostered more than eight years ago.

No public press release announcement of the switch was made by the Chamber.

The council has been an active group, organizing seminars on key matters such as what NASA needs to see in proposals from contractors that will bid on various elements of the next-generation Constellation Program, which will develop and build the future U.S. spaceship system transporting U.S. astronauts to low Earth orbit, the moon, and beyond.

Those sessions were held in the ornate marble Chamber headquarters, across Lafayette Park from the White House.

It is unclear at this point just what will happen to the council, and whether it will be able to migrate into another business advocacy group headquartered in Washington such as the National Association of Manufacturers.

Friday, the Chamber hosted a symposium on the space economy that was organized by George Mason University, a school in Virginia. (Please see separate story in this issue.)