I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5136 

To secure the technological edge of the United States in civil and military 

aviation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 

Mr. MARSHALL (for himself and Ms. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To secure the technological edge of the United States in 

civil and military aviation, 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 ‘‘Aeronautics Innovation 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The United States aircraft manufacturing 

9 industry produced $342,682,000,000 in economic acVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5136.IH H5136

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1 tivity from manufacture of aircraft and parts sales 

2 and supported 547,900 direct jobs in 2016. 

3 (2) Growth in the civil aircraft market is pro4 jected to offer $8,000,000,000,000 to 

5 $10,000,000,000,000 in new aircraft sales, parts, 

6 and services over the next 17 years. International 

7 governments are boosting their research and devel8 opment investments to give their domestic industries 

9 competitive advantages in the aircraft market. 

10 (3) In 2015, the Department of Defense spent 

11 $10,600,000,000 on jet fuel and $441,600,000 on 

12 jet fuel transportation to support the warfighter. 

13 NASA’s research into ultra-efficient air transport is 

14 important to the military’s efforts to reduce fuel 

15 costs, logistics pressures, and the level of human 

16 risk involved with providing worldwide energy solu17 tions. 

18 (4) NASA’s aeronautics research and collabo19 rative ventures yield innovations that can eventually 

20 be utilized in the aviation sector, opening up entirely 

21 new markets, enabling the United States aviation in22 dustry to grow and maintain global competitiveness, 

23 providing high-quality engineering and manufac24 turing jobs, and benefiting the quality of life for our 

25 citizens. 


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1 (5) Continued progress in the science and tech2 nology of aeronautics is crucial to the United States 

3 sustained economic success and the protection of the 

4 United States security interests at home and around 

5 the world, as acknowledged in the 2006 National 

6 Aeronautics Research and Development Policy. To 

7 ensure Federal efforts remain on a disciplined path 

8 to meet national objectives, the Director of the Of9 fice of Science and Technology Policy is responsible 

10 for the implementation and biennial review of the 

11 aeronautics research and development plan of the 

12 United States. 

13 (6) All of NASA’s other directorates and capa14 bilities, including those in space, depend on research 

15 and technology that originated and is maintained in 

16 NASA’s Aeronautics Centers. 

17 (7) Aeronautics plays a central role in our na18 tional security strategy, and our technological advan19 tage over potential adversaries must be maintained 

20 with sustained and focused research and develop21 ment. 

22 (8) NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Direc23 torate’s 6 strategic thrusts (safe, efficient growth in 

24 global operations; innovation in civil supersonic air25 craft; ultra-efficient subsonic vehicles; quiet and afVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5136.IH H5136

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1 fordable vertical lift air vehicles; real-time, system2 wide safety assurance; and assured autonomy for 

3 aviation transformation) are effective and necessary 

4 research areas for the development of next genera5 tion aeronautics technology that will preserve the 

6 United States lead in the global aviation industry. 

7 (9) Aeronautics research is focused on funda8 mental capabilities that have the potential to open 

9 entirely new industries, including low-cost electric 

10 propulsion, advanced composite material manufac11 turing, simplified air vehicle operation, and in12 creased vertical takeoff and landing, that will allow 

13 for safer and more efficient aviation products and 

14 support mobility and economic growth. 

15 (10) To meet the challenges of the 21st cen16 tury, the United States needs to support NASA’s 

17 Aeronautics Research Program at funding levels 

18 that are commensurate with its past, present, and 

19 future contributions to the economic competitiveness 

20 and national security of the United States. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis24 trator’’ means the Administrator of NASA. 


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1 (2) AERONAUTICS STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTA2 TION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Aeronautics Strategic Im3 plementation Plan’’ means the Aeronautics Strategic 

4 Implementation Plan issued by the NASA Aero5 nautics Research Mission Directorate. 

6 (3) AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—The 

7 term ‘‘air traffic management system’’ means the 

8 procedures, technology, and human resources to 

9 guide aircraft through the sky and on the ground 

10 and to manage low- and high-altitude airspace use. 

11 (4) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na12 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

13 (5) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT.—The term ‘‘un14 manned aircraft’’ means an aircraft that is operated 

15 without the possibility of direct human intervention 

16 from within or on the aircraft. 

17 (6) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.—The term 

18 ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ means an unmanned 

19 aircraft and associated elements (including commu20 nication links and the components that control the 

21 unmanned aircraft) that are required for the pilot in 

22 command to operate safely and efficiently in the na23 tional airspace system. 


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1 SEC. 4. EXPERIMENTAL PLANE PROGRAMS. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that— 

4 (1) developing high-risk, precompetitive aero5 nautics technologies and demonstration aircraft for 

6 which there is not yet a profit rationale is a funda7 mental NASA role; 

8 (2) near-full-scale to laboratory and flight vehi9 cle flight test experimentation and validation are 

10 necessary for— 

11 (A) transitioning new technologies and ma12 terials, as well as their associated manufac13 turing processes, for general aviation, commer14 cial, and military aeronautics use; and 

15 (B) capturing the full breadth of benefits 

16 from the Aeronautics Research Mission Direc17 torate’s investments in priority programs called 

18 for in— 

19 (i) the National Aeronautics Research 

20 and Development Plan issued by the Na21 tional Science and Technology Council in 

22 February 2010; 

23 (ii) the NASA 2014 Strategic Plan; 

24 (iii) the Aeronautics Strategic Imple25 mentation Plan; and 


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1 (iv) any updates to the programs 

2 called for in the plans described in clauses 

3 (i) through (iii); and 

4 (3) a level of funding that adequately supports 

5 full-scale experimentation and related infrastructure 

6 must be assured over a sustained period of time to 

7 restore NASA’s capacity to see legacy priority pro8 grams through to completion and achieve national 

9 economic and security objectives. 

10 (b) NATIONAL POLICY.—It is the policy of the United 

11 States to maintain world leadership in military and civil12 ian aeronautical science and technology, global air power 

13 projection, and industrial leadership. To this end, one of 

14 the fundamental objectives of NASA aeronautics research 

15 is the steady progression and expansion of flight research 

16 and capabilities, including the science and technology of 

17 critical underlying disciplines and competencies, chief 

18 among which are computational-based analytical and pre19 dictive tools and methodologies, aerothermodynamics, 

20 flight propulsion, high-temperature structures and mate21 rials, and flight controls. 

22 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAMS OR PROJECTS.— 

23 The Administrator shall establish the following programs 

24 or projects: 


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1 (1) A low-boom supersonic aircraft program or 

2 project that will— 

3 (A) demonstrate supersonic aircraft de4 signs and technologies that reduce sonic boom 

5 noise to levels that encourage the repeal of do6 mestic and international bans on supersonic 

7 flight overland; and 

8 (B) gather the data needed to support in9 formed decisions of the Federal Aviation Ad10 ministration regarding overland supersonic 

11 flight. 

12 (2) A subsonic flight program of flight tech13 nology demonstrations that use existing aircraft and 

14 multiple large-scale X-Plane demonstrators devel15 oped sequentially or in parallel, each of which is 

16 based on a set of new configuration concepts or 

17 technologies determined by the Administrator— 

18 (A) to demonstrate aircraft vehicle and 

19 propulsion concepts and technologies and re20 lated advances in alternative propulsion and en21 ergy; and 

22 (B) to enable significant increases in en23 ergy efficiency and lower life-cycle emissions in 

24 the aviation system while achieving a step 

25 change in noise emissions. 


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1 (3) An advanced structures, materials, and 

2 manufacturing program that— 

3 (A) leverages advances in composite mate4 rial and structures design, certification, and 

5 manufacturing technologies for use in commer6 cial and military aircraft that have been en7 abled by the Advanced Composites Project and 

8 the Advanced Composite Consortium; 

9 (B) drastically reduces the nonrecurring 

10 time and cost for design, manufacturing tech11 nology development, and certification of ad12 vanced and nontraditional composite materials 

13 and manufacturing processes; 

14 (C) makes time reduction improvements to 

15 increase recurring production rates; and 

16 (D) includes, as focus areas— 

17 (i) the leveraging of advances in com18 puter modeling and simulation in virtual 

19 allowables, automated design tools, and 

20 manufacturing process development; 

21 (ii) the enabling of rapid design, auto22 mated manufacturing technology, inspec23 tion, process control, and certification for 

24 nonorthogonal lay-ups, nontraditional pre25 forms, thermoplastics, ceramics, advanced 


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1 resin infusion processes, and additive man2 ufacturing for primary aircraft structure; 

3 and 

4 (iii) the advancement of manufac5 turing processes, technologies, inspection 

6 methods, and certification pathways for 

7 bonded and integrated fail-safe damage 

8 tolerant aircraft structures. 

9 (d) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.— 

10 (1) For each of the programs established under 

11 subsection (c), the Administrator shall— 

12 (A) include development of experimental 

13 aircraft (X–Plane), experimental systems (X– 

14 System), multiple technologies, and all nec15 essary supporting flight assets; 

16 (B) pursue a robust technology maturation 

17 and flight validation program that addresses 

18 challenges in technology development and matu19 ration; 

20 (C) improve necessary facilities, flight test21 ing capabilities, and computational tools to sup22 port the program; 

23 (D) only award primary contracts for de24 sign, procurement, and manufacture to United 


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1 States companies, consistent with international 

2 obligations and commitments; 

3 (E) coordinate research and flight dem4 onstration activities with other Federal agen5 cies, as appropriate, and the United States 

6 aviation manufacturing community; and 

7 (F) ensure that the program remains 

8 aligned with the Aeronautics Strategic Imple9 mentation Plan, and any updates to such plan. 

10 (2) For the advanced structures, materials, and 

11 manufacturing program, the Administrator shall— 

12 (A) offer to enter into a public-private 

13 partnership, which shall be known as the ‘‘Ad14 vanced Structures, Materials, and Manufac15 turing Program’’, between— 

16 (i) NASA; and 

17 (ii) appropriate public and private en18 tities; 

19 (B) ensure a 50-percent Federal cost share 

20 for applicable research; 

21 (C) include as a key partner the Federal 

22 Aviation Administration; 

23 (D) include as a partner any other Federal 

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1 trator determines will further the purpose of 

2 the partnership; and 

3 (E) provide a structure for managing intel4 lectual property generated by the program 

5 based on or consistent with the structure estab6 lished for NASA’s Advanced Composites Con7 sortium. 

8 (e) ON-DEMAND AVIATION.—Congress makes the fol9 lowing findings: 

10 (1) Fuller utilization of high-speed air transpor11 tation, small airports, helipads, vertical flight infra12 structure, and other infrastructure can alleviate 

13 transportation congestion and support economic 

14 growth within cities. 

15 (2) NASA should continue to develop and test 

16 air vehicles, different propulsion systems, network 

17 systems, unmanned aircraft system traffic manage18 ment systems, and technology that can be utilized in 

19 on-demand air transportation. 

20 (3) NASA should actively support the research 

21 around the use of airspace for on-demand aviation. 

22 (4) This work should leverage NASA’s ongoing 

23 efforts in developing advanced technologies for large, 

24 high-volume commercial aircraft applications and 

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1 sess which air traffic concepts perform most effi2 ciently, taking into consideration factors such as ex3 isting city infrastructure, small airports, and current 

4 airspace operations. 

5 (f) DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES COMPANY.—In 

6 this section, the term ‘‘United States company’’ means a 

7 private entity— 

8 (1) organized under the laws of the United 

9 States; and 

10 (2) that has one or more existing facilities lo11 cated in the continental United States, including in12 frastructure and staffing, capable of meeting the ob13 jectives of the program in which the company seeks 

14 to participate, as determined by the Administrator. 

15 SEC. 5. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 

16 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that— 

18 (1) to ensure United States competitiveness on 

19 the global stage, the Federal Government must work 

20 with the private sector to safely integrate the in21 creasing number of commercial applications for un22 manned aircraft systems; and 

23 (2) the sustained, efficient growth of the United 

24 States transportation system will require harnessing 

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1 tems to relieve pressure on infrastructure and traffic 

2 management. 

3 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States 

4 Government to be an active partner with the private sector 

5 in the development of technologies, capabilities, and oper6 ating procedures for the safe, efficient integration of un7 manned aircraft systems into the national airspace, while 

8 ensuring current and future air traffic management sys9 tems are able to manage unmanned aircraft systems. 

10 (c) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS OPERATION

11 PROGRAM.—To advance the national policy described in 

12 subsection (b), the Administrator shall— 

13 (1) research, develop, and test capabilities and 

14 concepts, including unmanned aircraft systems com15 munications for integrating unmanned aircraft sys16 tems into the national airspace system; 

17 (2) leverage NASA’s partnership with industry 

18 focused on the advancement of technologies for fu19 ture air traffic management systems for unmanned 

20 aircraft for low- and high-altitude operations; 

21 (3) leverage industry’s advancement of tech22 nologies for unmanned aircraft to inform regulatory 

23 and standards requirements for various sizes of civil 

24 unmanned aircraft systems; 


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1 (4) consider the needs of United States indus2 try, especially as operations transition to more auto3 mated systems; and 

4 (5) continue to align its research and testing 

5 portfolio to inform unmanned aircraft system inte6 gration consistent with public safety and national se7 curity objectives. 

8 (d) COORDINATION WITH THE FEDERAL AVIATION

9 ADMINISTRATION.—It is the sense of Congress that— 

10 (1) NASA should continue to coordinate with 

11 the Federal Aviation Administration on research on 

12 air traffic management systems for unmanned air13 craft systems and assist in the establishment of the 

14 pilot program required under section 2208 of the 

15 FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 

16 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) and the subsequent imple17 mentation of unmanned aircraft system traffic man18 agement systems; and 

19 (2) unmanned aircraft system integration and 

20 unmanned traffic management research should con21 tinue to leverage the resources available through the 

22 unmanned aircraft system test ranges designated by 

23 the Federal Aviation Administration under section 

24 332 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 

25 2012 (Public Law 112–95; 49 U.S.C. 40101 note). 


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1 SEC. 6. 21ST CENTURY AERONAUTICS RESEARCH CAPABILI2 TIES INITIATIVE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es4 tablish a 21st Century Aeronautics Capabilities Initiative, 

5 within the Construction and Environmental Compliance 

6 and Restoration Account, to ensure that NASA possesses 

7 the infrastructure capabilities and computational tools 

8 necessary to conduct proposed flight demonstration 

9 projects across the range of NASA aeronautics interests. 

10 As part of such Initiative, the Administrator shall carry 

11 out the following activities: 

12 (1) Any investments necessary to upgrade and 

13 create facilities for civil and national security aero14 nautics research to support advancements in long15 term foundational science and technology, advanced 

16 aircraft systems, air traffic management systems, 

17 fuel efficiency and electric propulsion technologies, 

18 systemwide safety assurance, autonomous aviation, 

19 and supersonic and hypersonic aircraft design and 

20 development. 

21 (2) Any measures supporting flight testing ac22 tivities, to include continuous refinement and devel23 opment of free-flight test techniques and methodolo24 gies, upgrades and improvements to real-time track25 ing and data acquisition, and any other measures re26 lated to aeronautics research support and modVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5136.IH H5136

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1 ernization as the Administrator may consider appro2 priate to carry out the scientific study of the prob3 lems of flight, with a view to their practical solution. 

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

5 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

6 to be appropriated to NASA $100,000,000 for each of fis7 cal years 2020 through 2024, to be derived from amounts 

8 otherwise authorized to be appropriated to NASA. 

9 (c) REPORT.— 

10 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad12 ministrator shall transmit to Congress a report con13 taining a 5-year plan for the implementation of the 

14 21st Century Aeronautics Research Capabilities Ini15 tiative. 

16 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by this 

17 subsection shall include— 

18 (A) a description of proposed projects; 

19 (B) a description of the manner in which 

20 such projects align with the Aeronautics Stra21 tegic Implementation Plan or the roadmap de22 veloped by the joint technology office on 

23 hypersonics under section 218(d) of the John 

24 Warner National Defense Authorization Act for 


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1 Fiscal Year 2007 (10 U.S.C. note), and any up2 dates to such plan or roadmap; and 

3 (C) a timetable for carrying out activities 

4 and initiatives authorized under this section. 

5 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 (a) FISCAL YEAR 2020.—There are authorized to be 

7 appropriated to NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Di8 rectorate for fiscal year 2020, $840,000,000, as follows: 

9 (1) For Airspace Operations and Safety Pro10 gram, $159,000,000. 

11 (2) For Advanced Air Vehicles Program, 

12 $280,000,000. 

13 (3) For Integrated Aviation Systems Program, 

14 $251,000,000. 

15 (4) For Transformative Aero Concepts Pro16 gram, $100,000,000. 

17 (5) For Advanced Materials and Manufacturing 

18 Program, $50,000,000. 

19 (b) FISCAL YEAR 2021.—There are authorized to be 

20 appropriated to NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Di21 rectorate for fiscal year 2021, $930,000,000, as follows: 

22 (1) For Airspace Operations and Safety Pro23 gram, $165,000,000. 

24 (2) For Advanced Air Vehicles Program, 

25 $303,000,000. 


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1 (3) For Integrated Aviation Systems Program, 

2 $300,000,000. 

3 (4) For Transformative Aero Concepts Pro4 gram, $112,000,000. 

5 (5) For Advanced Materials and Manufacturing 

6 Program, $50,000,000. 

7 (c) FISCAL YEAR 2022.—There are authorized to be 

8 appropriated to NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Di9 rectorate for fiscal year 2022, $974,000,000, as follows: 

10 (1) For Airspace Operations and Safety Pro11 gram, $170,000,000. 

12 (2) For Advanced Air Vehicles Program, 

13 $290,000,000. 

14 (3) For Integrated Aviation Systems Program, 

15 $350,000,000. 

16 (4) For Transformative Aero Concepts Pro17 gram, $114,000,000. 

18 (5) For Advanced Materials and Manufacturing 

19 Program, $50,000,000. 

20 (d) FISCAL YEAR 2023.—There are authorized to be 

21 appropriated to NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Di22 rectorate for fiscal year 2023, $996,000,000, as follows: 

23 (1) For Airspace Operations and Safety Pro24 gram, $175,000,000. 


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1 (2) For Advanced Air Vehicles Program, 

2 $295,000,000. 

3 (3) For Integrated Aviation Systems Program, 

4 $360,000,000. 

5 (4) For Transformative Aero Concepts Pro6 gram, $116,000,000. 

7 (5) For Advanced Materials and Manufacturing 

8 Program, $50,000,000. 

9 (e) FISCAL YEAR 2024.—There are authorized to be 

10 appropriated to NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Di11 rectorate for fiscal year 2024, $1,030,000,000, as follows: 

12 (1) For Airspace Operations and Safety Pro13 gram, $180,000,000. 

14 (2) For Advanced Air Vehicles Program, 

15 $300,000,000. 

16 (3) For Integrated Aviation Systems Program, 

17 $382,000,000. 

18 (4) For Transformative Aero Concepts Pro19 gram, $118,000,000. 

20 (5) For Advanced Materials and Manufacturing 

21 Program, $50,000,000. 

Æ 


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