II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 584 

To extend the commitment of the United States to the International Space 

Station, to develop advanced space suits, and to enable human space 

settlement, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To extend the commitment of the United States to the International Space Station, to develop advanced space suits, 

and to enable human space settlement, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advancing Human 

5 Spaceflight Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Apollo 11 landing on July 20, 1969, 

2 marked the first steps of a human being on the sur3 face of another world, representing a giant leap for 

4 all humanity and a significant demonstration of the 

5 spaceflight capabilities of the United States. 

6 (2) Section 202(a) of the National Aeronautics 

7 and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 

8 (42 U.S.C. 18312(a)) establishes for the National 

9 Aeronautics and Space Administration the long-term 

10 goals of expanding human presence in space and es11 tablishing a thriving space economy in low-Earth 

12 orbit and beyond. 

13 (3) The 2017 National Security Strategy des14 ignates the human exploration of the solar system as 

15 a strategic priority for the United States. 

16 (4) Establishing and ensuring the sustainability 

17 of human space exploration of the solar system, as 

18 called for in the Space Policy Directive–1 entitled 

19 ‘‘Reinvigorating America’s Human Space Explo20 ration Program’’ (82 Fed. Reg. 239 (December 11, 

21 2017)) and the National Space Exploration Cam22 paign Report of the National Aeronautics and Space 

23 Administration issued in September 2018, will re24 quire carrying out human exploration and related 


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1 extravehicular activities on the surface of other ce2 lestial bodies in a safe and cost-effective manner. 

3 (5) The Johnson Space Center has decades of 

4 experience working with international partners, 

5 other Federal agencies, and partners in industry and 

6 academia to study, develop, and carry out the 

7 human spaceflight priorities of the United States. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra11 tion’’ means the National Aeronautics and Space 

12 Administration. 

13 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

15 Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

16 (3) JOHNSON SPACE CENTER.—The term 

17 ‘‘Johnson Space Center’’ means the Lyndon B. 

18 Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. 

19 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON PERMANENT ESTAB20 LISHMENT OF HUMAN PRESENCE CAPA21 BILITY IN LOW-EARTH ORBIT. 

22 It is the policy of the United States to permanently 

23 establish a human presence capability in low-Earth orbit 

24 and that such capability shall— 


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1 (1) maintain the global leadership of the United 

2 States and relationships with partners and allies; 

3 (2) contribute to the general welfare of the 

4 United States; and 

5 (3) be affordable so as not to preclude a robust 

6 portfolio of other human space exploration activities. 

7 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. 

8 (a) CONTINUATION OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STA9 TION.—Section 501(a) of the National Aeronautics and 

10 Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 

11 U.S.C. 18351(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2024’’ and in12 serting ‘‘2030’’. 

13 (b) CONTINUED OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF

14 UNITED STATES SEGMENT OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE

15 STATION.—Section 503(a) of the National Aeronautics 

16 and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 

17 U.S.C. 18353(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2024’’ and in18 serting ‘‘2030’’. 

19 (c) RESEARCH CAPACITY ALLOCATION AND INTE20 GRATION OF RESEARCH PAYLOADS.—Section 504(d) of 

21 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Au22 thorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18354(d)) is amend23 ed— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by 

25 striking ‘‘2024’’ and inserting ‘‘2030’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), in the third sentence, by 

2 striking ‘‘2024’’ and inserting ‘‘2030’’. 

3 (d) MAINTAINING USE THROUGH AT LEAST 2030.— 

4 Section 70907 of title 51, United States Code, is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘2024’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘2030’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘2024’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘2030’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘2024’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘2030’’. 

12 (e) TRANSITION STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 

13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad14 ministrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

15 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com16 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

17 of Representatives a strategy that— 

18 (1) describes the manner in which the Adminis19 tration will ensure a stepwise transition to an even20 tual successor platform consistent with the ISS 

21 Transition Principles specified in the International 

22 Space Station Transition Report issued pursuant to 

23 section 50111(c)(2) of title 51, United States Code, 

24 on March 30, 2018; 


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1 (2) includes capability-driven milestones and 

2 timelines leading to such a transition; 

3 (3) takes into account the importance of main4 taining workforce expertise, core capabilities, and 

5 continuity at the centers of the Administration, in6 cluding such centers that are primarily focused on 

7 human spaceflight; 

8 (4) considers how any transition described in 

9 paragraph (1) affects international and commercial 

10 partnerships; 

11 (5) presents opportunities for future engage12 ment with— 

13 (A) international partners; 

14 (B) countries with growing spaceflight ca15 pabilities, if such engagement is not precluded 

16 by other provisions of law; 

17 (C) the scientific community, including the 

18 microgravity research community; 

19 (D) the private sector; and 

20 (E) other United States Government users; 

21 and 

22 (6) promotes the continued economic develop23 ment of low-Earth orbit. 


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1 SEC. 6. ADVANCED SPACE SUITS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) Space suits and associated extravehicular 

5 activity technologies (in this section referred to as 

6 ‘‘EVA technologies’’) are critical space exploration 

7 technologies. 

8 (2) The civil service workforce of the Adminis9 tration at the Johnson Space Center has unique ca10 pabilities to integrate, design, and validate space 

11 suits and associated EVA technologies. 

12 (3) Maintaining a strong core competency in 

13 the design, development, manufacture, and operation 

14 of space suits and related technologies allows the 

15 Administration to be an informed purchaser of com16 petitively awarded commercial space suits and asso17 ciated EVA technologies. 

18 (4) The Administration should fully use the 

19 International Space Station by 2025 to test future 

20 space suits and associated EVA technologies to re21 duce risk and improve safety. 

22 (b) SPACE SUITS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es24 tablish a program to develop space suits and associ25 ated EVA technologies. 


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1 (2) SUPPORT FOR PROGRAM.—The Director of 

2 the Johnson Space Center shall support the program 

3 established under paragraph (1). 

4 (3) AGREEMENTS WITH PRIVATE ENTITIES.—In 

5 carrying out this subsection, the Administrator may 

6 enter into one or more agreements with one or more 

7 private entities, as the Administrator considers ap8 propriate. 

9 SEC. 7. HUMAN SPACE FACILITIES IN AND BEYOND LOW10 EARTH ORBIT. 

11 (a) HUMAN SPACE FACILITY DEFINED.—In this sec12 tion, the term ‘‘human space facility’’ means a structure 

13 for use in or beyond low-Earth orbit that supports, or has 

14 the potential to support, human life. 

15 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that human space facilities play a significant role 

17 in the long-term pursuit by the Administration of the ex18 ploration goals under section 202(a) of the National Aero19 nautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 

20 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18312(a)). 

21 (c) REPORT ON CREWED AND UNCREWED HUMAN

22 SPACE FACILITIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis25 trator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 


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1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

2 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

3 House of Representatives a report on the potential 

4 development of one or more human space facilities. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—With respect to the potential 

6 development of each human space facility referred to 

7 in paragraph (1), the report required under such 

8 paragraph shall include a description of the fol9 lowing: 

10 (A) The capacity of the human space facil11 ity to advance, enable, or complement human 

12 exploration of the solar system, including 

13 human exploration of the atmosphere and the 

14 surface of celestial bodies. 

15 (B) The role of the human space facility as 

16 a staging, logistics, and operations hub in ex17 ploration architecture. 

18 (C) The capacity of the human space facil19 ity to support the research, development, test20 ing, validation, operation, and launch of space 

21 exploration systems and technologies. 

22 (D) Opportunities and strategies for com23 mercial operation or public-private partnerships 

24 with respect to the human space facility that 


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1 protect taxpayer interests and foster competi2 tion. 

3 (E) The role of the human space facility in 

4 encouraging further crewed and uncrewed ex5 ploration investments. 

6 (F) The manner in which the development 

7 and maintenance of the International Space 

8 Station would reduce the cost of, and time nec9 essary for, the development of the human space 

10 facility. 

11 SEC. 8. ENABLING SPACE SETTLEMENT AS A NATIONAL 

12 GOAL. 

13 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY AND PURPOSE.—Sec14 tion 20102 of title 51, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) through (h) 

16 as subsections (e) through (i), respectively; 

17 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(d) EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND SETTLE20 MENT OF SPACE.—Congress declares that the expansion 

21 of permanent human presence beyond Earth in a manner 

22 that enables human space settlement and a thriving space 

23 economy will enhance the general welfare of the United 

24 States.’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (e), as redesignated by para2 graph (1), by inserting after paragraph (10) the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(11) The expansion of permanent human pres5 ence beyond Earth in a way that enables human 

6 space settlement and a thriving space economy.’’; 

7 and 

8 (4) in subsection (i), as redesignated by para9 graph (1), by striking ‘‘to (g)’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘through (h)’’. 

11 (b) DEFINITION OF HUMAN SPACE SETTLEMENT.— 

12 Section 20103 of title 51, United States Code, is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1)(D), by inserting ‘‘and de15 velopment’’ after ‘‘exploration’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) HUMAN SPACE SETTLEMENT.—The term 

18 ‘human space settlement’ means a community in 

19 space or on a celestial body in which humans live on 

20 a permanent basis and engage in personal and com21 mercial activity that enables growth over time, with 

22 the goal of becoming economically and biologically 

23 self-sustaining as a part of a larger network of 

24 human space settlements.’’. 

25 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) Section 808(a) of the National Aeronautics 

2 and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 

3 (42 U.S.C. 18387(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec4 tion 102(g) of the National Aeronautics and Space 

5 Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451(g))’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘section 20102(h) of title 51, United States Code’’. 

7 (2) Title 51, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (A) in section 20116, by striking ‘‘section 

9 20102(d)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

10 ‘‘section 20102(e)’’; and 

11 (B) in section 71101, by striking ‘‘section 

12 20102(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 20102(h)’’. 

13 SEC. 9. REPORT ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT RELAT14 ING TO LIFE-SUSTAINING TECHNICAL SYS15 TEMS. 

16 Not later than one year after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the 

18 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

19 the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and 

20 Technology of the House of Representatives a report on 

21 the research and development of the Administration relat22 ing to technical systems for the self-sufficient sustainment 

23 of life in and beyond low-Earth orbit. 

Æ 


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