Hypersonic Research Airplane Authorization Act of 1993

Summary: Hypersonic Research Airplane Authorization Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to submit jointly to the Congress a plan for the National Aerospace Plane Program, including development plans (and capped costs) for a hypersonic research airplane.  Authorizes specified appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hypersonic Research Airplane 
Authorization Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The timely development in the United States of a 
        single-stage-to-orbit, air-breathing aerospace plane is 
        expected to result in a major reduction of the cost of payload 
        delivery into space, and could therefore provide the United 
        States aerospace industry with a major competitive boost in 
        international markets in the twenty-first century.
            (2) There are significant strategic advantages associated 
        with having access to a hypersonic aerospace plane.
            (3) The recently restructured National Aerospace Plane 
        Program, under which the decision to design and construct an X-
        30 aircraft has been indefinitely deferred, has lost sight of 
        the initial goal of the Program, which was the timely 
        development of a single-stage-to-orbit hypersonic research 
        airplane with an air-breathing engine and the capability to 
        take off and land from a runway.
            (4) To provide the proper focus for the National Aerospace 
        Plane Program and to obtain sufficient data for the timely 
        development of a single-stage-to-orbit hypersonic aircraft, the 
        Program must include the development, in the near future, of a 
        hypersonic research airplane which will push the limits of the 
        flight envelope using existing technology.
            (5) The timely deployment of a hypersonic research airplane 
        will decrease the overall technical uncertainty, size, and cost 
        of eventually building a single-stage-to-orbit airplane.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``National Aerospace Plane'' means an airplane 
        which--
                    (A) utilizes single-stage-to-orbit technology;
                    (B) relies on air-breathing propulsion to achieve 
                orbital speeds;
                    (C) utilizes technology with the potential to 
                reduce substantially the cost of delivery of payloads 
                to orbit; and
                    (D) can take off and land on a runway.
            (2) The term ``hypersonic research airplane'' means an 
        airplane which--
                    (A) utilizes air-breathing propulsion and carries 
                no payload except for a pilot and necessary 
                instrumentation;
                    (B) is a precursor of the National Aerospace Plane 
                and is instrumented to collect hypersonic aerodynamic 
                and combustion data in the speed regime beyond Mach 8; 
                and
                    (C) extends flight envelope boundaries by flying at 
                speeds that push the limits of technology developed as 
                of the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (3) The term ``single-stage-to-orbit'' means a technology 
        which enables an aircraft to fly into orbit from a runway 
        without expendable booster rockets.
            (4) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Defense.
            (5) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
            (6) The term ``development'' means design, construction, 
        and initial testing.

SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF A HYPERSONIC RESEARCH AIRPLANE.

    (a) Submission of Plan.--Within 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Administrator shall 
jointly submit to the Congress a plan for the National Aerospace Plane 
Program. In developing the plan, the Secretary and the Administrator 
shall consider existing independent proposals which meet the purposes 
of the plan. The plan shall--
            (1) contain specific plans for the development of a 
        hypersonic research airplane that costs not more than 
        $5,000,000,000, and the first flight of which is within 5 years 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) have the objective of achieving single-stage-to-orbit 
        with the airplane referred to in paragraph (1) or with a 
        research aircraft that is the follow-on to such an airplane.
    (b) Participation by Other Entities.--The Secretary and the 
Administrator may enter into arrangements with Federal agencies, 
States, universities, nonprofit entities, industry, international 
sources, or other persons, or with consortia thereof, for participation 
in the research, development, design, construction, and operation of 
the hypersonic research airplane referred to in subsection (a)(1) and 
the National Aerospace Plane, except that any such arrangement may not 
jeopardize the strategic advantage to the United States to be gained 
from the National Aerospace Plane Program.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary and the Administrator a total of 
$5,000,000,000 for fiscal years 1995 through 2000 to carry out the plan 
referred to in subsection (a). No funds appropriated pursuant to this 
subsection may be obligated until 60 days after the submission of the 
plan under subsection (a)(1).