I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10320 

To amend title 51, United States Code, to establish a Commercial Space 

Transportation Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2024 

Mr. KILEY (for himself and Mr. FONG) introduced the following bill; which 

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

A BILL 

To amend title 51, United States Code, to establish a Commercial Space Transportation 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Space Age Act 

5 of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION ADMINIS7 TRATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 50921 of title 51, United 

9 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 50921. Commercial Space Transportation Adminis2 tration 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

4 the Department of Transportation a Commercial Space 

5 Transportation Administration to— 

6 ‘‘(1) accelerate the growth of the commercial 

7 space transportation industry of the United States; 

8 ‘‘(2) ensure United States technological leader9 ship in space; and 

10 ‘‘(3) protect the public health and safety, safety 

11 of property, national security interests, and foreign 

12 policy interests of the United States during commer13 cial launch and reentry activities. 

14 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATOR.—The Commercial Space 

15 Transportation Administration shall be headed by an Ad16 ministrator who is appointed by the President, by and with 

17 the advice and consent of the Senate. The Administrator 

18 shall report directly to the Secretary of Transportation. 

19 The Administrator shall have at least 5 years of experience 

20 in the space industry or in a government agency or office 

21 in the commercial space industry. 

22 ‘‘(c) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Adminis23 trator of the Commercial Space Transportation Adminis24 tration shall— 

25 ‘‘(1) exercise the authorities of the Secretary of 

26 Transportation with respect to commercial space 


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1 launch and reentry activities, including the authori2 ties provided under chapter 509 of title 51; 

3 ‘‘(2) encourage the development of technologies 

4 and capabilities of the commercial space transpor5 tation industry of the United States; 

6 ‘‘(3) maintain the competitive edge of the 

7 United States in commercial space activities; 

8 ‘‘(4) coordinate activities with other agencies 

9 and departments of the Federal Government, includ10 ing the Federal Communications Commission, the 

11 Department of Commerce, the National Aeronautics 

12 and Space Administration, the Federal Aviation Ad13 ministration, and the Department of Defense, to 

14 streamline and expedite the approval of licenses nec15 essary for the timely conduct of commercial space 

16 launch and reentry activities; and 

17 ‘‘(5) issue regulations concerning commercial 

18 space launch and reentry activities that appro19 priately manage— 

20 ‘‘(A) commercial requirements for timely 

21 approval or denial of license and permit applica22 tions or modifications to such applications; 

23 ‘‘(B) advantages in technology developed 

24 or manufactured in the United States; 


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1 ‘‘(C) responsiveness and readiness of com2 mercial space launches to meet commercial and 

3 national security needs, including by minimizing 

4 delays as a result of licensing and authorization 

5 processes; and 

6 ‘‘(D) public safety concerns. 

7 ‘‘(d) TRANSFER.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of enactment of the New Space Age Act of 2024, 

9 the Secretary shall transfer the authorities to be exercised 

10 by the Administrator of the Commercial Space Transpor11 tation Administration from the Federal Aviation Adminis12 tration or any other agency of the Department of Trans13 portation. 

14 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for the 

16 activities of the Commercial Space Transportation Admin17 istration $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

18 through 2028, of which not less than 75 percent of the 

19 amount appropriated— 

20 ‘‘(1) shall be reserved only for use in the timely 

21 and expeditious processing of applications for li22 censes and authorizations; and 

23 ‘‘(2) may not be used in the development or 

24 promulgation of regulations.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for title 

2 51, United States Code, is amended by striking the item 

3 relating to section 50921 and inserting the following: 

‘‘50921. Commercial Space Transportation Administration.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. LAUNCH AND REENTRY WORKING GROUP. 

5 (a) DISESTABLISHMENT.—The Common Standards 

6 Working Group established by the Department of the Air 

7 Force, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Na8 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration shall be dis9 established not more than 180 days after the date of en10 actment of this Act. The records, responsibilities, and du11 ties of such Working Group shall be assumed by the work12 ing group established pursuant to subsection (b). 

13 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor14 tation shall establish a working group, to be known as the 

15 ‘‘Launch and Reentry Working Group’’, to recommend to 

16 the Secretary safety standards intended to protect the 

17 public and critical assets on Federal space launch ranges 

18 from hazards associated with space launch and reentry 

19 events. 

20 (c) MEMBERS.—The Launch and Reentry Working 

21 Group shall be made up of— 

22 (1) the Administrator of the Commercial Space 

23 Transportation Administration; 

24 (2) the Chief of Space Operations; 


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1 (3) the Administrator of the National Aero2 nautics and Space Administration; 

3 (4) representatives from commercial space 

4 launch or reentry operators with a proven history of 

5 successful launch or reentry activities licensed by the 

6 Commercial Space Transportation Administration or 

7 the Office of the Associate Administrator for Com8 mercial Space Transportation; and 

9 (5) not more than 4 non-governmental members 

10 with specific expertise in space launch and reentry, 

11 to be appointed by the Secretary of Transportation, 

12 that are not representatives of commercial space 

13 launch and reentry providers described in paragraph 

14 (4). 

15 (d) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES.—The Launch and 

16 Reentry Working Group shall— 

17 (1) make its methodologies for calculating risks 

18 and standards available to an operator of a launch 

19 or reentry vehicle system within 7 days of a request 

20 by such operator impacted by such methodologies; 

21 (2) in approving new risk models, data prod22 ucts, other safety recommendations, or in conducting 

23 other significant business— 


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1 (A) require recorded approval from a ma2 jority of the participants of the Working Group; 

3 and 

4 (B) not allow nonconcurrence or abstention 

5 by a single or multiple members of the Working 

6 Group to disrupt or delay the approval; 

7 (3) make all relevant data available to space 

8 launch and reentry providers, government agencies, 

9 and other responsible bodies upon request; 

10 (4) conduct the work of the Working Group in 

11 a timely manner, including through regularly sched12 uled meetings and, as required, emergency meetings; 

13 and 

14 (5) ensure that recommendations are based on 

15 real-world, probabilistic assessments and discount 

16 hypotheticals based on unproven assumptions or 

17 technologies. 

18 SEC. 3. COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY 

19 COMMITTEE. 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall update 

22 the charter of the Commercial Space Transportation Advi23 sory Committee (DOT/FAA Order 1110.124I) to— 

24 (1) encourage greater participation from indus25 try and nongovernmental experts; 


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1 (2) require that the Advisory Committee estab2 lish the agenda of the Committee independently of 

3 any requests from the Administrator of the Federal 

4 Aviation Administration; 

5 (3) ensure that the Administrator of the Fed6 eral Aviation Administration or, once established, 

7 the Commercial Space Transportation Administra8 tion is using the Advisory Committee to receive 

9 input from external sources in order to inform gov10 ernmental activities; 

11 (4) require that the Advisory Committee trans12 mit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

13 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

14 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

15 Representatives not less than annually a report that 

16 includes all agenda items proposed by the Advisory 

17 Committee, including any agenda items that are not 

18 accepted by the Secretary; and 

19 (5) require that the Secretary make available 

20 not later than December 31 of each year a public re21 port detailing the total expenses incurred by or rea22 sonably caused by the Advisory Committee, includ23 ing the number of hours consumed by full Com24 mittee and working group meetings and in-kind con25 tributions that may include the value of time proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 31, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10320.IH H10320

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1 vided by Federal Government employees, in the cal2 endar year in which such report is prepared, as well 

3 as a cumulative accounting of all prior expenses in4 curred, to the maximum extent practicable. 

5 SEC. 3. SPACE-RELATED ADVISORY RULEMAKING COMMIT6 TEES. 

7 Section 50903 of title 51, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(e) FACA.—Chapter 10 of title 5 (commonly known 

10 as ‘the Federal Advisory Committee Act’) does not apply 

11 to such space-related rulemaking committees under the ju12 risdiction of the Secretary of Transportation as the Sec13 retary may designate.’’. 

Æ 


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