I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5666 

To authorize the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 24, 2020 

Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself, Mr. BABIN, Ms. JOHNSON

of Texas, and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To authorize the programs of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Aeronautics and Space Administration Author6 ization Act of 2020’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

Sec. 101. Fiscal year 2020. 

TITLE II—HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS 

Subtitle A—Moon to Mars Program 

Sec. 201. Sustainable human exploration program. 

Sec. 202. Goals and objectives. 

Sec. 203. Structure of Moon to Mars Program. 

Sec. 204. Reporting and briefings. 

Sec. 205. Critical enabling capabilities. 

Sec. 206. Noncritical path activities. 

Sec. 207. Core exploration capabilities. 

Sec. 208. Reviews and assessments. 

Subtitle B—International Space Station 

Sec. 221. Extension and post-ISS support. 

Sec. 222. Priorities for ISS utilization. 

Sec. 223. Assured crew access to the International Space Station. 

Sec. 224. International Space Station Deorbit Capability and Plan. 

Sec. 225. Replacement Extravehicular Mobility Units. 

Sec. 226. Low Earth orbit development. 

TITLE III—SCIENCE 

Sec. 301. Importance of a balanced science program. 

Sec. 302. Review of implementation of quality assurance program and parts 

policy in science mission development. 

Sec. 303. Independent external technical, management, and cost reviews. 

Sec. 304. Small satellites. 

Sec. 305. Options for small satellite and payload access to the near-space and 

space environment. 

Sec. 306. Study on space life and physical sciences research and applications 

placement. 

Sec. 307. Space life and physical sciences research requirements. 

Subtitle A—Earth Science and Applications 

Sec. 311. Goal. 

Sec. 312. Applied uses of Earth science data. 

Sec. 313. Survey of State, Tribal, and territory use of NASA Earth observation 

data. 

Sec. 314. Commercial Earth observation data. 

Sec. 315. Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission. 

Sec. 316. CLARREO Pathfinder. 

Subtitle B—Astrophysics 

Sec. 321. Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope. 

Sec. 322. Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. 

Sec. 323. Research on technosignatures. 

Subtitle C—Planetary Science 

Sec. 331. Mars communications infrastructure. 


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Sec. 332. Mars sample return strategy and plan. 

Sec. 333. Commercial Lunar Payload Services. 

Sec. 334. Europa Clipper launch vehicle. 

Sec. 335. Dedicated survey mission. 

Sec. 336. Near-Earth object and planetary defense roadmap. 

Sec. 337. Assessment of requirements for cataloguing and archiving near-Earth 

object data. 

Sec. 338. International confidence and capacity building for near-Earth object 

impact mitigation. 

Sec. 339. Close passing near-Earth objects. 

Subtitle D—Heliophysics and Space Weather Research 

Sec. 341. Importance of heliophysics research to understanding space weather. 

Sec. 342. Space Weather Research and Applications Program. 

Subtitle E—Data Science and Management 

Sec. 361. Data science and management. 

Sec. 362. Workshop on data analytics for Earth science research. 

TITLE IV—SPACE COMMUNICATIONS 

Sec. 401. Review of space communications. 

TITLE V—AERONAUTICS 

Sec. 501. Research effort to advance sustainable aviation. 

Sec. 502. Workshop on research and development on noise. 

Sec. 503. Aeronautics research and technology roundtable. 

Sec. 504. Experimental aircraft demonstrations. 

Sec. 505. Review of research roadmap on hypersonics. 

Sec. 506. Supersonic flight. 

Sec. 507. Urban air mobility. 

Sec. 508. Aeronautics workforce and modeling and test facilities. 

Sec. 509. University leadership initiative. 

TITLE VI—SPACE TECHNOLOGY 

Sec. 601. Space nuclear systems. 

Sec. 602. Nuclear thermal propulsion. 

Sec. 603. Nuclear surface power. 

Sec. 604. Review of flight opportunities program. 

Sec. 605. Sense of Congress on optical communications. 

Sec. 606. Propulsion testing facilities. 

Sec. 607. In-space satellite servicing and assembly. 

Sec. 608. Parachute systems research and development. 

TITLE VII—SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND 

MATHEMATICS EDUCATION 

Sec. 701. Office of STEM engagement. 

Sec. 702. Independent review of Space Grant. 

TITLE VIII—SAFETY, SUPPORT, AND MISSION SERVICES 

Sec. 801. Policy and procedure. 

Sec. 802. Monitoring millimeter-sized orbital debris. 


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Sec. 803. Planetary protection strategic plan. 

TITLE IX—CONSTRUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE 

AND RESTORATION 

Sec. 901. Data collection on cost benefits to the Administration of use of enhanced-use leasing. 

Sec. 902. Report on enhanced-use leasing requirements. 

Sec. 903. Report on current and anticipated effects of climate change and extreme weather on agency infrastructure and facilities. 

TITLE X—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 1001. Space situational awareness and orbital debris mitigation. 

Sec. 1002. International framework on active orbital debris removal. 

Sec. 1003. Safety and technical risks of active debris removal. 

Sec. 1004. Independent program analysis and evaluation office. 

Sec. 1005. Report on use of the term ‘‘commercial’’ in NASA activities. 

Sec. 1006. Supply chain and supplier base. 

Sec. 1007. Use of operational commercial suborbital vehicles for research, development, and education. 

Sec. 1008. The space capabilities of the People’s Republic of China. 

Sec. 1009. Spectrum interference. 

Sec. 1010. Reports to Congress. 

Sec. 1011. General accountability office report on large-scale programs, 

projects, and activities. 

Sec. 1012. NASA institutes. 

Sec. 1013. Surveys on the industrial base of the United States. 

Sec. 1014. Budgets. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) NASA should remain a multimission agency 

4 and continue to carry out, in partnership with aca5 demia, industry, and international partners, a bal6 anced program of science, aeronautics, space tech7 nology, human exploration, and educational activi8 ties. 

9 (2) The Nation’s investments in civil space re10 search, technology, and development have and will 

11 continue to contribute significantly to the Nation’s 

12 innovation capacity and economic strength, and proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5666.IH H5666

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1 vide applications and benefits that improve the lives 

2 of United States citizens and society. 

3 (3) International cooperation and collaboration 

4 strengthen the Nation’s science, aeronautics, and 

5 human exploration programs and unify partner na6 tions in the peaceful uses of outer space. 

7 (4) NASA’s leadership in aeronautics has con8 tributed greatly to the Nation’s strength in civil and 

9 commercial aviation and should remain a priority as 

10 innovative technologies and aviation concepts offer 

11 the potential to transform the future of aviation and 

12 support the Nation’s economic growth. 

13 (5) NASA makes essential contributions to our 

14 understanding of the global challenge of climate 

15 change through its collection of space-based Earth 

16 science data, research on global, integrated Earth 

17 system science, and development of models that ad18 vance our understanding of the climate system and 

19 the natural and human impacts on it. 

20 (6) The Nation’s human space exploration goal 

21 should be to send humans to the surface of Mars. 

22 (7) Reducing the risk and demonstrating the 

23 capabilities and operations needed to support a 

24 human mission to Mars may require human explo25 ration of the cis-lunar vicinity and lunar surface. 


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1 (8) A constancy of purpose, including clear and 

2 consistent goals and objectives, is essential for mak3 ing effective progress on the Nation’s science, aero4 nautics, space technology, and human exploration 

5 programs and for attracting and keeping the Na6 tion’s best, brightest, and most capable workforce. 

7 (9) Clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and 

8 accountability provides transparency in the imple9 mentation of the Nation’s civil space goals and ob10 jectives. 

11 (10) The innovative capabilities of the commer12 cial space industry are essential to the Nation’s 

13 science, aeronautics, and human space exploration 

14 activities, are an important instrument of techno15 logical and economic competitiveness, and should be 

16 leveraged, as appropriate, to advance the Nation’s 

17 objectives in civil space. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra21 tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

22 10101 of title 51, United States Code. 

23 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis24 trator’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

25 10101 of title 51, United States Code. 


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1 (3) CIS-LUNAR SPACE.—The term ‘‘cis-lunar 

2 space’’ means the region of space from the Earth 

3 out to and including the region around the surface 

4 of the Moon. 

5 (4) DEEP SPACE.—The term ‘‘deep space’’ 

6 means the region of space beyond low-Earth orbit, 

7 including cis-lunar space. 

8 (5) ISS.—The term ‘‘ISS’’ means the Inter9 national Space Station. 

10 (6) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na11 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

12 (7) ORION.—The term ‘‘Orion’’ has the mean13 ing given the term in section 20302 of title 51, 

14 United States Code. 

15 (8) SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Space 

16 Launch System’’ has the meaning given the term in 

17 section 20302 of title 51, United States Code. 

18 (9) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ASTRO19 NAUT.—The term ‘‘United States government astro20 naut’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘government 

21 astronaut’’ in section 50902 of title 51, United 

22 States Code. 


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1 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF 

2 APPROPRIATIONS 

3 SEC. 101. FISCAL YEAR 2020. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to NASA for 

5 fiscal year 2020, $22,629,000,000 as follows: 

6 (1) For exploration, $6,017,600,000, of which 

7 $1,406,700,000 shall be for the Orion multi-purpose 

8 Crew Vehicle, $2,585,900,000 shall be for the Space 

9 Launch System, $590,000,000 shall be for Explo10 ration Ground Systems, and $1,435,000,000 shall be 

11 for Exploration Research and Development. 

12 (2) For space operations, $4,140,200,000. 

13 (3) For science, $7,138,900,000, of which 

14 $1,971,800,000 shall be for Earth Science, 

15 $2,713,400,000 shall be for Planetary Science, 

16 $1,306,200,000 shall be for Astrophysics, 

17 $423,000,000 shall be for the James Webb Space 

18 Telescope, and $724,500,000 shall be for 

19 Heliophysics. 

20 (4) For aeronautics, $783,900,000. 

21 (5) For space technology, $1,100,000,000. 

22 (6) For science, technology, engineering, and 

23 mathematics (STEM), $120,000,000, of which 

24 $48,000,000 shall be for the National Space Grant 

25 College and Fellowship Program, $24,000,000 shall 


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1 be for the Established Program to Stimulate Com2 petitive Research (EPSCoR), $36,000,000 shall be 

3 for the Minority University Research and Education 

4 Project (MUREP), and $12,000,000 shall be for 

5 STEM Education and Accountability Projects 

6 (SEAP). 

7 (7) For safety, security, and mission services, 

8 $2,913,300,000. 

9 (8) For construction and environmental compli10 ance and restoration, $373,400,000. 

11 (9) For Inspector General, $41,700,000. 

12 TITLE II—HUMAN SPACE EXPLO13 RATION AND OPERATIONS 

14 Subtitle A—Moon to Mars Program 

15 SEC. 201. SUSTAINABLE HUMAN EXPLORATION PROGRAM. 

16 It is the sense of Congress that the Nation’s human 

17 exploration program is an important element of United 

18 States leadership in space exploration, economic strength, 

19 and national security. It is the further sense of Congress 

20 that constancy of purpose and the sustainability of the 

21 Nation’s human exploration goals and objectives should be 

22 an inherent principle of a long-term, deep space human 

23 exploration program that spans several Congresses and 

24 Administrations. 


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1 SEC. 202. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is authorized 

3 under sections 20302 and 70504 of title 51, United States 

4 Code, and shall carry out plans and programs to achieve 

5 sustainable human exploration of deep space for the pur6 pose of sending humans to the surface of Mars. 

7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The goal of NASA’s Moon to 

8 Mars Program shall be to land humans on Mars in a sus9 tainable manner as soon as practicable. The Moon to Mars 

10 Program shall have the interim goal of sending a crewed 

11 mission to the lunar surface by 2028 and a goal of sending 

12 a crewed mission to orbit Mars by 2033. 

13 (c) PRECURSOR ACTIVITIES.—The Administrator 

14 shall undertake precursor crewed missions to cis-lunar 

15 space and the lunar surface for the purpose of risk reduc16 tion for human missions to Mars by developing and testing 

17 those systems and operational practices needed for suc18 cessful crewed Mars missions. 

19 (d) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the human mis20 sions to Mars shall be to— 

21 (1) validate the capabilities required for sus22 tained human exploration of and operations on the 

23 surface of Mars; 

24 (2) pursue scientific investigations, as rec25 ommended by the National Academies, that are en26 abled by the human exploration of Mars; and 


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1 (3) develop and maintain the scientific, tech2 nical, program management, and human spaceflight 

3 operational skills required to support a sustainable 

4 deep space exploration program. 

5 SEC. 203. STRUCTURE OF MOON TO MARS PROGRAM. 

6 (a) MOON TO MARS PROGRAM OFFICE.—The Admin7 istrator shall establish a Moon to Mars Program Office 

8 within 60 days of the enactment of this Act to lead and 

9 manage the Moon to Mars Program. 

10 (b) PROGRAM DIRECTOR.—The Administrator shall 

11 appoint a Program Director of the Office established in 

12 subsection (a) who shall report to the Associate Adminis13 trator and the Associate Administrator of the Human Ex14 ploration and Operations Mission Directorate. 

15 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Moon to Mars Program 

16 Office shall be responsible for developing— 

17 (1) requirements for a human Mars orbital mis18 sion and a human mission to the surface of Mars; 

19 (2) an architecture, integrated plan, and overall 

20 schedule encompassing the elements of the Moon to 

21 Mars Program to carry out a human mission to 

22 orbit Mars by 2033. The architecture and plan shall 

23 be based on the mission requirements established in 

24 paragraph (1); and 


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1 (3) an integrated, master plan for the develop2 ment of required capabilities for the human mission 

3 to Mars. 

4 (d) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND INTEGRATION.— 

5 The Director of the Moon to Mars Program Office shall 

6 appoint a Systems Engineering and Integration Manager 

7 to manage the systems engineering and integration activi8 ties of the Moon to Mars Program. 

9 (e) SPECIAL HIRING AUTHORITIES.—The Adminis10 trator shall propose to Congress any special hiring au11 thorities that the Administrator determines are needed to 

12 ensure that personnel with the requisite skills and experi13 ence are available to the Program Office. 

14 (f) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The Moon to Mars Pro15 gram shall consist of the following: 

16 (1) A Gateway to Mars in cis-lunar space or at 

17 a Lagrangian point for the purpose of reducing the 

18 risks of the capabilities in paragraph (3) and serving 

19 as a testbed for the systems and operational tech20 niques needed to transport crews to, from, and dur21 ing operations in Mars orbit or on the surface of 

22 Mars. The Gateway to Mars shall be developed to 

23 operate autonomously and to be crew-tended, as 

24 needed, on an intermittent basis. The Gateway to 


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1 Mars shall be open and available for international 

2 participation and use. 

3 (2) A Lunar Precursor Initiative (LPI) for the 

4 purpose of gaining and demonstrating the oper5 ational experience and systems needed to enable 

6 crewed transport to and from the surface of Mars, 

7 as well as for limited operations and habitation on 

8 Mars. 

9 (3) A Mars Enabling Technology Initiative 

10 (METI) for the purpose of developing and testing 

11 the technologies and capabilities needed for a human 

12 missions to Mars. Mars-enabling technologies and 

13 capabilities to be demonstrated shall include— 

14 (A) Mars entry, descent, and landing sys15 tems; 

16 (B) radiation safety; 

17 (C) in-space power and propulsion, includ18 ing nuclear thermal propulsion; 

19 (D) Mars transport vehicle; 

20 (E) planetary ascent propulsion; 

21 (F) environmental control and life support 

22 systems; 

23 (G) Mars habitats; 

24 (H) extravehicular activity suits; 


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1 (I) in-situ resource utilization of the Mars 

2 atmosphere; and 

3 (J) any other Mars-enabling technologies 

4 and capabilities identified by the Administrator. 

5 (4) A Space Launch System for the purpose of 

6 providing heavy-lift capability to carry out the Moon 

7 to Mars Program. The Administrator shall complete 

8 development of the Space Launch System and the 

9 Space Launch System variant enabled by an Explo10 ration Upper Stage, pursuant to section 302 of the 

11 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Au12 thorization Act of 2010. The Administrator shall 

13 take steps to develop the Block 2 variant to provide 

14 the full range of launch capability and performance 

15 available to the United States for the Administra16 tion’s crewed and robotic exploration of deep space. 

17 The Administrator shall complete the development 

18 and testing of the Exploration Upper Stage for the 

19 Space Launch System. 

20 (5) An Orion Crew vehicle for the purpose of 

21 crewed spaceflight for the Moon to Mars Program. 

22 (6) A Mars Transport Vehicle for the purposes 

23 of crewed transport to and around Mars. Not later 

24 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 


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1 Act, the Administrator shall initiate pre-formulation 

2 activities for a Mars transport vehicle. 

3 (g) COMPLETION.—The Administrator shall plan to 

4 have all required testing completed to enable development 

5 and manufacture of an operational crewed Mars transport 

6 vehicle on a schedule consistent with the goal of a crewed 

7 mission to orbit Mars by 2033 and the architecture, inte8 grated plan, and schedule in subsection (c)(2). 

9 SEC. 204. REPORTING AND BRIEFINGS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall provide 

11 regular reports and briefings on the progress and status 

12 of the Moon to Mars Program, and associated activities 

13 to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

14 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com15 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate in ac16 cordance with this section. 

17 (1) REPORTING WITH 60 DAYS.—Within 60 

18 days of the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad19 ministrator shall develop a list of the remaining 

20 human health risk reduction research tasks that 

21 need to be completed to enable crewed missions to 

22 Mars and that require the International Space Sta23 tion, along with a plan for completing all of those 

24 tasks within 5 years of the date of the enactment of 

25 this Act. 


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1 (2) REPORTING WITHIN 120 DAYS.—Within 120 

2 days of the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad3 ministrator shall develop an overall architecture and 

4 plan, consistent with sections 203(c)(1) and 

5 203(c)(2), including— 

6 (A) a list of the minimum set of human 

7 and robotic lunar surface activities that must be 

8 completed to enable a human mission to Mars, 

9 including those to be tested on the Gateway to 

10 Mars, along with a plan for completing those 

11 tasks within five years after the first human 

12 lunar landing; and 

13 (B) a list of the capabilities and risk re14 duction measures listed in section 203(f)(3). 

15 For each high-priority technology or capability, the 

16 Administrator shall develop a plan to include the de17 velopment milestones, including activities required to 

18 be carried out in cis-lunar space or on the lunar sur19 face, and an estimated 5-year funding profile re20 quired for demonstrating the capability to a level of 

21 readiness for use in a Mars mission within 10 years 

22 of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (3) REPORTING WITHIN 270 DAYS.—Within 270 

24 days of the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad25 ministrator shall transmit— 


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1 (A) five-year funding estimates and pro2 files for the Moon to Mars Program. The budg3 et profiles should include estimated funding re4 quirements and profiles for the program ele5 ments in section 203(f), and related infrastruc6 ture, facilities, and operations that are con7 sistent with the achievement of a crewed mis8 sion to Mars orbit by 2033; and 

9 (B) the Independent Program Analysis and 

10 Evaluation Office established in section 1004 

11 shall assess the basis of the five-year budget 

12 profiles and shall transmit the results of the as13 sessment to the Committee on Science, Space, 

14 and Technology of the House of Representa15 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

16 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 

17 six months after the budget profiles have been 

18 transmitted to the Committee on Science, 

19 Space, and Technology of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

21 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

22 (b) BIANNUAL BRIEFINGS.—The Administrator shall 

23 provide biannual briefings on the status, progress, and any 

24 challenges identified in maturing and developing the key 

25 capabilities specified in section 203(c)(3) and section 


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1 203(f)(3) to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech2 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

3 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

4 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans5 mit the architecture and plans enumerated in section 

6 204(a)(2) through section 204(a)(3) to the Committee on 

7 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate within 15 days after 

10 their scheduled completion dates. 

11 SEC. 205. CRITICAL ENABLING CAPABILITIES. 

12 (a) LUNAR LANDING MISSION ARCHITECTURE.—In 

13 order to reduce risk and complexity and make maximum 

14 use of taxpayer investments to date, the Administrator 

15 shall in the conduct of the Lunar Precursor Initiative em16 ploy an architecture that utilizes the Orion vehicle and an 

17 integrated lunar landing system carried on an Exploration 

18 Upper Stage-enhanced Space Launch System for the 

19 human lunar landing missions. The Gateway to Mars shall 

20 not be required for the conduct of human lunar landing 

21 missions. 

22 (b) HUMAN-RATED LUNAR LANDING SYSTEM.—For 

23 the purposes established in section 202(c), the Adminis24 trator shall develop and operate an integrated human 

25 lunar landing system to provide human access to the lunar 


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1 surface. The human-rated integrated lunar landing system 

2 shall be designed with safety, sustainability, and afford3 ability as priorities and developed through a means that 

4 allows for the United States Government to retain— 

5 (1) full ownership of the human landing system; 

6 (2) unlimited and unfettered insight into the 

7 design, development, and testing of the integrated 

8 human landing system; 

9 (3) final determination on whether the system 

10 meets existing human-rating requirements; 

11 (4) leadership over any anomaly or accident in12 vestigation, should it be necessary to carry out such 

13 an investigation; and 

14 (5) shall require at least one uncrewed and one 

15 crewed in-space test and demonstration prior to its 

16 use to carry astronauts to the surface of the Moon 

17 and a plan for testing of a Mars human lander in 

18 a suitable environment. 

19 (c) EXPLORATION SPACE SUITS.—The Administrator 

20 shall develop an exploration space suit to meet the require21 ments of the Moon to Mars Program. In developing an 

22 exploration space suit, the Administrator shall, to the 

23 greatest extent practicable, leverage prior and existing in24 vestments in advanced space suit technologies in order to 

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1 nologies. The Administrator shall use the International 

2 Space Station for testing of exploration space suits. 

3 (d) LOGISTICS SUPPORT.—To the maximum extent 

4 possible, logistics support to the Gateway to Mars and the 

5 lunar surface shall be provided by commercial services, 

6 provided that the availability of those services does not 

7 becoming the limiting critical path factor in NASA’s abil8 ity to complete its Gateway to Mars and Lunar Precursor 

9 initiatives as scheduled. The Administrator shall develop 

10 contingency plans for the delivery of the minimum set of 

11 needed logistics in the event commercial services are not 

12 available when needed. 

13 (e) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall lead 

15 and encourage to the maximum extent practicable 

16 international partner participation in the implemen17 tation of the elements of the Moon to Mars Program 

18 under overall NASA leadership. The Administrator 

19 shall encourage partnerships that enhance the pro20 gram. 

21 (2) CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORIZATION.—NASA 

22 shall seek Congressional authorization prior to final23 izing any exploration architecture that depends on 

24 international or commercial partnerships for overall 

25 mission success. 


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1 (f) CREWED LUNAR LANDING MISSIONS.—In order 

2 to minimize the time required for the Lunar Precursor Ini3 tiative phase of the Moon to Mars Program, NASA shall 

4 plan for and implement measures to enable a crewed lunar 

5 landing mission rate of at least two per year after the ini6 tial crewed lunar landing has been achieved. 

7 (g) LUNAR LANDER MANAGEMENT.—The Moon to 

8 Mars Program Office shall manage the overall develop9 ment of the Human Lunar Landing System, with the 

10 Johnson Space Center responsible for the crew-related ele11 ments, vehicle structure, and Human Lunar Landing Sys12 tem integration and the Marshall Space Flight Center re13 sponsible for the Lander propulsion systems. 

14 (h) GROUND AND FLIGHT TEST ACTIVITIES.—The 

15 Moon to Mars Program shall maintain a robust series of 

16 ground and flight test activities for each element of the 

17 Program, including at least one crewed flight test of each 

18 crewed system design prior to its use on a human lunar 

19 landing system or Mars mission. 

20 (i) MARS LANDING AND ASCENT SYSTEM DE21 SIGNS.—To the extent funding permits, the Administrator 

22 shall maintain two competing integrated crewed Mars 

23 landing/ascent system design concepts through the critical 

24 design review milestone, at which point the Administrator 


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1 shall make a selection of the system to be utilized in the 

2 first human Mars landing mission. 

3 SEC. 206. NONCRITICAL PATH ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) LUNAR OUTPOST.—Any establishment of a con5 tinuously crewed lunar outpost or research station shall 

6 not be considered an element of the Moon to Mars Pro7 gram and shall be budgeted separately from the Moon to 

8 Mars Program. 

9 (b) OTHER CREWED ACTIVITIES.—Crewed activities 

10 on or around the surface of the Moon that do not con11 tribute to the goal of landing humans on Mars in as sus12 tainable manner as practical shall not be included in the 

13 Moon to Mars Program and shall be budgeted separately 

14 from the Moon to Mars Program. 

15 (c) LUNAR IN-SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION.— 

16 Lunar in-situ resource utilization shall not be considered 

17 as risk reduction for the initial crewed missions to orbit 

18 and land on Mars. Any lunar in-situ resource utilization 

19 activities and shall not be included in the Moon to Mars 

20 Program and shall be budgeted separately from the Moon 

21 to Mars Program. 

22 SEC. 207. CORE EXPLORATION CAPABILITIES. 

23 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that ground systems, robust testing programs, and 

25 a flight cadence necessary to maintain critical human 


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1 spaceflight skills are important elements of a safe and sus2 tainable human exploration program. 

3 (b) FLIGHT RATE AND SAFETY.—After the first 

4 crewed lunar landing, the Administrator shall, to the ex5 tent practicable, and taking into account the results of the 

6 Assessment in section 208(b), carry out a flight rate of 

7 at least two integrated Space Launch System and Orion 

8 crew vehicle missions per year, until the Lunar Precursor 

9 Initiative is complete, to maintain the critical human 

10 spaceflight production and operations skills necessary for 

11 the safety of human spaceflight activities in deep space. 

12 (c) MILESTONES.—Not later than 90 days after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

14 transmit a list of the key milestones required for com15 pleting each of the Space Launch System variants and an 

16 estimated date on which those milestones shall be com17 pleted. 

18 (d) EXPLORATION GROUND SYSTEMS INFRASTRUC19 TURE.—The Administrator shall ensure that elements of 

20 a ground system infrastructure are in place to enable the 

21 preparation and use of the Space Launch System, specifi22 cally its Block 1 (70 mt) and Block 1B (105 mt) and 

23 Block 2 (130 mt) variants of the Space Launch System. 

24 (e) MOBILE LAUNCH FACILITY.—In implementing 

25 the requirements in subsection (d), the Administrator 


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1 shall take all necessary steps to develop and complete a 

2 second mobile launch facility that will be in place to sup3 port the first Block 1B Space Launch System. 

4 (f) GROUND-BASED TEST PROGRAM IN SUPPORT OF

5 CREWED FLIGHT TEST.—The Administrator shall carry 

6 out a robust ground-based test program, including the full 

7 Green Run test of the Space Launch System engines and 

8 the testing and qualification of the Exploration Upper 

9 Stage. 

10 SEC. 208. REVIEWS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

11 (a) INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF HUMAN RESEARCH

12 PROGRAM.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

14 enter into an arrangement with the National Acad15 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for an 

16 independent, external review of the Human Research 

17 Program. The purpose of the review shall be to ex18 amine the effectiveness of approaches currently 

19 being taken for identifying, measuring, and miti20 gating, and establishing countermeasures for human 

21 health and performance risks related to long-term 

22 human spaceflight, including any human activities in 

23 deep space, and to make recommendations to im24 prove the program. The review shall consider the 


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1 translation of basic research into the Human Re2 search Program. 

3 (2) REPORT.—The Administrator shall trans4 mit the results of the review to the Committee on 

5 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later 

8 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act. 

10 (b) CORE STAGE PRODUCTION CAPACITY.— 

11 (1) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall as12 sess the requirements and resource needed for in13 creasing the production capacity of the Space 

14 Launch System core stage from one to two core 

15 stages per year, and shall identify the resources, 

16 workforce, and infrastructure needed to increase the 

17 production capacity. 

18 (2) REPORT.—The Administrator shall trans19 mit the results of the assessment not later than 180 

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act to the 

21 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen24 ate. 


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1 (c) VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING.—Not later than 

2 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad3 ministrator shall transmit to the Committee on Science, 

4 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

5 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor6 tation of the Senate an assessment of requirements for 

7 concurrently processing 2 or more Space Launch System 

8 vehicles, including Space Launch System vehicles with an 

9 exploration upper stage. 

10 (d) REVIEW OF RISK MITIGATION.—Not later than 

11 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad12 ministrator shall transmit to the Committee on Science, 

13 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor15 tation of the Senate a review of the Orion crew vehicle 

16 and its systems, including the European Service Module, 

17 to identify any single-point failure and zero-fault-tolerant 

18 systems, components, or designs. The review shall identify 

19 and describe all actions taken to mitigate the risks of the 

20 systems, components, or designs identified, and any risk 

21 mitigation actions that are planned to be taken. 

22 (e) STUDY ON ENHANCED ORION SERVICE MODULE

23 PERFORMANCE.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

24 of enactment of the Act, the Administrator shall transmit 

25 to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 


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1 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com2 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

3 on the results of an independent technical and cost anal4 ysis of the options for developing or acquiring an enhanced 

5 Orion service module, as appropriate, that would enable 

6 direct low lunar orbit access and departure. 

7 (f) ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND LIFE SUPPORT

8 SYSTEM (ECLSS).—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

10 transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech11 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

12 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

13 the results of a plan and schedule for the completion, full 

14 testing, qualification, and validation of the integrated 

15 ECLSS system to be used on the Orion crew vehicle. The 

16 plan shall include a schedule, milestones, and shall identify 

17 any technical or supply chain challenges, as well as ap18 proaches to overcoming the challenges, in meeting the 

19 schedule and milestone dates. 

20 Subtitle B—International Space 

21 Station 

22 SEC. 221. EXTENSION AND POST-ISS SUPPORT. 

23 (a) POLICY.—Section 70907 of title 51, United 

24 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘at least 2024’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘at least 2028’’ and adding at the end ‘‘unless 


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1 continued operations present an increased safety risk or 

2 Congress has authorized a detailed plan submitted by the 

3 Administration for a transition from the International 

4 Space Station to an alternate platform, platforms or other 

5 means for continued research, as determined in section 

6 226(b) and section 307’’. 

7 (b) INDEPENDENT COST ESTIMATE.—The Inde8 pendent Program Analysis and Evaluation Office estab9 lished in section 1004 shall arrange for an independent 

10 estimate of the cost of continuing International Space Sta11 tion operations through 2028. The estimate shall include 

12 the cost of crew and cargo transportation and of the re13 search to be undertaken reflecting the priorities identified 

14 in section 222. The assessment shall identify opportunities 

15 for operational efficiencies that could result in cost savings 

16 and increased research productivity. 

17 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans18 mit the results of the independent cost estimate to the 

19 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com21 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later 

22 than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

23 (d) STUDY.—Not later than 120 days after the date 

24 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

25 to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 


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1 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com2 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the re3 sults of an assessment of— 

4 (1) technological challenges to operating the 

5 ISS until 2028; and 

6 (2) the potential viability of commercial space 

7 stations as an alternative to the ISS for carrying 

8 out— 

9 (A) the research requirements of the 

10 Human Research Program and the require11 ments recommended in sections 226(b) and 

12 307; 

13 (B) to test systems necessary for crewed, 

14 long duration deep space missions; and 

15 (C) key capabilities at NASA Centers that 

16 can be leveraged for the Administration’s con17 tinued safety in and use of low Earth orbit. 

18 SEC. 222. PRIORITIES FOR ISS UTILIZATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall prioritize 

20 the use of available NASA allocation of crew time and re21 sources on the International Space Station toward re22 search and technology development that enables the Moon 

23 to Mars goal in section 202. Priority research and develop24 ment areas should include— 


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1 (1) the research of the Human Research Pro2 gram, including research on reduction of human 

3 health and performance risks, behavioral and psy4 chological risks, and astronaut safety related to 

5 long-duration human spaceflight, and the develop6 ment of countermeasures to mitigate those risks; 

7 (2) the reduction of risks for exploration tech8 nologies, including for ECLSS, extravehicular activ9 ity and space suits, environmental monitoring, safe10 ty, and emergency response, deep space communica11 tions, among other critical enabling technologies for 

12 human exploration of deep space identified in section 

13 203(f); and 

14 (3) basic space life and physical science re15 search consistent with the priorities of the most re16 cent space life and physical sciences National Acad17 emies decadal survey. 

18 In addressing paragraphs (1) and (2), the Administrator 

19 shall take into account the data associated with the Life20 time Surveillance of Astronaut Health program, other rel21 evant data, and recommendations from relevant National 

22 Academies reports. 

23 (b) BIANNUAL PROGRESS.—The Administrator shall 

24 provide to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech25 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 


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1 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

2 a biannual accounting of the use of NASA crew time and 

3 ISS resources, including allocation of such resources to4 ward the priorities established in subsection (a). 

5 (c) PROHIBITION.—The Administration is prohibited 

6 from authorizing spaceflight participants access to the 

7 International Space Station when fewer than 3 United 

8 States Government astronauts are onboard as part of an 

9 International Space Station expedition crew. 

10 SEC. 223. ASSURED CREW ACCESS TO THE INTERNATIONAL 

11 SPACE STATION. 

12 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to Congress 

14 a contingency plan, including an implementation timeline, 

15 for assured crew access to the International Space Station 

16 until certified commercial crew transportation services are 

17 taking place, in the event that the availability of those 

18 services is delayed or unavailable. 

19 SEC. 224. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION DEORBIT CAPA20 BILITY AND PLAN. 

21 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the Con23 gress an International Space Station Deorbit Capability 

24 and Plan, including a cost estimate of implementing the 

25 plan. 


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1 SEC. 225. REPLACEMENT EXTRAVEHICULAR MOBILITY 

2 UNITS. 

3 (a) REPLACEMENT SUITS.—The Administrator shall 

4 take all necessary steps to provide for upgraded and re5 placement International Space Station Extravehicular Mo6 bility Units (EMUs), including spares, to ensure the safety 

7 of the International Space Station crew and crew oper8 ations. The upgraded and replacement units shall be fully 

9 tested and demonstrated, including on the ISS, to be cer10 tified by the Administration for use by crew as soon as 

11 practicable. Upgraded and replacement EMUs, including 

12 spares, shall accommodate the diversity of ISS crew, suit 

13 sizes, and other requirements established to support 

14 extravehicular activities. 

15 (b) PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit 

17 a plan for the provision of upgraded and replacement 

18 EMUs to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech19 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

20 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

21 SEC. 226. LOW EARTH ORBIT DEVELOPMENT. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall carry out 

23 development activities in low Earth orbit for the purposes 

24 of meeting the requirements established in subsection (b) 

25 and of supporting basic space life and physical sciences 

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1 ments identified in section 307, following the end of Inter2 national Space Station operations. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR LOW EARTH ORBIT ACTIVI4 TIES AND RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF HUMAN EXPLO5 RATION.—The Administrator shall continue to develop 

6 and regularly update detailed research, development and 

7 associated requirements and capabilities that are needed 

8 to support NASA’s human spaceflight and Moon to Mars 

9 Program and that must be carried out in low Earth orbit. 

10 Requirements and capabilities for NASA human 

11 spaceflight and exploration should include— 

12 (1) human health and performance research; 

13 (2) crew accommodation and training; 

14 (3) cargo and crew transportation services; 

15 (4) technology demonstration and qualification; 

16 and 

17 (5) options for how such requirements could be 

18 met, including through the use of suborbital launch 

19 systems, free flying orbital platforms, and the feasi20 bility of and potential risks associated with each op21 tion. 

22 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans23 mit the requirements in subsection (b) to Congress not 

24 later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act and shall provide annual updates to Congress. 


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1 (d) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION.—Within 1 year 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

3 shall issue a request for information for the development 

4 or provision of low Earth orbit platforms, modules, or on5 orbit capabilities, including options for ownership and 

6 services provisions, that can meet the requirements trans7 mitted in subsection (c). 

8 (e) RESULTS.—The Administrator shall transmit the 

9 results of the request for information to the Committee 

10 on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

12 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 120 days 

13 after the date the responses to the request for information 

14 are submitted to the Administration. 

15 TITLE III—SCIENCE 

16 SEC. 301. IMPORTANCE OF A BALANCED SCIENCE PRO17 GRAM. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that a balanced and ade19 quately funded set of activities, consisting of NASA’s re20 search and analysis grants programs, technology develop21 ment, small-, medium-, and large-sized space science mis22 sions, and suborbital research activities, continues to con23 tribute to a robust and productive science program and 

24 serves as a catalyst for innovation. 


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1 SEC. 302. REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY AS2 SURANCE PROGRAM AND PARTS POLICY IN 

3 SCIENCE MISSION DEVELOPMENT. 

4 (a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General shall review 

5 the implementation of quality assurance program and 

6 parts policy, processes, and procedures used in the devel7 opment of instrument and spacecraft for space and Earth 

8 science missions. The review shall build on prior work car9 ried out for the 2011 Government Accountability Office 

10 report on ‘‘Space and Mission Defense Acquisitions: Peri11 odic Assessment Needed to Correct Parts Quality Prob12 lems in Major Programs’’, released in 2011, and include 

13 an assessment of— 

14 (1) the extent to which NASA is following es15 tablished policy related to the selection, acquisition, 

16 traceability, testing, handling, packaging, storage, 

17 and application of materials and mechanical and 

18 electrical parts and the reasons for any deviations; 

19 (2) how NASA conducts surveillance of con20 tractor implementation of such policy, processes, and 

21 procedures; and 

22 (3) the extent to which established policy, proc23 esses, and procedures follows Federal government 

24 best practices. 

25 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

26 transmit the results of the review to the Committee on 


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1 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

3 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 303. INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL TECHNICAL, MANAGE6 MENT, AND COST REVIEWS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall arrange 

8 for independent external technical, management, and cost 

9 reviews of science missions with an estimated development 

10 cost of $1 billion or more prior to completing the system 

11 definition and mission definition reviews—Key Decision 

12 Point B—and entering into the preliminary design and 

13 technology completion phase—Phase B—of the mission 

14 development cycle. 

15 (b) RESULTS.—The Administrator shall transmit the 

16 results of the review to the Committee on Science, Space, 

17 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

18 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

19 the Senate not later than 10 days after the results of the 

20 review have been completed. 

21 SEC. 304. SMALL SATELLITES. 

22 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con23 gress that small satellites and cubesats are increasingly 

24 important elements of NASA’s exploration, scientific, and 

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1 value science, and can contribute, where appropriate, to 

2 a balanced science mission portfolio. Cubesat-enabled 

3 science missions also provide opportunities for hands-on 

4 training and developing project management skills for stu5 dents and early career professionals, as noted in the 2016 

6 report of the National Academies, ‘‘Achieving Science with 

7 CubeSats: Thinking Inside the Box’’. 

8 (b) CONTINUATION.—The Administrator should con9 tinue to support the use of small satellite research and 

10 development in the space and Earth sciences, where ap11 propriate, and for hands-on training and related skills. 

12 SEC. 305. OPTIONS FOR SMALL SATELLITE AND PAYLOAD 

13 ACCESS TO THE NEAR-SPACE AND SPACE EN14 VIRONMENT. 

15 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the Com17 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

18 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report de20 scribing the options for small satellites and payload access 

21 to the upper atmospheric, near-space, and space environ22 ments, including through suborbital rockets, balloons, 

23 hosted payloads, rideshares, dedicated launch vehicles, 

24 among any other options. The report shall also identify 

25 criteria for the selection of an option for small satellite 


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1 and payload access to the upper atmospheric, near-space, 

2 and space environments, and shall identify the potential 

3 benefits and risks of each option. 

4 SEC. 306. STUDY ON SPACE LIFE AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES 

5 RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS PLACEMENT. 

6 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit a report to 

8 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

9 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com10 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on an 

11 evaluation of the potential transfer of the Space Life and 

12 Physical Sciences Research and Applications activities to 

13 the Science Mission Directorate. The study shall identify 

14 and consider issues related to the potential establishment 

15 of a Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Appli16 cations Division under the Science Mission Directorate, 

17 the organization of a potential Division, and the potential 

18 scope of a Division’s research and activities. The study 

19 shall include a recommendation on a potential transfer 

20 and identification of follow-on actions, if any, that would 

21 be required for implementation. 

22 SEC. 307. SPACE LIFE AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH 

23 REQUIREMENTS. 

24 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 90 days after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 


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1 enter into an arrangement with the National Academies 

2 of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for the develop3 ment of a comprehensive set of requirements to support 

4 life and physical sciences research in microgravity fol5 lowing the end of International Space Station operations. 

6 The study shall include, among other factors— 

7 (1) requirements to support basic research, as 

8 recommended in the most recent National Academies 

9 decadal survey, and requirements for applied re10 search and development activities; 

11 (2) environmental requirements including ther12 mal, vibration, micro-g level, noise, sterility, and 

13 cleanliness; 

14 (3) laboratory facility hardware (e.g., glovebox, 

15 ovens, rodent facilities); 

16 (4) technology demonstration and qualification; 

17 (5) crew time for carrying out basic research 

18 activities; 

19 (6) power; 

20 (7) data storage and transmission; 

21 (8) communications; 

22 (9) supporting facilities and infrastructure; 

23 (10) crew and cargo transportation services, in24 cluding pressurized upmass and downmass, to and 


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1 from low Earth orbit following the end of Inter2 national Space Station operations; 

3 (11) options for how such requirements could 

4 be met, including through the use of suborbital 

5 launch systems, free flying orbital platforms, and the 

6 feasibility, and potential risks associated with; and 

7 (12) options for governance and management 

8 models for non-NASA research and development ac9 tivities and recommendations on a governance and 

10 management approach. 

11 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans12 mit the study in subsection (a) to the Committee on 

13 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep14 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

15 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

17 (c) PROHIBITION.—The nonprofit management enti18 ty responsible for managing non-NASA research on the 

19 International Space Station, under section 70905(c)(2) of 

20 title 51, United States Code, shall not have access to any 

21 NASA-funded portion of any potential attached commer22 cial or public-private platform or any free flying commer23 cial or public-private platform until the results of the 

24 study directed under subsection (a) have been provided to 

25 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 


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1 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com2 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

3 acted upon by the Congress. 

4 Subtitle A—Earth Science and 

5 Applications 

6 SEC. 311. GOAL. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the Administration’s Earth science and applica9 tions program are vital for the Nation’s ability to research, 

10 understand, and take measures to address the challenge 

11 of global climate change and provide increasingly valuable 

12 data for applied uses, including on natural resource man13 agement, agriculture, forestry, food security, air quality 

14 monitoring, among many other application areas. It is the 

15 further sense of Congress that a robust and balanced 

16 Earth science and applications program contributes sig17 nificantly to the Nation’s scientific discovery, economic 

18 growth and to supporting the health and safety of Ameri19 cans and citizens of the world. 

20 (b) REAFFIRMATION.—Congress reaffirms section 

21 60501 of title 51, United States Code, on the goal for 

22 NASA’s Earth science and applications program, which 

23 is that the Administration’s Earth Science program shall 

24 be to pursue a program of Earth observations, research, 

25 and applications activities to better understand the Earth, 


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1 how it supports life, and how human activities affect its 

2 ability to do so in the future. In pursuit of this goal, the 

3 Administration’s Earth Science program shall ensure that 

4 securing practical benefits for society will be an important 

5 measure of its success in addition to securing new knowl6 edge about the Earth system and climate change. In fur7 ther pursuit of this goal, the Administration shall, to8 gether with other relevant agencies, provide United States 

9 leadership in developing and carrying out a cooperative 

10 international Earth observations-based research program. 

11 (c) PLAN.—The Administrator shall prepare an im12 plementation plan for the most recent National Academies 

13 of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s decadal survey 

14 on Earth science and applications. 

15 (d) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans16 mit the Plan in subsection (c) to the Committee on 

17 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

19 and Transportation in the Senate not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 312. APPLIED USES OF EARTH SCIENCE DATA. 

22 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con23 gress that there are substantive and innovative applica24 tions and uses of space-based Earth science observations 

25 that are benefitting other Federal Government agencies, 


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1 State and local government agencies, and the broader user 

2 community and society. It is the further sense of Congress 

3 that the Administration should continue to seek means, 

4 to the extent practicable and in collaboration with other 

5 Federal Government agencies, industry, and academia, to 

6 expand the applied uses of NASA space-based Earth 

7 science observations and data. It is also the sense of Con8 gress that quantifying the uses of these observations by 

9 other Federal Government agencies is important for un10 derstanding the impact and value of the Nation’s invest11 ments in space-based Earth science observations and data. 

12 (b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall prepare a re13 port identifying the use of NASA space-based Earth 

14 science observations by other civil Federal Government 

15 agencies. The report shall, for each Federal agency, iden16 tify the extent of space-based Earth science observations 

17 used, the type of Earth science observations used, the pur18 pose of the data use, and any tools or decision support 

19 services developed in the use of the space-based Earth 

20 science data for operational or research and development 

21 purposes. 

22 (c) CONSIDERATION.—The report shall take into ac23 count the work of the Satellite Needs Working Group 

24 under the U.S. Group on Earth Observations, which iden25 tifies high-priority Federal satellite user needs. 


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1 SEC. 313. SURVEY OF STATE, TRIBAL, AND TERRITORY USE 

2 OF NASA EARTH OBSERVATION DATA. 

3 (a) SURVEY.—The Administrator shall arrange for a 

4 survey of the use of NASA Earth observation data by 

5 States, Tribal organizations, and territories. 

6 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Director shall transmit the 

7 results of the Survey in subsection (a) to the Committee 

8 on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

10 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 18 

11 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 314. COMMERCIAL EARTH OBSERVATION DATA. 

13 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 120 days after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall enter 

15 into an arrangement with the National Academies of 

16 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to carry out a study 

17 on the opportunities and challenges related to the poten18 tial use of commercial Earth observation data collected for 

19 the purposes of conducting Earth science research. 

20 (b) INCLUSION.—The study in subsection (a) shall in21 clude— 

22 (1) an assessment of the Administration’s pri23 vate sector small satellite constellation pilot pro24 gram; 


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1 (2) options for government or private sector 

2 roles in performing calibration and validation and 

3 reanalysis of commercial Earth observations data; 

4 (3) approaches to ensuring consistency with Ad5 ministration data and information policies for Earth 

6 observation data obtained or purchased from com7 mercial providers; 

8 (4) the results of the assessment in paragraph 

9 (1); 

10 (5) the benefits of using commercially provided 

11 data, observations, or services for Earth science re12 search; 

13 (6) recommendations on guidelines, decision 

14 rules, and requirements for the use of commercial 

15 Earth observation data in support of Earth science 

16 research; and 

17 (7) recommendations on any other relevant fac18 tors and issues regarding the use of commercial 

19 Earth observation data for the purposes of con20 ducting Earth science research. 

21 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans22 mit the results of the study to the Committee on Science, 

23 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

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1 tation of the Senate not later than 18 months after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 315. PLANKTON, AEROSOL, CLOUD, OCEAN ECO4 SYSTEM MISSION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall continue 

6 development of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Eco7 system (PACE) mission to advance 2007 National Acad8 emies decadal survey priorities for systematic measure9 ments on clouds and aerosols and global ocean color meas10 urements that extend systematic data records for Earth 

11 system and climate science, including on the carbon cycle 

12 and ocean biogeochemistry. 

13 (b) COST AND SCHEDULE.—In carrying out the de14 velopment in subsection (a), the Administrator shall follow 

15 all requirements under section 30104 of title 51, United 

16 States Code. 

17 SEC. 316. CLARREO PATHFINDER. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall continue 

19 development of the Climate Absolute Radiance and 

20 Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder mis21 sion, as recommended by the 2007 National Academies 

22 decadal survey, to demonstrate measurement capabilities, 

23 verify the accuracy of radiometry for long-term climate 

24 studies, and to help provide a baseline climate record for 

25 shortwave reflectance and infrared measurements. 


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1 (b) COST AND SCHEDULE.—In carrying out the de2 velopment in subsection (a), the Administrator shall follow 

3 all requirements under section 30104 of title 51, United 

4 States Code. 

5 Subtitle B—Astrophysics 

6 SEC. 321. WIDE FIELD INFRARED SURVEY TELESCOPE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall continue 

8 development of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope 

9 (WFIRST), in the configuration established through pre10 liminary design review, to meet the objectives prioritized 

11 in the 2010 decadal survey of astronomy and astrophysics 

12 of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 

13 Medicine. 

14 (b) COST AND SCHEDULE.—In carrying out the de15 velopment in subsection (a), the Administrator shall follow 

16 all requirements under section 30104 of title 51, United 

17 States Code. 

18 (c) BASELINE PLAN.—Following Key Decision Point19 C or project confirmation, the Administrator shall prepare 

20 a cost and schedule baseline plan for the development of 

21 WFIRST against which the project performance can be 

22 measured by Congress. The plan shall include an annual 

23 funding profile required for WFIRST through the comple24 tion of its development and initial science phase, including 


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1 cost and schedule reserves levels, consistent with NASA 

2 policy. 

3 (d) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

4 Key Decision Point-C has taken place, the Administrator 

5 shall provide the plan in subsection (c) to the appropriate 

6 Committees of Congress. 

7 (e) QUARTERLY REPORTING.—The Administrator 

8 shall provide quarterly reports on the progress of the 

9 WFIRST development and the status on cost and schedule 

10 relative to the baseline plan developed in subsection (a) 

11 to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

12 the House of Representatives and of the Committee on 

13 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

14 (f) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—The Comp15 troller General shall provide to the Committee on Science, 

16 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

17 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation of the Senate an annual review of the performance 

19 and progress of the WFIRST development under sub20 sections (a) through (c). The review shall examine the Ad21 ministration’s performance in meeting cost, schedule, and 

22 technical objectives and overall management of the 

23 project’s development. 


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1 SEC. 322. STRATOSPHERIC OBSERVATORY FOR INFRARED 

2 ASTRONOMY. 

3 Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Com5 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the 

8 scientific program and operations of the Stratospheric Ob9 servatory for Infrared Astronomy. The report shall pro10 vide— 

11 (1) a description of the scientific instruments 

12 that are flying, including— 

13 (A) their current operating status; 

14 (B) operating costs; 

15 (C) anticipated operational lifetimes; and 

16 (D) the anticipated scientific impact of 

17 each instrument; and 

18 (2) a description of the scientific instruments 

19 are planned to be flown on the observatory, includ20 ing the— 

21 (A) development status; 

22 (B) estimated development costs; 

23 (C) anticipated launch date; 

24 (D) the anticipated operational lifetime; 

25 and 


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1 (E) the anticipated scientific impact of the 

2 instrument. 

3 SEC. 323. RESEARCH ON TECHNOSIGNATURES. 

4 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that the search for life in the universe is an integral 

6 component of the Administration’s space science program 

7 and that the search for life in the universe has increasingly 

8 encompassed a multi- and interdisciplinary approach. It 

9 is the further sense of Congress that research related to 

10 the search for life has encompassed nongovernment fund11 ed research on and searches for intelligent life. Those ef12 forts include searches for signatures of advanced tech13 nologies that could be used to indicate the existence of 

14 intelligent life beyond Earth, or what is referred to as 

15 ‘‘technosignatures’’. 

16 (b) RESEARCH.—The Administrator may support, as 

17 appropriate, peer-reviewed, competitively selected research 

18 on technosignatures. 

19 Subtitle C—Planetary Science 

20 SEC. 331. MARS COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE. 

21 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator shall de22 velop an estimate of the Administration’s communication 

23 requirements, including bandwidth and communications 

24 needs, to serve current and future robotic orbiter, lander, 

25 rover and human missions to Mars into the 2040s. 


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1 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall prepare 

2 an assessment of the existing Mars communication infra3 structure and its capabilities to meet the Administration’s 

4 requirements in subsection (a), including the risk of poten5 tial gaps in communications relays between Mars space6 craft and Earth within the next 5 years. 

7 (c) PLAN.—Based on the assessment in subsection 

8 (b), the Administrator shall develop a plan for addressing 

9 the risk of potential gaps of meeting future robotic and 

10 potential human mission requirements into the 2040s. 

11 (d) INCLUSION.—The Plan in subsection (c) shall in12 clude— 

13 (1) options for a Mars communication infra14 structure that meets the estimated requirements in 

15 subsection (a), options for mitigating any risks iden16 tified in the Assessment in subsection (b), and a pre17 liminary estimate of the potential costs of each op18 tion, including— 

19 (A) the tradeoffs of using a dedicated 

20 Mars communications orbiter, a Mars science 

21 orbiter that handles communications relays, and 

22 other options; and 

23 (B) an identification of any technology, 

24 software, and cybersecurity developments antici25 pated to become available in the next 2–5 years 


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1 that could facilitate the capability, accelerate 

2 the development, and enable implementation of 

3 a Mars communication infrastructure; and 

4 (2) options for acquisition approaches for a 

5 Mars communications infrastructure, including part6 nerships with international or commercial partners. 

7 (e) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans8 mit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

9 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

10 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate the 

11 assessment and plan in subsections (b) and (c) not later 

12 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 332. MARS SAMPLE RETURN STRATEGY AND PLAN. 

14 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that the 2011 National Academies decadal survey, 

16 ‘‘Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 

17 2013-2022’’ states that ‘‘The Mars community . . . was 

18 emphatic in their view that a sample return mission is the 

19 next step in Mars exploration. Mars science has reached 

20 a level of sophistication such that fundamental advances 

21 in addressing the important questions . . . will come only 

22 from analysis of returned samples.’’. It is the further sense 

23 of Congress that the decadal survey recommended a Mars 

24 sample return mission as the highest priority large mis25 sion, and that in addition to advancing high priority 


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1 science, Mars samples returned to Earth would contribute 

2 science and information that is valuable for planning a 

3 human mission to Mars. 

4 (b) STRATEGY.—The Administrator shall develop a 

5 strategy, including options, for returning samples that are 

6 planned to be cached by the Mars 2020 rover to Earth 

7 for terrestrial laboratory study. The strategy shall iden8 tify— 

9 (1) technologies required to carry out a sample 

10 return mission, including requirements for sample 

11 containment and handling in space and upon return 

12 to Earth; 

13 (2) research, technology, and developments 

14 needed to effectively manage planetary protection; 

15 (3) opportunities for potential international 

16 partnership; and 

17 (4) a recommended mission option, and an esti18 mated cost. 

19 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 180 

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis21 trator shall transmit a plan for implementing the strategy 

22 in subsection (a), including a timeline and a list of key 

23 milestones, to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech24 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

25 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 


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1 (d) EARLY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.—The Ad2 ministrator shall continue early technology development 

3 work in preparation for a Mars sample return mission. 

4 SEC. 333. COMMERCIAL LUNAR PAYLOAD SERVICES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may establish 

6 a Commercial Lunar Payload Services program for the 

7 purposes of transporting and landing science instruments 

8 and payloads on the lunar surface or to cislunar space. 

9 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER MISSION DIREC10 TORATES.—Any lander demonstrations, services, instru11 ments, or payloads, and the commercial lunar payload 

12 services required to deliver those payloads or instruments 

13 to the lunar surface or lunar vicinity, that are not carried 

14 out for the purposes established in subsection (a) or that 

15 are carried out for the Human Exploration and Oper16 ations Mission Directorate or the Space Technology Mis17 sion Directorate shall be funded from the Mission Direc18 torate sponsoring the use of the program established in 

19 subsection (a). 

20 (c) COMMERCIAL LANDERS.—In carrying out the 

21 program under (a), the Administrator shall procure the 

22 services of commercial landers that are majority-designed, 

23 majority-developed, and majority-built in the United 

24 States. 


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1 (d) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall carry 

2 out an assessment of the Commercial Lunar Payload Serv3 ices program to identify lessons learned, ongoing chal4 lenges, and approaches to addressing the challenges. The 

5 study shall be transmitted to the Committee on Science, 

6 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

7 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor8 tation of the Senate not later than 3 years after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 334. EUROPA CLIPPER LAUNCH VEHICLE. 

11 (a) ASSESSMENT OF LAUNCH VEHICLE OPTIONS.— 

12 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this 

13 Act, the Administrator shall carry out and complete an 

14 assessment of the launch vehicle options that would be 

15 available at the earliest flight readiness date for launch 

16 of the Europa Clipper mission. The assessment shall in17 clude— 

18 (1) an analysis of the marginal cost, schedule, 

19 risk, and benefits associated with launching the Eu20 ropa Clipper mission on a Space Launch System as 

21 compared to an alternative launch vehicle, including 

22 any additional cost, schedule, and risk incurred from 

23 spacecraft design changes due to alternative inter24 planetary trajectories; and 


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1 (2) a consideration of whether an increased 

2 Space Launch System production rate would allow 

3 the Europa Clipper orbiter mission to be launched 

4 on a Space Launch System on a schedule that is 

5 consistent with the flight readiness date for the mis6 sion. 

7 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Administrator is author8 ized, based on the results of the assessment in subsection 

9 (a), to select the launch vehicle for the Europa Clipper 

10 mission taking into account the probability of mission suc11 cess and based on cost, schedule, vehicle availability, and 

12 impact on science requirements. 

13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 15 days after com14 pleting the assessment in subsection (a), the Adminis15 trator shall provide to the Committee on Science, Space, 

16 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

18 the Senate a report including the complete assessment of 

19 launch vehicle options in subsection (a), the Administra20 tor’s selection of the Europa Clipper launch vehicle as au21 thorized in subsection (b), and the estimated cost of the 

22 selected launch option. 

23 SEC. 335. DEDICATED SURVEY MISSION. 

24 (a) DEDICATED SURVEY MISSION.—The Adminis25 trator shall develop a dedicated space-based infrared surVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5666.IH H5666

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1 vey telescope mission, as soon as is practicable, for the 

2 purpose of accomplishing the objectives of the George E. 

3 Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act, and consistent 

4 with section 71101 of title 51, United States Code. The 

5 mission design shall take into account the recommenda6 tions of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

7 and Medicine’s report, ‘‘Finding Hazardous Asteroids 

8 Using Infrared and Visible Wavelength Telescopes’’. 

9 (b) PLAN.—The Administrator shall transmit a plan 

10 for carrying out the dedicated survey mission described in 

11 subsection (a) to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

12 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com13 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

14 Senate not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act. 

16 SEC. 336. NEAR-EARTH OBJECT AND PLANETARY DEFENSE 

17 ROADMAP. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in collabora19 tion with other relevant Federal agencies, shall lead the 

20 development of a Roadmap to improve the detection, 

21 tracking, and characterization of near-Earth objects for 

22 the purpose of reducing uncertainties and advancing the 

23 accuracy of decision making on potentially hazardous 

24 near-Earth objects. The Roadmap shall identify existing 

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1 proving the detection and tracking of near-Earth objects 

2 and completing the goals of the George E. Brown, Jr. 

3 Near-Earth Object Survey. 

4 (b) NASA RESPONSIBILITIES.—In carrying out sub5 section (a), NASA shall, in cooperation with relevant Fed6 eral agencies and international partners— 

7 (1) lead activities that— 

8 (A) enhance national capabilities for near9 Earth object detection, tracking, and character10 ization; and 

11 (B) seek to develop technologies for fast12 response near-Earth object deflection and dis13 ruption; and 

14 (2) participate in activities that— 

15 (A) seek to improve national capabilities 

16 for potentially hazardous near-Earth object 

17 modeling, predictions, and information integra18 tion; and 

19 (B) increase international cooperation on 

20 near-Earth object preparation. 

21 SEC. 337. ASSESSMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR CATA22 LOGUING AND ARCHIVING NEAR-EARTH OB23 JECT DATA. 

24 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall enter 

25 into an arrangement with the National Academies of 


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1 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to carry out an as2 sessment to identify the requirements and capabilities 

3 needed for the cataloguing, archiving, and maintaining ob4 servational space-based and ground-based data of near5 Earth objects through 2030, including data from the 

6 Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. 

7 (b) INCLUSION.—The assessment in subsection (a) 

8 shall address— 

9 (1) the extent to which the existing facilities, 

10 including the Minor Planet Center, can accommo11 date the identified needs; 

12 (2) and any additional facilities, equipment, and 

13 capabilities needed to catalogue, archive, and main14 tain near-Earth object data anticipated to be col15 lected through 2030; 

16 (3) requirements and capabilities for automated 

17 analysis of the data and objects in the catalogue and 

18 archive, including artificial intelligence; and 

19 (4) an estimated timeline and budget required 

20 to support the requirements and capabilities identi21 fied in paragraphs (1) through (3). 

22 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans23 mit the results of the assessment to the Committee on 

24 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep25 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 


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1 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 338. INTERNATIONAL CONFIDENCE AND CAPACITY 

4 BUILDING FOR NEAR-EARTH OBJECT IMPACT 

5 MITIGATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall expand 

7 efforts being carried out with international entities, in8 cluding the Space Missions Planning Advisory Group of 

9 the Working Group on near-Earth Objects of the Sci10 entific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations 

11 Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, to sup12 port confidence-building and capacity-building activities 

13 related to near-Earth object impact mitigation techniques, 

14 such the use of a kinetic impactor, gravity tractor, and 

15 nuclear explosive device. 

16 (b) CONFIDENCE AND CAPACITY-BUILDING.—The 

17 Administrator may carry out workshops, technical ex18 changes of information, training, or other means, as ap19 propriate, with international entities for building con20 fidence, and developing technical understanding and 

21 awareness of in-space near-Earth object deflection or im22 pact mitigation techniques. 

23 (c) BRIEFING.—Not later than 9 months after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall pro25 vide a briefing to staff of the Committee on Science, 


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1 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

2 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor3 tation of the Senate on plans for carrying out the activities 

4 in subsections (a) and (b). 

5 SEC. 339. CLOSE PASSING NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS. 

6 The Administration should consider planning pre7 paratory actions to take advantage of opportunities related 

8 to close passing near-Earth objects for both scientific and 

9 public outreach purposes, including the close approach of 

10 asteroid 99942 Apophis anticipated to occur in 2029, to 

11 conduct close-up studies of a large asteroids as they pass 

12 by Earth. 

13 Subtitle D—Heliophysics and 

14 Space Weather Research 

15 SEC. 341. IMPORTANCE OF HELIOPHYSICS RESEARCH TO 

16 UNDERSTANDING SPACE WEATHER. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that— 

18 (1) NASA’s Heliophysics Division is a key con19 tributor to a greater understanding of the Sun, solar 

20 activity, and the space environment of Earth and 

21 other planets; 

22 (2) fundamental research in Heliophysics plays 

23 a key role in understanding and predicting space 

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1 versely affect numerous assets in space and on 

2 Earth, including military and commercial satellite 

3 communications, the global power grid, and pipelines 

4 that provide fuel and water to billions of people; and 

5 (3) understanding space weather is crucial in 

6 advance of human exploration activities in order to 

7 minimize deleterious effects on humans in space. 

8 SEC. 342. SPACE WEATHER RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 

9 PROGRAM. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator, in col11 laboration with other relevant Federal Government agen12 cies, shall establish within the Heliophysics Division a 

13 Space Weather Research and Applications Program to 

14 support the transition of scientific research to operations 

15 and to carry out competitively selected applied research 

16 for the purposes of improving the modeling, forecasting, 

17 and prediction of space weather phenomena. In carrying 

18 out the Program established in this subsection, the Ad19 ministrator shall, to the extent practicable, partner with 

20 relevant Federal Government agencies, academia, indus21 try, and the space weather user community. 

22 (b) COMMUNITY COORDINATED MODELING CEN23 TER.—The Administrator, in collaboration with relevant 

24 Federal Government agencies and stakeholders, shall lead 

25 the coordination of space weather model development, 


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1 testing, and validation in preparation for transitioning 

2 such models to operational users. In leading the Center, 

3 the Administrator should, to the extent practicable— 

4 (1) take steps to support the integration of ad5 ditional data sources (including international, aca6 demic, and commercial) that could improve space 

7 weather models, predictive capabilities, and fore8 casts; and 

9 (2) increase efforts to coordinate the Commu10 nity Coordinated Modeling Center activities with 

11 academia, industry, international, and other space 

12 weather modeling and forecasting entities. 

13 (c) OBSERVATIONS.—The Administrator should con14 tinue to consider, to the extent practicable, the use of 

15 small spacecraft to expand space weather observations and 

16 enhance research related to space weather model develop17 ment. 

18 Subtitle E—Data Science and 

19 Management 

20 SEC. 361. DATA SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator 

22 should take steps to establish a data science and manage23 ment initiative to expand data analytic capabilities, such 

24 as cloud computing, in the management of the Adminis25 tration’s scientific databases that can enable the pursuit 


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1 of new, interdisciplinary areas of scientific investigation 

2 and facilitate the broadest possible use of space science 

3 and Earth science data for research and applied purposes. 

4 SEC. 362. WORKSHOP ON DATA ANALYTICS FOR EARTH 

5 SCIENCE RESEARCH. 

6 (a) WORKSHOP.—The Administrator shall enter into 

7 an arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences, 

8 Engineering, and Medicine for a workshop on the scientific 

9 opportunities related to the use of advanced data analytics 

10 and modeling techniques in Earth science research and ap11 plications. The workshop should identify— 

12 (1) the opportunities and challenges of using 

13 advanced data analytics and modeling techniques for 

14 Earth science research, including those areas of 

15 Earth science research that currently use advanced 

16 data analytics and modeling techniques; 

17 (2) current and future developments in data 

18 analytics and modeling techniques; and 

19 (3) potential areas of interdisciplinary Earth 

20 science and applications research that could be en21 abled by advanced data analytics and modeling tech22 niques. 

23 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall provide 

24 a report on the Workshop in subsection (a) not later than 

25 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 TITLE IV—SPACE 

2 COMMUNICATIONS 

3 SEC. 401. REVIEW OF SPACE COMMUNICATIONS. 

4 (a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General shall under5 take a review of the Administration’s space communica6 tions and navigation programs, activities, and plans. 

7 (b) INCLUSION.—The review in subsection (a) shall 

8 include— 

9 (1) the extent to which there is a well-defined 

10 plan, architecture, and identification of communica11 tions and navigation needs over the next 20 years; 

12 (2) an identification of performance capabilities 

13 required to meet the Administration’s plans and 

14 needs over the next 20 years; 

15 (3) the extent to which the Administration has 

16 developed an estimate of the costs, including life 

17 cycle costs, of paragraph (2); 

18 (4) approaches the Administrator is taking to 

19 sustain the existing space communications and navi20 gations architecture; 

21 (5) any risks to the sustainment and operations 

22 of the architecture; 

23 (6) planned upgrades to the architecture; 

24 (7) an estimated cost for the upgrades in para25 graph (6); 


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1 (8) the extent to which there is an established 

2 means for prioritizing investments and how such in3 vestments are balanced between sustaining existing 

4 operations, upgrading systems, and undertaking new 

5 developments; 

6 (9) the technical and programmatic viability of 

7 any approaches for meeting space communications 

8 needs after all Tracking and Data Relay Satellite 

9 System third-generation communications satellites 

10 are operational; and 

11 (10) the extent to which the Administration has 

12 an established plan and measures for mitigating 

13 threats to electromagnetic spectrum use. 

14 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The review in subsection (a) 

15 shall be transmitted to the Committee on Science, Space, 

16 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

18 the Senate not later than 1 year after the date of enact19 ment of this Act. 

20 TITLE V—AERONAUTICS 

21 SEC. 501. RESEARCH EFFORT TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABLE 

22 AVIATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consulta24 tion with other relevant Federal agencies, industry, and 

25 academia, shall conduct research and development efforts 


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1 that contribute to reducing the environmental impact of 

2 aviation, providing for a sustainable future for aviation, 

3 and improving the efficiency and performance of United 

4 States commercial aircraft. 

5 (b) RESEARCH EFFORT.—The research effort in sub6 section (a) shall include research, development, and dem7 onstration projects on— 

8 (1) subsonic aircraft and engine design and 

9 technology; 

10 (2) sustainable aviation fuels; 

11 (3) electric and hybrid-electric propulsion; and 

12 (4) other efforts that contribute to a sustain13 able future for aviation. 

14 (c) GOALS.—The goals of the initiative in subsection 

15 (b) shall be to reach— 

16 (1) two percent annual fuel efficiency improve17 ment through 2050; and 

18 (2) carbon neutral growth. 

19 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than June 1 of 

20 every year, the Administrator shall submit a report identi21 fying the activities carried out under the research effort 

22 under subsection (a) and the progress toward meeting the 

23 goals identified in subsection (c). 


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1 SEC. 502. WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

2 ON NOISE. 

3 (a) WORKSHOP.—The Administrator shall organize a 

4 workshop on the status of existing research and tech5 nology activities, and to identify planned research and 

6 technology demonstration activities and opportunities for 

7 future research and development activities, including 

8 noiseless aircraft, related to reducing the noise effects 

9 from subsonic aircraft, urban air mobility and uncrewed 

10 aviation systems, supersonic aircraft, and commercial 

11 space launch vehicles. 

12 (b) PARTICIPANTS.—The Workshop described in sub13 section (a) shall include participants from relevant Federal 

14 government agencies, industry, academia, and nongovern15 mental organizations. 

16 (c) REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit a re17 port on the results of the workshop to the Committee on 

18 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep19 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

20 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 18 

21 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 503. AERONAUTICS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY 

23 ROUNDTABLE. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that the National Acad25 emies Aeronautics Research and Technology Round Table 

26 has been a valuable forum for industry, academia, and 


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1 government to share knowledge, define strategic issues, 

2 identify research topics of interest, and provide input into 

3 NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s agen4 da. It is the further sense of Congress, that the Adminis5 trator should continue to support the Roundtable to facili6 tate continuing partnerships in United States aeronautics 

7 research going forward. 

8 SEC. 504. EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT DEMONSTRATIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall study, 

10 develop, and carry out large-scale testing and demonstra11 tions in relevant environments that are needed to under12 stand complex, transformational flight systems, including 

13 structures, aerodynamics, propulsion, controls and flight 

14 dynamics interactions, and advanced technologies and sys15 tems for their transition into aircraft and airspace systems 

16 by the aviation community. 

17 (b) EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT DEMONSTRATIONS.— 

18 In meeting the objectives established in subsection (a), the 

19 Administrator shall carry out experimental aircraft dem20 onstrations, including a— 

21 (1) subsonic demonstrator to demonstrate the 

22 performance and feasibility of advanced, ultra-effi23 cient subsonic flight demonstrator configurations; 

24 (2) low-boom flight demonstrator to validate de25 sign tools and technologies that can be applied to 


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1 low sonic boom commercial supersonic aircraft and 

2 support the development of a noise-based standard 

3 for supersonic overland flight; and 

4 (3) hybrid wing body demonstrator to dem5 onstrate the performance and feasibility of an ultra6 efficient hybrid wing body configuration. 

7 (c) COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY AND ACA8 DEMIA.—The Administration shall seek means to increase 

9 collaboration with industry and academia in basic re10 search, technology development, and experimental aircraft 

11 demonstration activities. 

12 SEC. 505. REVIEW OF RESEARCH ROADMAP ON 

13 HYPERSONICS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall enter 

15 into an arrangement with the National Academies of 

16 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the Road17 map for Hypersonic Research directed in section 603 of 

18 the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017. The re19 view shall take into account research activities of the De20 partment of Defense. The review shall identify and 

21 prioritize critical basic and applied research to be carried 

22 out by the Administration in the near-term (within 6 

23 months to 3 years), mid-term (within 3 to 6 years), and 

24 long-term (within 6 to 10 years), and shall identify the 

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1 bilities, infrastructure and facilities, and workforce skills 

2 needed to establish global leadership in hypersonics. 

3 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans4 mit the review in subsection (a) to the Committee on 

5 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

7 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 506. SUPERSONIC FLIGHT. 

10 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that the development of low-boom commercial super12 sonic transport that is efficient, cost-effective, and safe for 

13 the environment will be transformative for the aviation in14 dustry and will help ensure continued United States lead15 ership in enabling new transportation capabilities. It is the 

16 further sense of Congress that NASA, in its work on a 

17 low-boom flight demonstrator aircraft, should continue 

18 consulting with the Federal Aviation Administration 

19 (FAA), the International Civil Aviation Organization 

20 (ICAO), other international aeronautics research organi21 zations. 

22 (b) CONTINUED RESEARCH.—The Administrator 

23 shall continue to conduct research and development activi24 ties to enable the development and operational use of low25 boom supersonic aircraft. 


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1 SEC. 507. URBAN AIR MOBILITY. 

2 (a) STRATEGY.—The Administrator shall develop a 

3 strategy, including goals and objectives, for the Adminis4 tration’s research and development activities on urban air 

5 mobility. The strategy shall— 

6 (1) take into account the Administration’s work 

7 on uncrewed aviation systems; 

8 (2) consider relevant National Academies re9 ports on the feasibility of a safe and efficient urban 

10 air mobility system; 

11 (3) provide a description of the Administra12 tion’s ‘‘Grand Challenges’’ for urban air mobility 

13 and how it contributes to achieving the goals and ob14 jectives identified in the strategy; 

15 (4) identify any research gaps and options for 

16 addressing the gaps; and 

17 (5) identify the means of partnering with the 

18 other relevant Federal agencies, academia, and in19 dustry on urban air mobility research and develop20 ment. 

21 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans22 mit the strategy to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

23 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com24 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

25 Senate not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

26 of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 508. AERONAUTICS WORKFORCE AND MODELING AND 

2 TEST FACILITIES. 

3 (a) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall enter into an 

4 arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences, 

5 Engineering, and Medicine to carry out a comprehensive 

6 review of— 

7 (1) the Nation’s aeronautics workforce and 

8 skills-base; and 

9 (2) the status of NASA’s aeronautical modeling 

10 and test facilities. 

11 The review shall make prioritized recommendations on ac12 tions needed to align the workforce with research objec13 tives, strategic goals, and commercial aeronautics opportu14 nities and on the improvements and additions to modeling 

15 capabilities and test facilities needed to meet the Nation’s 

16 aeronautics strategic goals and objectives. 

17 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans18 mit the results of the review not later than 15 months 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act to the Committee 

20 on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep21 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

22 and Transportation of the Senate. 

23 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 120 

24 days after the date that the review is completed and pub25 lished, the Administrator shall provide to the Committee 

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1 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate a plan for implementing 

3 the recommendations in the review in subsection (a). 

4 SEC. 509. UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE. 

5 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that United States leadership in aeronautics will de7 pend, in part, on infusing innovation into the Nation’s 

8 aeronautical research and development programs and in 

9 transferring the proven capabilities and technologies es10 tablished through research and development into commer11 cial aviation. It is the further sense of Congress that the 

12 University Leadership Initiative is encouraging innovation 

13 by successfully engaging multidisciplinary teams, includ14 ing academia and industry, in compelling research activi15 ties that address the Aeronautics Research Mission Direc16 torate’s strategic research goals while also energizing the 

17 aeronautics research enterprise. The Administrator should 

18 continue to support the University Leadership Initiative. 

19 (b) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall arrange for 

20 an external review of the University Leadership Initiative 

21 for the purposes of considering the Initiative’s progress 

22 toward meeting the program’s objectives, identifying op23 tions and recommendations for strengthening the pro24 gram, and evaluating the project’s efforts to increase the 


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1 participation of women, HBCU and underrepresented and 

2 minority participants in the program. 

3 (c) REPORT.—The Administrator shall transmit a re4 port to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

5 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

6 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not 

7 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

8 TITLE VI—SPACE TECHNOLOGY 

9 SEC. 601. SPACE NUCLEAR SYSTEMS. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that: 

11 (1) Space nuclear technology development, in12 cluding nuclear propulsion and surface power reac13 tors, is critical for enabling Moon and Mars mis14 sions. Nuclear propulsion technologies can reduce 

15 transit times to Mars, particularly making possible 

16 opposition class missions. Surface power would en17 able robotic and human exploration. It is important 

18 that the United States lead in developing the safe 

19 and sustainable use of space nuclear power. 

20 (2) NASA should continue to develop tech21 nologies that rely on low enriched uranium fuel and 

22 continue partnerships on such concepts with the 

23 commercial sector. Where feasible, the use of low en24 riched uranium should be prioritized. 


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1 SEC. 602. NUCLEAR THERMAL PROPULSION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall carry out 

3 nuclear thermal propulsion research and development ac4 tivities, including for systems based on the use of low-en5 riched uranium, for the purposes of developing an in-space 

6 propulsion system to support crewed missions to Mars. 

7 (b) PLAN.—The Administrator shall develop a plan, 

8 including a cost estimate, to achieve an in-space flight test 

9 of a nuclear thermal propulsion system within 10 years 

10 of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans12 mit the plan to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

13 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com14 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

15 Senate not later than 12 months after the date of enact16 ment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 603. NUCLEAR SURFACE POWER. 

18 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Developing lightweight 

19 fission reactors systems is critical for generating sufficient 

20 power to run systems that enable long-term presence, 

21 robotic or human, in space. It is the sense of Congress 

22 that NASA should continue developing kilopower tech23 nology. 

24 (b) PROGRAM.—The Administrator shall establish a 

25 program for research, testing, and development of a space 

26 surface power reactor design. 


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1 (c) PLAN.—NASA shall develop a plan and timeline 

2 for a kilopower program taking into consideration mission 

3 needs and shall include opportunities for participation by 

4 United States commercial entities. 

5 (d) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans6 mit plan to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech7 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

8 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

9 not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of 

10 this Act. 

11 SEC. 604. REVIEW OF FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM. 

12 (a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General shall carry 

13 out a review of the Flight Opportunities Program to as14 sess— 

15 (1) the goals and objectives of the program, and 

16 the basis for those goals and objectives; 

17 (2) the extent to which the program goals and 

18 objectives have changed over time since the estab19 lishment of the program, and the rationale for such 

20 changes; 

21 (3) the performance measurements NASA has 

22 established to oversee progress toward meeting the 

23 goals and objectives of the program; 

24 (4) the activities conducted and level of re25 sources provided to date toward meeting the goals; 


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1 (5) the basis for the resource requirements; 

2 (6) the extent to which NASA is using the re3 sults of the flight opportunities research activities to 

4 advance the agency’s strategic goals; 

5 (7) the challenges in achieving program objec6 tives; and 

7 (8) the factors that should be considered in 

8 evaluating whether the program, as structured and 

9 funded, could be expanded to include science and 

10 education projects, and any potential implications of 

11 such an expansion. 

12 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The report in subsection (a) 

13 shall be transmitted to the Committee on Science, Space, 

14 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

16 the Senate not later than 1 year after the date of enact17 ment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 605. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON OPTICAL COMMUNICA19 TIONS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that advances in interplan21 etary communications are an essential enabler for future 

22 robotic and human exploration, and that optical commu23 nications can provide increased bandwidth at farther dis24 tances with greater accuracy and speed than radio fre25 quency transmissions. Optical communications involve opVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5666.IH H5666

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1 portunities and challenges that can transform scientific in2 vestigations in space and support deep space human explo3 ration operations that will require broadband communica4 tions with Earth. In addition, optical communications sys5 tems are lighter, more compact and use less power than 

6 radio frequency communications, and the Government’s 

7 investment in advancing optical communications also has 

8 the potential to offer significant benefits to the private sec9 tor and future space commerce. 

10 SEC. 606. PROPULSION TESTING FACILITIES. 

11 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that the Administration’s development of next gen13 eration in-space and electric propulsion will help enable 

14 the Nation’s goal of sending humans to Mars, especially 

15 for use in emplacing the cargo and infrastructure nec16 essary to support human activities at Mars. It is the fur17 ther sense of Congress that additional testing capabilities 

18 may be needed to support research and development on 

19 in-space propulsion and that such facilities could serve 

20 government, industry, and university work on maturing 

21 in-space propulsion development work. 

22 (b) NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall 

23 carry out a needs assessment for facilities and technical 

24 capabilities required to support advanced research and de25 velopment on in-space propulsion, including high-power 


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1 electric propulsion devices and ground-based testing of a 

2 full-scale, full-power nuclear thermal engine. The assess3 ment should consider the potential development of facili4 ties that will support long-term research and development 

5 of in-space propulsion systems. 

6 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans7 mit the results of the assessment to the Committee on 

8 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

10 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 607. IN-SPACE SATELLITE SERVICING AND ASSEMBLY. 

13 (a) RESTORE-L.—The Administrator shall continue 

14 development of RESTORE-L technologies and capabilities 

15 for a planned on-orbit demonstration to refuel the Landsat 

16 7 spacecraft. 

17 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall carry out 

18 an assessment of in-space assembly and servicing tech19 nologies, the potential uses of those technologies, and re20 lated issues. The assessment shall include— 

21 (1) the capabilities, technological readiness lev22 els, and relevant applications of the Administration’s 

23 existing in-space servicing and assembly technology 

24 across directorates and divisions; 


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1 (2) the projected requirements for in-space sat2 ellite servicing and assembly and the research and 

3 development, other than that being conducted under 

4 subsection (b), needed to address the requirements; 

5 (3) the potential advantages of incorporating 

6 in-space assembly and servicing into spacecraft de7 sign, construction, and operations; 

8 (4) a determination of any areas of overlap or 

9 alignment among Administration directorates and 

10 divisions of current capabilities and potential ena11 bling technologies for in-space servicing and assem12 bly; 

13 (5) a description of the criteria, information 

14 needed in order to develop criteria, that could be 

15 used in determining whether in-space servicing and 

16 assembly could increase the capabilities, mitigate 

17 risks, reduce the costs, or otherwise benefit a given 

18 mission or project; 

19 (6) a comparison of the relative opportunities 

20 and challenges of human versus robotic assembly 

21 and servicing, taking into account prior and current 

22 servicing activities; 

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1 erwise use available private sector in-space satellite 

2 servicing and assembly services; and 

3 (8) a description of the approaches the Admin4 istration is taking to ensure that the project under 

5 subsection (a) does not involve competition with the 

6 private sector and does not preclude the development 

7 of commercial capabilities for in-space satellite serv8 icing and assembly. 

9 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The results of the Assessment in 

10 subsection (c) shall be transmitted to the Committee on 

11 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep12 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

13 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 608. PARACHUTE SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND DEVELOP16 MENT. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that parachute design, de18 velopment, and performance is essential for the safety and 

19 success of both robotic and human spaceflight systems, in20 cluding the Orion crew vehicle, capsules being developed 

21 under the Commercial Crew Program, as well as some 

22 robotic spacecraft that are to be landed on solar system 

23 bodies. It is the further sense of Congress that the risks 

24 and complexities involved in parachute systems warrant 

25 additional research and development that could benefit 


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1 both internal development programs and those of United 

2 States industry partners. The Administrator should 

3 strongly consider supporting research and development on 

4 parachute systems for the purposes of contributing to the 

5 overall safety and success of United States robotic and 

6 human spaceflight systems. 

7 TITLE VII—SCIENCE, TECH8 NOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND 

9 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION 

10 SEC. 701. OFFICE OF STEM ENGAGEMENT. 

11 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 

12 Congress that NASA’s inspiring mission, specialized facili13 ties, skilled engineering and scientific workforce, and re14 search activities present unique opportunities for inspiring 

15 public engagement in STEM and increasing the number 

16 of students pursuing STEM degrees and careers. 

17 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

18 an Office of STEM Engagement for the purpose of ad19 vancing progress toward the Nation’s Federal STEM edu20 cation goals for enhancing STEM literacy, increasing di21 versity, equity, and inclusion in STEM, and preparing the 

22 STEM workforce for the future. 

23 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Office established in 

24 subsection (b) shall be responsible for coordinating efforts 

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1 formal education programs, research experiences, and re2 lated activities among organizations across the agency, in3 cluding NASA headquarters, Mission Directorates, and 

4 Centers, to administer and support evidence-based formal 

5 and informal education programs, research experiences, 

6 and related activities designed to— 

7 (1) create unique opportunities for students and 

8 the public to learn from and contribute to NASA’s 

9 work in exploration and discovery; 

10 (2) contribute to the growth of a diverse STEM 

11 workforce; and 

12 (3) strengthen public understanding of science 

13 by enabling connections to NASA’s mission and 

14 work. 

15 (d) PORTFOLIO.—The Office shall coordinate and ad16 minister— 

17 (1) the National Space Grant College and Fel18 lowship Program; 

19 (2) the Established Program to Stimulate Com20 petitive Research; 

21 (3) the Minority University Research and Edu22 cation Project; 

23 (4) the NextGen STEM Project; and 

24 (5) any other programs or activities determined 

25 appropriate by the Administrator. 


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1 SEC. 702. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF SPACE GRANT. 

2 (a) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall make ar3 rangements for an independent external review of the Na4 tional Space Grant College and Fellowship Program to 

5 evaluate its management, accomplishments, and respon6 siveness to the purposes and goals defined in Chapter 403 

7 of title 51, United States Code. 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit 

10 a report on the independent external review of the Na11 tional Space Grant College and Fellowship Program de12 scribed in subsection (a) to the Committee on Science, 

13 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor15 tation of the Senate. 

16 TITLE VIII—SAFETY, SUPPORT, 

17 AND MISSION SERVICES 

18 SEC. 801. POLICY AND PROCEDURE. 

19 (a) POLICY AND PROCEDURE.—The Administrator 

20 shall develop an Administration policy and procedure for 

21 assessment every 3 to 5 years of the Administration’s stra22 tegic capabilities, including infrastructure and facilities, 

23 and workforce skills and capabilities. The policy and pro24 cedure shall include acquiring data and support for Ad25 ministration decisions and recommendations on strategic 

26 capabilities, including on infrastructure and facilities, and 


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1 workforce skills and capabilities needed to support the Ad2 ministration’s goals and objectives through 2040. 

3 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans4 mit the policy and procedure in subsection (a) to the Com5 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later than 

8 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 802. MONITORING MILLIMETER-SIZED ORBITAL DE10 BRIS. 

11 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit 

13 a report to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech14 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

15 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

16 on— 

17 (1) the risks of millimeter-sized and larger or18 bital debris objects to NASA orbiting assets and 

19 space activities; and 

20 (2) the gaps in monitoring of millimeter-sized 

21 orbital debris data, orbital debris object sizes of 2– 

22 10 centimeters, and orbital debris objects larger 

23 than 10 centimeters; 

24 (3) an identification of options to address any 

25 identified risks and gaps; and 


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1 (4) a recommended option for further analysis 

2 and potential implementation. 

3 SEC. 803. PLANETARY PROTECTION STRATEGIC PLAN. 

4 (a) STRATEGIC PLAN.—The Administrator shall de5 velop a strategic plan for the Administration’s planetary 

6 protection policy, research, and development activities. 

7 (b) INCLUSION.—The strategic plan shall include the 

8 Administration’s approach to— 

9 (1) managing planetary protection policy imple10 mentation; 

11 (2) organizing and receiving input from inde12 pendent, external experts on planetary protection; 

13 (3) understanding the application of planetary 

14 protection to cubesats; 

15 (4) setting planetary protection research and 

16 technology investment priorities, including on plan17 etary protection techniques and measures for 

18 verifying compliance with planetary protection guide19 lines; and 

20 (5) coordinating the strategic plan and any 

21 planetary protection issues related to sample return 

22 and human missions to Mars in the Administration’s 

23 robotic and human solar system exploration activi24 ties, as informed by the National Academies report, 


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1 ‘‘Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection 

2 Policy Development Processes’’. 

3 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

5 transmit the results of the Strategic Plan in subsection 

6 (a) and to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech7 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

8 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

9 TITLE IX—CONSTRUCTION AND 

10 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLI11 ANCE AND RESTORATION 

12 SEC. 901. DATA COLLECTION ON COST BENEFITS TO THE 

13 ADMINISTRATION OF USE OF ENHANCED-USE 

14 LEASING. 

15 (a) DATA COLLECTION.—The Administrator shall es16 tablish and follow a means to collect quantitative data 

17 on— 

18 (1) the annual and cumulative number of en19 hanced-use leases entered into; 

20 (2) the annual and cumulative costs savings to 

21 the Administration on reduced maintenance, oper22 ating, and associated costs resulting from entering 

23 into enhanced-use leases at NASA Centers; and 

24 (3) other quantifiable benefits to the Adminis25 tration of the use of enhanced-use leasing authority. 


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1 (b) INCLUSION.—The data collected in subsection (a) 

2 shall be included the annual report required under section 

3 20145(f) of title 51, United States Code. 

4 SEC. 902. REPORT ON ENHANCED-USE LEASING REQUIRE5 MENTS. 

6 Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Administrator shall prepare and transmit 

8 a report to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech9 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

10 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

11 on requirements for enhanced-use leasing applicants, in12 cluding requirements related to the involvement of foreign 

13 entities, foreign entity ownership, and foreign entity in14 vestment in the entities applying for enhanced-use leases. 

15 SEC. 903. REPORT ON CURRENT AND ANTICIPATED EF16 FECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME 

17 WEATHER ON AGENCY INFRASTRUCTURE 

18 AND FACILITIES. 

19 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide 

21 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on 

22 vulnerabilities of Administration facilities and infrastruc23 ture resulting from climate change and extreme weather 

24 events over the next 20 years. 

25 (b) CONTENTS.—The assessment shall include— 


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1 (1) an identification of existing facilities and in2 frastructure vulnerable to climate change and ex3 treme weather events based on the effects of sea 

4 level rise, increased flooding, drought, 

5 desertification, wildfires, thawing permafrost, in6 creases in heavy precipitation events, and any other 

7 categories the Administrator deems necessary; 

8 (2) a description of the potential impacts to fa9 cilities and infrastructure identified in paragraph 

10 (1); 

11 (3) an overview of measures that may be nec12 essary to ensure the continued operational viability 

13 and to increase the resiliency of the identified vul14 nerable facilities and infrastructure and the cost of 

15 such measures; and 

16 (4) considerations and recommendations for 

17 policies and practices for future Administration fa18 cilities and infrastructure design, construction, and 

19 operation that would promote resilience to changing 

20 environmental conditions and extreme weather 

21 events. 

22 (c) CONSIDERATION AND INCORPORATION OF RELI23 ABLE AND AUTHORIZED SOURCES.—In conducting the as24 sessment, the Administrator shall consider and incor25 porate climate change impacts, projections and analyses 


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1 from reliable and authorized sources, such as the National 

2 Academies of Sciences, the United States Geological Sur3 vey, the U.S. Global Change Research Office and National 

4 Climate Assessment, and the Administration’s Earth 

5 Science Division. 

6 TITLE X—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

7 SEC. 1001. SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND ORBITAL 

8 DEBRIS MITIGATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is authorized 

10 to carry out activities, including research and develop11 ment, orbital debris measurement, tracking, modeling, 

12 mitigation, remediation, conjunction analysis, and collision 

13 avoidance, for the purposes of maintaining the safety of 

14 the Administration’s human spaceflight crew and space15 craft operations and for advancing the understanding of 

16 practical approaches to ensuring the sustainability of the 

17 space environment for the future of civil and commercial 

18 activities in space. 

19 (b) RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY.—The 

20 Administrator, in collaboration with other relevant Fed21 eral agencies, academia, and industry, shall develop a re22 search and technology strategy for advancing the Nation’s 

23 capability for conducting space situational awareness and 

24 orbital debris mitigation activities. The strategy shall iden25 tify and prioritize— 


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1 (1) basic and applied research to improve object 

2 identification, orbit determination, object character3 ization, data cataloguing, and orbit propagation 

4 tracking and prediction; 

5 (2) technology development and demonstrations 

6 needed to further the activities identified in sub7 section (a); 

8 (3) specific research and technology activities 

9 regarding small satellite constellations, projections 

10 for debris production by small satellite constella11 tions, and potential means for the prevention of de12 bris by such constellations; 

13 (4) other relevant research and technology ac14 tivities that have the potential to materially improve 

15 the Nation’s understanding and capabilities in space 

16 situational awareness and orbital debris mitigation; 

17 (5) mechanisms to coordinate and transition 

18 basic and applied research on space situational 

19 awareness into space situational awareness oper20 ations; and 

21 (6) methods for communicating the research 

22 and technology activities in paragraphs (1) through 

23 (4) to external stakeholders. 

24 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Administrator shall trans25 mit the Strategy in subsection (b) to the Committee on 


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1 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

3 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 270 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 1002. INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK ON ACTIVE OR6 BITAL DEBRIS REMOVAL. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consulta8 tion with other relevant Federal agencies, shall carry out 

9 international discussions and capacity-building activities 

10 on orbital debris removal, including active satellite debris 

11 removal, for the purposes of making progress toward 

12 international guidelines on orbital debris removal, includ13 ing active satellite debris removal. 

14 (b) INCLUSION.—The international discussions and 

15 capacity-building activities in subsection (a) shall iden16 tify— 

17 (1) opportunities for shared responsibilities for 

18 orbital debris removal; 

19 (2) legal issues related to international respon20 sibilities for orbital debris removal, including active 

21 satellite debris removal; and 

22 (3) research and technology developments being 

23 carried out by national entities. 

24 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit 


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1 a report to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech2 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

3 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

4 on the status of international discussions and capacity5 building activities in subsection (a), including the status 

6 of progress toward the development of international guide7 lines under subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 1003. SAFETY AND TECHNICAL RISKS OF ACTIVE DE9 BRIS REMOVAL. 

10 (a) REPORT.—The Administrator shall identify safe11 ty and technical risks associated with active debris re12 moval that would need to be addressed in active debris 

13 removal operations of the Administration’s assets and pro14 vide report on the identified safety and technical risks to 

15 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

16 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com17 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later 

18 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 1004. INDEPENDENT PROGRAM ANALYSIS AND EVAL20 UATION OFFICE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

22 within NASA an independent program analysis and eval23 uation capability for the purposes of independently assess24 ing program performance, making programmatic, tech25 nical risk mitigation and institutional recommendations, 


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1 performing cost estimates and analyses, and conducting 

2 strategic planning activities, among other functions. 

3 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es4 tablish an Independent Program Analysis and Evaluation 

5 Office to carry out the functions in subsection (a). The 

6 Office shall remain independent of any Program, and shall 

7 have no programmatic responsibilities so as to maintain 

8 its independent assessment integrity. 

9 (c) AUTHORIZATION.—The Administrator is author10 ized to carry out research on program assessment; cost, 

11 schedule, and technical estimation; and other relevant 

12 functions for the purposes of obtaining the highest level 

13 of expertise and the most effective decision-making tools 

14 with which to inform the Administrator. 

15 (d) MOON TO MARS PROGRAM.—The Office estab16 lished in subsection (b) shall maintain an ongoing, focused 

17 effort to assess the goals, objectives, requirements, archi18 tectural approach, cost and schedule, and progress of the 

19 Moon to Mars Program established under section 202. 

20 SEC. 1005. REPORT ON USE OF THE TERM ‘‘COMMERCIAL’’ 

21 IN NASA ACTIVITIES. 

22 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the Com24 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

25 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 


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1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the 

2 definitions of ‘‘commercial’’ being used across the Admin3 istration. 

4 SEC. 1006. SUPPLY CHAIN AND SUPPLIER BASE. 

5 (a) REVIEW.—The Administrator, in collaboration 

6 with industry and other Federal agencies, shall carry out 

7 a review of the health of the supply chain and supplier 

8 base for critical materials, parts, and systems used in the 

9 manufacturing and production of development systems, 

10 spacecraft, instruments, and other relevant elements and 

11 shall provide recommendations to address any identified 

12 vulnerabilities. 

13 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

15 transmit the results of the review, including any rec16 ommended actions in response to the review, to the Com17 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

18 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

20 SEC. 1007. USE OF OPERATIONAL COMMERCIAL SUB21 ORBITAL VEHICLES FOR RESEARCH, DEVEL22 OPMENT, AND EDUCATION. 

23 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall conduct 

24 an assessment of the issues and risks related to the poten25 tial use of operational commercial reusable suborbital 


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1 flight vehicles for carrying out potential NASA-sponsored 

2 science and engineering investigations, technology dem3 onstrations, and educational activities involving NASA4 sponsored researchers. The report shall— 

5 (1) characterize the risks of using potential 

6 commercial reusable suborbital flights to NASA7 sponsored researchers and scientific investigations 

8 and flight hardware; 

9 (2) identify and describe the United States 

10 Government and space flight operator responsibil11 ities for liability and indemnification with respect to 

12 commercial suborbital vehicle flights that involve 

13 NASA-sponsored payloads or activities, potential 

14 NASA-supported space flight participants, or other 

15 NASA-related contributions; and 

16 (3) identify any statutory provisions that may 

17 be required to authorize and enforce the liability and 

18 indemnification responsibilities described in para19 graph (2). 

20 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

22 transmit the plan and assessment described in subsections 

23 (a) and (b) to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech24 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

25 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 1008. THE SPACE CAPABILITIES OF THE PEOPLE’S RE2 PUBLIC OF CHINA. 

3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the National Space Council shall 

5 coordinate an interagency assessment of the space explo6 ration capabilities of the People’s Republic of China, in7 cluding any threats to United States assets in space as 

8 well as the impact of cooperation and participation of the 

9 People’s Republic of China with other nations on space 

10 activities. 

11 (b) STRATEGY.—The report required in subsection 

12 (a) shall include a strategy to ensure United States leader13 ship in space exploration and counter any identified 

14 threats posed by the People’s Republic of China. 

15 (c) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The report identified in 

16 subsection (a) may include a classified annex. 

17 SEC. 1009. SPECTRUM INTERFERENCE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall conduct 

19 an assessment of the impact of the loss of observations 

20 based on protection limits derived from the Word Radio 

21 Conference 19 (WRC19) international agreement. 

22 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—The assessment conducted in 

23 subsection (a) shall be delivered to the Committee on 

24 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep25 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 


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1 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 1010. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 301 of title 51, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 30105. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

8 ‘‘Any report or notification provided to Congress by 

9 NASA, including on the status of balances of funding at 

10 the account level and on cost increases of 10 percent or 

11 more, shall be provided the Committee on Science, Space, 

12 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

13 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

14 the Senate concurrently with its delivery to any other com15 mittee or office.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions for chapter 301 of title 51, United States Code, is 

18 amended by adding after the item relating to section 

19 30104 the following: 

‘‘30105. Reports to Congress.’’. 

20 SEC. 1011. GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT ON 

21 LARGE-SCALE PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, AND 

22 ACTIVITIES. 

23 Section 30104(c) of title 51, United States Code, is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) GAO REPORT.—The GAO shall issue an 

2 annual report on the status of large-scale the Na3 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration’s major 

4 programs, programs, projects and activities. 

5 ‘‘(5) SCHEDULE.—The report directed in this 

6 subsection shall be delivered to the Congress annu7 ally and in advance of the annual budget submission 

8 of the President. 

9 ‘‘(6) ACCESS.—The Administrator is directed to 

10 cooperate fully and to provide timely program anal11 ysis, evaluation data and relevant information to the 

12 GAO so that it can conduct this review and meet the 

13 annual schedule. Such information includes, but is 

14 not limited to, copies of preliminary cost estimates, 

15 access to relevant online agency applications, data16 bases, and web portals, and access to information 

17 from contractor and agency personnel.’’. 

18 SEC. 1012. NASA INSTITUTES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30103(a) of title 51, 

20 United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (5); 

23 (2) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para24 graph (7); and 


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1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(6) the budget for each NASA-funded insti4 tute; and’’. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall deliver 

7 to the Authorizing Committees of Congress, a report that 

8 recommends guidance and metrics for the management, 

9 utilization, expectations for return on investment, and fi10 nancial condition for NASA-funded institutes. 

11 SEC. 1013. SURVEYS ON THE INDUSTRIAL BASE OF THE 

12 UNITED STATES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 315 of title 51, United 

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 30506. INDUSTRIAL BASE SURVEYS. 

17 ‘‘No funds may be obligated or expended by the Ad18 ministrator of NASA for the purpose of carrying out a 

19 Bureau of Industry and Security survey with respect to 

20 the United States space and aerospace industrial base 

21 until the date that is 90 days after the date on which the 

22 Administrator submits to the Committee on Science, 

23 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

24 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor25 tation of the Senate a written notification that includes— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the proposed subject matter of such sur2 vey; 

3 ‘‘(2) a description of the information to be re4 quired of survey respondents; and 

5 ‘‘(3) any penalties to be assessed against re6 spondents for noncompliance with survey require7 ments.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec9 tions for chapter 315 of title 51, United States Code, is 

10 amended by adding after the item relating to section 

11 30505 the following: 

‘‘30506. Industrial base surveys.’’. 

12 SEC. 1014. BUDGETS. 

13 Section 30103(a)(1)(A) of title 51, United States 

14 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘space shuttle’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘Commercial Crew and Commercial Cargo’’. 

Æ 


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