104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1601

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations to the National Aerotion. semble, and operate the International Space Sta- nautics and Space Administration to develop, as-
104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1601

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations to the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration to develop, assemble, and operate

the International Space Station.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Space

3 Station Authorization Act of 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the development, assembly, and operation of

7 the International Space Station is in the national in8 terest of the United States;

9 (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin10 istration has restructured and redesigned the Inter11 national Space Station, consolidated contract respon12 sibility, and achieved program management, control,

13 and stability;

14 (3) the significant involvement by private ven15 tures in marketing and using, competitively servicing,

16 and commercially augmenting the operational capa17 bilities of the International Space Station during its

18 assembly and operational phases will lower costs and

19 increase benefits to the international partners;

20 (4) further rescoping or redesigns of the Inter21 national Space Station will lead to costly delays, in22 crease costs to its international partners, discourage

23 commercial involvement, and weaken the inter24 national space partnership necessary for future space

25 projects;
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1 (5) total program costs for development, assem2 bly, and initial operations have been identified and

3 capped to ensure financial discipline and maintain

4 program schedule milestones;

5 (6) in order to contain costs, mission planning

6 and engineering functions of the National Space

7 Transportation System (Space Shuttle) program

8 should be coordinated with the Space Station Pro9 gram Office;

10 (7) complete program authorizations for large

11 development programs promote program stability, re12 duce the potential for cost growth, and provide nec13 essary assurance to international partners and com14 mercial participants; and

15 (8) the International Space Station represents

16 an important component of an adequately funded

17 civil space program which balances human space

18 flight with science, aeronautics, and technology.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 For the purposes of this Act—

21 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin22 istrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad23 ministration; and
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1 (2) the term ‘‘cost threat’’ means a potential

2 change to the program baseline documented as a po3 tential cost by the Space Station Program Office.

4 SEC. 4. SPACE STATION COMPLETE PROGRAM AUTHORIZA5 TION.

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Except as

7 provided in subsection (b), there are authorized to be appro8 priated to the National Aeronautics and Space Administra9 tion for the period encompassing fiscal year 1996 and all

10 subsequent fiscal years not to exceed $13,141,000,000, to re11 main available until expended, for complete development

12 and assembly of, and to provide for initial operations,

13 through fiscal year 2002, of, the International Space Sta14 tion. Not more than $2,121,000,000 may be appropriated

15 for any one fiscal year.

16 (b) CERTIFICATION AND REPORT.—None of the funds

17 authorized under subsection (a) may be appropriated for

18 any fiscal year unless, within 60 days after the submission

19 of the President’s budget request for that fiscal year, the

20 Administrator—

21 (1) certifies to the Congress that—

22 (A) the program reserves available for such

23 fiscal year exceed the total of all cost threats

24 known at the time of certification;
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1 (B) the Administrator does not foresee

2 delays in the International Space Station’s de3 velopment or assembly, including any delays re4 lating to agreements between the United States

5 and its international partners; and

6 (C) the International Space Station can be

7 fully developed and assembled without requiring

8 further authorization of appropriations beyond

9 amounts authorized under subsection (a); or

10 (2) submits to the Congress a report which de11 scribes—

12 (A) the circumstances which prevent a cer13 tification under paragraph (1);

14 (B) remedial actions undertaken or to be

15 undertaken with respect to such circumstances;

16 (C) the effects of such circumstances on the

17 development and assembly of the International

18 Space Station; and

19 (D) the justification for proceeding with the

20 program, if appropriate.

21 If the Administrator submits a report under paragraph (2),

22 such report shall include any comments relating thereto

23 submitted to the Administrator by any involved party.

24 (c) NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LABORATORY.—The Adminis25 trator is authorized to exercise an option to purchase, for
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1 not more than $35,000,000, the Clear Lake Development

2 Facility, containing the Sonny Carter Training Facility

3 and the approximately 13.7 acre parcel of land on which

4 it is located, using funds authorized by this Act.

5 SEC. 5. COORDINATION WITH SPACE SHUTTLE.

6 The Administrator shall—

7 (1) coordinate the engineering functions of the

8 Space Shuttle program with the Space Station Pro9 gram Office to minimize overlapping activities; and

10 (2) in the interest of safety and the successful in11 tegration of human spacecraft development with

12 human spaceflight operations, maintain at one lead

13 center the complementary capabilities of human

14 spacecraft engineering and astronaut training.

15 SEC. 6. COMMERCIALIZATION OF SPACE STATION.

16 (a) POLICY.—The Congress declares that a priority

17 goal of constructing the International Space Station is the

18 economic development of Earth orbital space. The Congress

19 further declares that the use of free market principles in

20 operating, allocating the use of, and adding capabilities to

21 the Space Station, and the resulting fullest possible engage22 ment of commercial providers and participation of commer23 cial users, will reduce Space Station operational costs for

24 all partners and the Federal Government’s share of the

25 United States burden to fund operations.
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1 (b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall deliver to the

2 Congress, within 60 days after the submission of the Presi3 dent’s budget request for fiscal year 1997, a market study

4 that examines the role of commercial ventures which could

5 supply, use, service, or augment the International Space

6 Station, the specific policies and initiatives the Adminis7 trator is advancing to encourage these commercial opportu8 nities, the cost savings to be realized by the international

9 partnership from applying commercial approaches to cost10 shared operations, and the cost reimbursements to the Unit11 ed States Federal Government from commercial users of the

12 Space Station.

13 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

14 It is the sense of Congress that the ‘‘cost incentive fee’’

15 single prime contract negotiated by the National Aero16 nautics and Space Administration for the International

17 Space Station, and the consolidation of programmatic and

18 financial accountability into a single Space Station Pro19 gram Office, are two examples of reforms for the reinvention

20 of all National Aeronautics and Space Administration pro21 grams that should be applied as widely and as quickly as

22 possible throughout the Nation’s civil space program.

23 SEC. 8. SPACE STATION ACCOUNTING REPORT.

24 Within one year after the date of enactment of this

25 Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall trans-
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1 mit to the Congress a report with a complete annual ac2 counting of all costs of the space station, including cash

3 and other payments to Russia.

Passed the House of Representatives September 28,

1995.

Attest:

Clerk.