```

[Senate Hearing 115-885]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                        S. Hrg. 115-885

EXAMINING THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: ADMINISTRATION 
                              PERSPECTIVES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                    SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE, SCIENCE, 
                          AND COMPETITIVENESS

                                 OF THE

                         COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                      SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION
                               __________

                              MAY 16, 2018
                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation
                             
                             
                  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                             

                Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
57-906 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2025                  

       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                     ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi         BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma               GARY PETERS, Michigan
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  JON TESTER, Montana
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
              Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                      Renae Black, Senior Counsel
                                 ------                                

          SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE, SCIENCE, AND COMPETITIVENESS

TED CRUZ, Texas, Chairman            EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts, 
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                      Ranking
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TOM UDALL, New Mexico
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               GARY PETERS, Michigan
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on May 16, 2018.....................................     1
Statement of Senator Cruz........................................     1
Statement of Senator Nelson......................................     2

                               Witnesses

William H. Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, Human 
  Exploration and Operations, National Aeronautics and Space 
  Administration.................................................     4
    Prepared statement...........................................     5
Hon. Paul K. Martin, Inspector General, National Aeronautics and 
  Space Administration...........................................    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    12

                                Appendix

Response to written questions submitted to William H. 
  Gerstenmaier by:
    Hon. Bill Nelson.............................................    31
    Hon. Edward Markey...........................................    35
    Hon. Gary Peters.............................................    36
Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Paul K. Martin 
  by:
    Hon. Gary Peters.............................................    38

 
                      EXAMINING THE FUTURE OF THE
                      INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION:
                      ADMINISTRATION PERSPECTIVES

                              ----------                              

                        WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018

                               U.S. Senate,
           Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness,    
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:36 p.m. in 
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Ted Cruz, 
Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Cruz presiding], Nelson, and Gardner.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TED CRUZ, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS

    Senator Cruz. This hearing is called to order. Good 
afternoon. We'll ask for the senator from Colorado to stop 
being unruly.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Cruz. Welcome to our witnesses. Welcome, everyone.
    The International Space Station is the largest and most 
complex habitable space-based research facility ever 
constructed by humanity. It's a marvel of engineering, and it's 
critically important to our national space program. For over 17 
years, the ISS has provided the United States with continuous 
access to low Earth orbit which has been paramount to the 
success of NASA, our commercial partners, scientific research, 
and to human space exploration.
    It's due to the significance of the ISS as a key component 
of our national space program that this Subcommittee led the 
effort that extended the operation of ISS to 2024 by enacting 
the bipartisan U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act 
in 2015, which Senator Nelson and I worked on hand in hand and 
which was signed into law by President Obama.
    We then followed up on that effort by once again working in 
a bipartisan manner, me working closely once again with Senator 
Nelson, in enacting the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 
2017 which was signed into law by President Trump and 
established the ISS Transition Principles. The purpose of the 
ISS Transition Principles was to create a step-wise approach to 
eventually transition from the ISS once there is the emergence 
of a proven and reliable commercial alternative.
    Congress decided to take a step-wise approach due to the 
long history at NASA in which major programs like Constellation 
and the Space Shuttle had been eliminated prematurely. These 
decisions have long-term repercussions at NASA, its work force, 
the local communities surrounding NASA Centers, and American 
taxpayers who face increased replacement costs for lost 
capabilities. Not only was it concerning when NASA failed to 
deliver the ISS Transition Report to Congress before December 
1, 2017, as required by Federal law, but it was deeply 
troubling when reports leaked that some were pushing a proposal 
to end all Federal funding of ISS in 2025.
    Congress was explicitly clear in making its long-term 
interest in ISS known in the NASA Transition Authorization Act 
of 2017. Federal statute required the transition plan to 
include cost estimates for extending operations of the ISS to 
2024, to 2028, and to 2030. It also required an evaluation of 
the feasible and preferred service life of the ISS through at 
least 2028 as a unique scientific, commercial, and space 
exploration related facility. Nowhere in Federal statue is 
there a request from Congress seeking a hard deadline to end 
Federal support for ISS, to cross our fingers and hope for the 
best. We've seen that act play out too many times in our 
national space program and it's time we learn the lessons of 
history.
    Prematurely canceling a program for political reasons costs 
jobs and wastes billions of dollars. We cannot afford to 
continue to pursue policies that have the consequence of 
creating gaps in capability, that send $3.5 billion in taxpayer 
money to the Russian government, or to create a leadership 
vacuum in low Earth orbit that provides a window of opportunity 
for the Chinese to capitalize upon.
    Let me be clear. As long as I am Chairman of this 
Subcommittee, the ISS will continue to have strong support and 
strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress. And as long as 
Article I of the Constitution remains intact, it will be 
Congress that is the final arbiter of how long the ISS receives 
Federal funding.
    I'd now like to recognize the Ranking Member of the Full 
Committee, Senator Nelson.

                STATEMENT OF HON. BILL NELSON, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA

    Senator Nelson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Indeed, what we have is $100 billion or more invested in 
low Earth orbit. Ever since we started assembling the Space 
Station years ago, this incredible flying machine, the Space 
Shuttle, which was designed to carry components that would go 
up to low Earth orbit, be assembled, and we now have a 
structure on low Earth orbit that is as large as a football 
field from goalpost to goalpost, or 120 yards. That's how big 
it is. People don't realize how big it is.
    People don't realize the research that is going on, not 
only with somebody like Mark Kelly's twin brother, Scott, that 
went up and lived for a year so we could study the long-term 
effects of weightlessness on the human body--because when we go 
to Mars, hopefully, we're not going to have to go with 
conventional technology that would take us 8 months. Because 
then you've got to land, stay on Mars until the planets 
realign, which could be as much as a year, and then come back. 
We're not ready for that. Hopefully, we're going to sprint with 
faster propulsion. But even so, it's going to be long periods 
in weightlessness unless we create some kind of centrifugal 
force, like a revolving spacecraft that would give some effect 
of gravity.
    But, nevertheless, we need to figure out all of this, and 
we've got this platform up there that cost north of $100 
billion. Abandoning this incredible orbiting laboratory when we 
are on the cusp of a new era of space exploration, would be 
irresponsible at best and probably disastrous.
    It's pretty clear that the proposal to end the funding of 
ISS by 2025--that wasn't a NASA decision. That was an OMB 
decision, which, traditionally, has been the bane of NASA's 
existence because they've wanted to run the space program. So 
it was a political decision.
    As far as this Committee is concerned--and I can tell you 
as far as this senator is concerned--that proposal is dead on 
arrival because, as Ted says, this is a bipartisan outfit and 
we're looking at this in a bipartisan fashion, and, indeed, 
this is where you bring together all the players, industry, 
academia, everybody except the White House's Office of 
Management and Budget. OMB is the one that then focuses on a 
random date and it's the wrong way to approach a transition 
from the ISS.
    Now, one day, low Earth orbit is going to be filled with 
commercial space stations and other platforms used by NASA. In 
lunar orbit, there are going to be commercial platforms and 
there's also going to be a NASA platform. That NASA platform 
will be a means by which, ultimately, we go in what has been 
set by the President as a goal to go to Mars in the decade of 
the 2030s with humans. So it's going to be a combination of 
government and non-government commercial activities.
    But it's not fair to NASA or to industry to force a 
transition based on an arbitrary date. That decision should be 
based on factors like NASA's research requirements and the 
readiness of the industry to take the lead. We need to listen 
to our scientists and the experts at NASA. They have made it 
clear that NASA will continue to need access to low Earth orbit 
for astronaut training, technology development, and research.
    So today, we have skilled people at Kennedy, at Johnson, 
indeed, across so many centers working on the ISS and on 
commercial crew and cargo, and these are some of the only 
people in the world who know how to keep people alive in space. 
If this plan to prematurely end the current ISS program moves 
forward, I fear that NASA's expertise in these critical areas, 
expertise that we're going to have to have if we're going to 
Mars with humans and safely return, will be lost.
    The good news is that NASA's ISS transition report 
indicates that the Space Station has plenty of operational time 
left, at least through the end of 2028 and probably beyond. We 
have time to continue the critical research taking place on the 
Station, to keep training astronauts to live and work in space 
as they prepare for those long duration missions, and to 
develop a robust commercial market in low Earth orbit.
    NASA should be focused like a laser on getting commercial 
crew up and running right now so that American astronauts can 
once again be launching to the Station from the Cape. NASA 
ought to be laser focused as it's getting ready within 2 years 
to launch the largest, most powerful rocket ever, the SLS. NASA 
shouldn't be off on these rabbit trails having to defend a 
Space Station that ought to be there.
    Once Boeing and SpaceX are regularly transporting crew to 
the Station, it's going to enter into a golden era and we'll 
see just how valuable the research platform is. It makes good 
business sense to take full advantage of our investment on the 
ISS, just as it is common sense to maintain our Nation's 
leadership in space. Remember, I said just a minute ago, the 
largest rocket ever, a third more powerful than the Saturn V 
that took us to the moon, is right around the corner from its 
first test flight. We want to keep NASA focused on that.
    The ISS is an unprecedented accomplishment that continues 
to serve humanity and maintain U.S. global leadership in space. 
So I look forward for this Committee continuing to exercise its 
jurisdiction over this issue.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Senator Nelson.
    I would note there are issues on which Senator Nelson and I 
disagree, but on this issue, the importance of the ISS and a 
resolved commitment to not wasting the billions of dollars we 
have invested in that asset, Senator Nelson and I are on 
exactly the same page.
    Now, I welcome each of the witnesses to present your 
testimony.
    Senator Nelson. Why couldn't we agree on a lot of other 
pages?
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Cruz. We've got hours left in the afternoon.
    Our first witness is Mr. Bill Gerstenmaier, who serves as 
the Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and 
Operations at NASA. Our second witness is Mr. Paul Martin, who 
serves as the Inspector General at NASA.
    Now I'll recognize Mr. Gerstenmaier to present your 
testimony.

        STATEMENT OF WILLIAM H. GERSTENMAIER, ASSOCIATE

        ADMINISTRATOR, HUMAN EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS,

         NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Thank you very much for allowing me to 
present in this important hearing on Examining the Future of 
ISS: Administration Perspectives.
    The ISS has accomplished amazing things and transformed the 
way that we see human space flight. Crews have lived 
continuously on ISS for almost 18 years. The ISS has enabled 
groundbreaking research that benefits us all. The Space Station 
has helped NASA prepare for deep space missions. The Space 
Station has allowed us to maintain a leadership role in 
international space flight.
    The Space Station International Partnership has developed 
voluntary standards, such as the international docking 
standard, that could transform space flight for decades to 
come. These standards will allow anyone to be part of space 
flight by designing to these standards. The cooperation of the 
ISS partners is amazing and serves as an example of a diverse 
community working together for common goals.
    Last, the ISS has enabled innovative U.S. companies to 
reinvent the launch industry. Further, crew--private sector 
developed crew transportation systems with the aid of NASA are 
about ready to go fly.
    With all these amazing accomplishments from the ISS, it is 
only fitting that we take time to seriously plan for the 
transition of ISS in low Earth orbit. NASA is preparing to 
secure the Nation's long-term presence in LEO by partnering 
with industry to develop commercial orbital platforms and 
capabilities that the private sector and NASA can utilize after 
cessation of direct U.S. Federal funding for the ISS by 2025.
    To be clear, NASA is not abandoning low Earth orbit. We 
must ensure the right pieces are in place to maintain an 
operational human presence in low Earth orbit, whether through 
a modified ISS program, commercial platforms, or some 
combination of both.
    We are asking industry, academia, and others through a 
series of funded studies to provide ideas for utilizing the 
unique properties of space and creating commercial 
opportunities.
    We will work with the Space Council and the Department of 
Commerce to help with the transformation of low Earth orbit. We 
have also proposed funds in the 2019 budget that help support 
this transition.
    NASA looks forward to working with Congress, stakeholders, 
other government agencies, researchers, private industry, and 
our international partners on the future of ISS and low Earth 
orbit to ensure that the U.S. maintains our human space flight 
leadership.
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Gerstenmaier follows:]

Prepared Statement of William H. Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, 
   Human Exploration and Operations, National Aeronautics and Space 
                             Administration
    Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the 
opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the future of the 
International Space Station (ISS) and NASA's long-term vision for use 
of low-Earth orbit (LEO).
    NASA is preparing to secure the Nation's long-term presence in LEO 
by partnering with industry to develop commercial orbital platforms, 
and capabilities that the private sector and NASA can utilize after the 
cessation of direct U.S. Federal funding for ISS by 2025.
    To be clear, NASA is not abandoning LEO. We must ensure the right 
pieces are in place to maintain an operational human presence in LEO, 
whether through a modified ISS program, commercial platforms, or some 
combination of both.
    In October of last year, the members of the National Space Council 
endorsed a recommendation to the President that NASA should return to 
the Moon. Following that recommendation, on December 11, 2017, the 
President signed Space Policy Directive 1 which requires NASA to ``Lead 
an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial 
and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar 
system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.'' 
This was nearly 45 years to the moment since the last time that NASA 
landed humans on the Moon.
    NASA will shift the focus of its human exploration program to the 
Moon and cislunar region with an eye towards Mars, evaluating new 
habitat technologies, surface transportation systems, landing systems, 
fuel generation, and storage solutions. In every domain, we intend to 
renew and strengthen our commitment to American commercial space 
companies, which are critical partners in the human exploration of the 
Moon, Mars, and beyond. As NASA reorients the human spaceflight program 
back to the Moon and beyond to Mars, we will push to develop new ways 
of operating in LEO that will benefit our exploration endeavors, 
science goals, and ultimately the taxpayers.
    As you know, the ISS currently serves as a unique platform to 
prepare for human exploration beyond LEO, promotes U.S. economic 
activity in space, and accelerates innovative research and technology 
development. Equally important, under the leadership of the United 
States, the ISS contributes to America's preeminence around the world 
in space and technological innovation. Since its inception over 30 
years ago, the ISS partnership has been a model of peaceful 
international cooperation. ISS has exceeded all of its original goals 
and accomplished many things that were never envisioned. Things like 
helping to establish a cube satellite market and helping to return 
commercial satellite launches to the U.S. through reduced launch costs. 
However, NASA must look beyond ISS in its current form in order to 
continue U.S. leadership in LEO; that is why the NASA Transition 
Authorization Act of 2017, together with the Administration, are united 
in transitioning NASA's LEO activities to a model where NASA is one of 
many customers of a vibrant, U.S.-led, commercial LEO enterprise. The 
synergy between industry and Government requirements in this endeavor 
cannot be overstated. We are partners in ensuring American preeminence 
as the world's leading spacefaring nation.
    The Administration views public-private partnerships as the 
foundation of future U.S. civilian space efforts, and NASA is 
continuing to develop cooperation on use of the Station to enable 
increased commercial investment and to transition to more public-
private partnership models. For example, the Agency has begun to 
transition from a model where NASA provides payload integration and 
other services to one where those services can be purchased from many 
commercial partners.
    As we consider the future of the ISS and U.S. leadership in space, 
it is helpful to review the benefits provided by U.S. leadership in LEO 
to exploration, space commercialization, and terrestrial applications.
Preparing for Human Deep Space Missions
    In order to prepare for human expeditions into deep space, the 
Agency must first conduct breakthrough research and test the advanced 
technology necessary to keep crews safe and productive on long-duration 
space exploration missions. On-orbit platforms are necessary to 
mitigate 22 of the 33 human health risks in the portfolio identified by 
NASA's Human Research Program in support of current and future deep 
space missions. The research to mitigate these risks must continue 
beyond 2025 to ensure that we learn what is necessary to travel deeper 
into space and to live and work in microgravity for long durations. 
This requirement will not go away no matter what orbital platforms are 
used.
    NASA also plans to continue to use LEO facilities as testbeds to 
fill critical gaps in technologies that will be needed for long-
duration deep space missions. For example, elements of the ISS life 
support and other habitation systems will be evolved into the systems 
that will be used for deep space exploration missions and undergo long-
duration testing. It is NASA's plan to first develop and demonstrate 
many critical technology capabilities using LEO platforms prior to 
deploying these capabilities beyond LEO. This approach is much more 
cost-effective and faster than conducting this research in cislunar 
space because of the risks inherent in operating so far from the Earth.
    As both research and technology development requirements evolve, 
NASA will look to take advantage of additional platforms in LEO as a 
way to accelerate development timetables. If there are cheaper and more 
efficient ways to meet these requirements, NASA is prepared to utilize 
them.
Enabling a LEO Commercial Market
    NASA's vision for LEO is a sustained U.S. commercial human 
spaceflight marketplace where NASA is one of many customers. We 
envision multiple privately-owned/operated platforms--human-tended, 
permanently-crewed, or robotic--together with transportation 
capabilities for crew and cargo that enable a variety of activities in 
LEO, where those platforms and capabilities are sustained to a greater 
degree than today by commercial revenue. These future platforms may 
either leverage ISS or be free-flying. This flexibility allows the 
private sector to determine how best to meet the market demand rather 
than have the Government dictate how to meet this demand.
    NASA must also communicate our forecasted needs in LEO to allow the 
private sector to anticipate that demand in their business cases. The 
Administration has proposed 2025 as the date by which direct Federal 
support of ISS will end; setting this date provides market clarity for 
our commercial LEO supply partners. At the last National Space Council 
meeting at Kennedy Space Center, the Vice President asked the NASA 
Administrator to work with the secretaries of State and Commerce to 
develop a strategy for how we can further enable cooperation with our 
international and private industry partners to continue to develop the 
infrastructure and policies necessary to spur economic growth in space. 
That work is ongoing and we plan to deliver some of those 
recommendations at the fall meeting of the Council.
    In this vision, NASA would be able to share the cost of LEO 
platforms with other commercial, Government, and international users. 
This would allow NASA to maximize its resources toward missions beyond 
LEO, while still having the ability to utilize LEO for its ongoing 
needs for research, training, and technology development.
    In order to enable this vision, NASA is not only executing several 
public-private partnerships, currently centered around the ISS, to 
foster the development of customers for LEO capabilities, but also is 
maturing the supply industry to be able to meet future demands. NASA is 
also initiating the Commercial LEO Development program to further the 
development of commercial on-orbit capabilities beyond what is 
available today through the ISS.
    The Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts, the Commercial 
Crew Program, and the ISS National Laboratory are key complementary 
activities to enable this vision. Under the CRS contracts, NASA's two 
commercial cargo partners, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and 
Orbital ATK, have demonstrated not only the ability to provide cargo 
deliveries to ISS, but also the flexibility to recover effectively from 
mishaps. The addition of the Sierra Nevada Corporation as a third 
commercial service provider will add significant on-orbit and return 
capability. Both Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corporation have begun 
to investigate options to perform significant on-orbit operations after 
their primary cargo mission is completed. These two providers are able 
to provide an on-orbit research capability independent of ISS. NASA's 
commercial crew partners, SpaceX and the Boeing Company, are developing 
the Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, respectively. These 
companies have made significant progress toward returning crew launches 
to the U.S., and NASA anticipates having these capabilities in place by 
2019 to regularly fly astronauts safely to and from ISS. The crew and 
cargo vehicles, as well as the launch vehicles developed by these 
providers, have the potential to support future commercial enterprises 
as well as ISS.
    The Center for the Advancement of Science In Space (CASIS) manages 
the activities of the ISS National Laboratory to increase the 
utilization of the ISS by other Federal entities and the private 
sector. CASIS works to ensure that the Station's unique capabilities 
are available to the broadest possible cross-section of U.S. 
scientific, technological, and industrial communities. The ISS National 
Laboratory is helping to establish and demonstrate the market for 
research, technology demonstration, and other activities in LEO beyond 
the requirements of NASA. Commercial implementation partners are now 
bringing their own customers to LEO through the National Laboratory, as 
well.
ISS Transition
    In the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, Congress 
requested a plan from NASA to transition ISS from the current regime 
that relies heavily on NASA sponsorship to a regime where NASA could be 
one of many customers of a LEO non-Governmental human spaceflight 
enterprise. NASA has been building a strategy and assessing options 
that support this vision for the future of human spaceflight in LEO, 
and this is reflected in the ISS Transition Report, delivered to 
Congress in late March of this year. NASA anticipates that the ISS is 
capable of continuing to operate within prudent technical margins and 
its lifetime could exceed original engineering estimates. This is a 
testament to American ingenuity and technological prowess.
    However, complacency is the enemy of progress in technology 
development. We must continue to push the boundaries of what we believe 
is possible, not just for NASA but for the entire space industry. NASA 
is ready to ensure that LEO is open for American business and that our 
international partners have a role to play in lunar development. The 
development of commercial space operations in LEO will benefit NASA as 
we continue to utilize those capabilities to do the things that only 
NASA can do in exploration. Those principals are two sides of the same 
coin--they operate together and are not mutually exclusive.
    As we contemplate what will happen in this transition, it is 
important that we remember lessons learned from the ISS and continue to 
build on them for the next phase of NASA's involvement in LEO and 
beyond. This transition is an opportunity to demonstrate to the world 
that U.S. leadership in space is not about one program, but about the 
qualities that make us the greatest spacefaring nation on the planet. 
Our insistence that the industry has the ability to respond to 
Government imperatives and that our international partners can count on 
us to lead the next generation of capabilities in LEO and beyond will 
light the way for this next phase of human exploration.
ISS Transition Principles
    Several key principles will be reflected in any strategy or 
decision regarding the ISS and the future of LEO, as well as NASA's 
role as one of many customers of services or capabilities that are 
provided by private industry as part of a broader commercial market. 
The following principles will ensure uninterrupted access to LEO 
capabilities and long-term national interests in human space 
exploration, while supporting national security objectives, such as a 
competitive industrial base and U.S. leadership:

   Expanding U.S. human spaceflight leadership in LEO and deep 
        space exploration, including continuity of the relationships 
        with our current ISS international partners;

   Increasing platform options in LEO to enable more ISS 
        transition pathways, security through redundant capabilities, 
        and industrial capability that can support NASA's deep space 
        exploration needs;

   Spurring vibrant commercial activity in LEO;

   Continuing to return benefits to humanity through 
        Government-sponsored basic and applied on-orbit research;

   Providing continuity among NASA's LEO, deep space 
        exploration, and development and research activities and 
        missions toward expanding human presence into the solar system;

   Maintaining critical human spaceflight knowledge and 
        expertise within the Government in areas such as astronaut 
        health and performance, life support, safety, and critical 
        operational ground and crew experience;

   Continuing Government-sponsored access to LEO research 
        facilities that enable other Government agencies, academia, and 
        private industry to increase U.S. industrial competitiveness 
        and provide goods and services to U.S. citizens; and

   Continuing to reduce the Government's long-term costs 
        through private industry partnerships and competitive 
        acquisition strategies.
ISS Transition Strategy
    As part of a cohesive exploration strategy, NASA intends to meet 
its needs and requirements in LEO by leveraging private industry 
capacity, innovation, and competitiveness that could offer the prospect 
of lower cost to the U.S. Government, while at the same time expanding 
the economic sphere of U.S. industry into LEO and beyond. This could 
enable NASA to apply more personnel and budget resources to expanding 
human space exploration beyond LEO and enhancing U.S. leadership in 
human spaceflight around the world. Beyond the prospect of lower 
operational costs for a LEO platform, shifting focus to industry can 
additionally reduce the infrastructure burden on NASA, which could 
reduce operations and maintenance costs.
    In order to ensure that private industry is prepared to provide the 
services and capabilities that support NASA's needs in LEO, as outlined 
in the key principles above, and to enable private industry to develop 
markets and customers beyond the Government, NASA is proposing the 
following approach:

  1.  Begin a step-wise transition of LEO human spaceflight operations 
        from a Government-directed activity to a model where private 
        industry is responsible for how to meet and execute NASA's 
        requirements. Consistent with the ISS Transition Principles, 
        this does not mean NASA is ``commercializing the ISS.'' 
        Instead, NASA maintains U.S. Government leadership and 
        responsibilities as outlined in the Partnership agreements, and 
        continues to maintain the essential elements of human 
        spaceflight, such as astronaut safety and the high-risk 
        exploration systems.

      This will give NASA time to engage with industry to begin 
        transforming the many NASA-directed activities that are 
        currently performed through several contracts into more of a 
        public-private partnership and/or services contract(s) model 
        where NASA's current responsibilities are executed and managed 
        by private industry. This time period will also provide the 
        opportunity for NASA and private industry to engage with 
        stakeholders and to only proceed when industry has matured and 
        is capable of executing NASA's requirements. The transition of 
        ISS will ensure that there are private companies with the 
        experience and expertise to operate various types of platforms 
        in LEO by the mid-2020s. This transition to private industry 
        must be done in a cost-effective manner and not exceed current 
        operational costs.

      Consistent with the ISS Transition Principles, NASA will continue 
        discussions with the ISS international partners to help shape 
        the long-term future of LEO.

  2.  Solicit information from industry on the development and 
        operations of private on-orbit modules and/or platforms and 
        other capabilities that NASA could utilize to meet its long-
        term LEO requirements that are consistent with the ISS 
        Transition Principles. The scope of the solicitation may 
        include risk reduction development activities, or modules or 
        elements that could either be attached to the ISS or be free-
        flying. The solicitation may also include private-industry-
        conducted studies on the future of the ISS platform that may be 
        combined with private industry objectives in LEO.

      NASA began with a solicitation in FY 2018 to gather broad 
        industry input on interest in meeting NASA's long-term needs 
        and objectives that should lead to multiple awards in FY 2019 
        funded out of the Commercial LEO Development program.

  3.  NASA will also be working with the Department of Commerce to 
        investigate opportunities to facilitate and enable private 
        industry to develop new market opportunities in LEO. It is 
        important that U.S. industry discover the global competitive 
        advantage of utilizing space for research and revenue-
        generation activities. This ultimately allows NASA to be one of 
        many customers.
ISS Considerations and the Eventual Future of the ISS Platform
    From a structural integrity analysis standpoint, the ISS platform 
is expected to have significant structural life well beyond 2028 (based 
on the current assessment period). Many of the ISS modules, 
particularly the modules launched in the later years of ISS assembly, 
are likely to have structural life well into the 2030s. Although it is 
thus likely technically feasible to continue to operate the ISS well 
beyond 2028 with continued maintenance, it is also necessary to 
consider the current high costs of operating this complex facility. The 
ISS lifetime must also be considered in the context of what our 
national priorities are for a robust LEO economy. The LEO economy is 
unlikely to reach its full potential if the Federal Government is the 
sole supplier of LEO research capabilities.
    The future of the ISS will be evaluated using the ISS Transition 
Principles to ensure there is no gap in the availability of a LEO 
platform to meet NASA's needs, whether this means transitioning the 
operations of the ISS to private industry through public-private 
partnership, augmenting the ISS with privately developed modules, 
combining portions of the ISS with a new private platform, or de-
orbiting the ISS and beginning anew with a free-flying platform.
    Decisions about the future of the ISS will be discussed across the 
ISS international partnership. The partners agree on common themes for 
considering the future of ISS and exploration, including:

   Reducing operational costs;

   Offering frequent visible national astronaut opportunities;

   Continuation and continuity of research and technology 
        development activities;

   Building synergies between LEO and exploration activities; 
        and

   Support of commercial opportunities.
NASA's Long-Term LEO Requirements
    NASA and the U.S. have a long history of human spaceflight 
leadership and LEO research and technology development that go all the 
way back to the Mercury program through Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, the 
Space Shuttle, and the ISS.
    Regardless of what happens next in this transition, NASA will 
maintain U.S. leadership in LEO and human spaceflight through lunar 
exploration as a basis for gaining the knowledge and capabilities for 
Mars consistent with the ISS Transition Principles. Within that 
context, NASA is planning to continue with the following LEO needs and 
objectives beyond the life of ISS:

   Maintaining the current ISS international partnership and 
        possibly adding new international and domestic participants;

   Conducting regular LEO crewed operations, including short-
        and long-duration missions:

     Enabling operational space proficiency;

     Shifting from human health and performance 
            countermeasures development (the ISS portion of which is 
            expected to be complete by 2024) to validations of 
            integrated long-duration systems, habitation, operations, 
            and crew isolation;

   Developing and demonstrating long-term technology/systems 
        (e.g., life support);

   Conducting space life and physical sciences basic and 
        applied research at current level and capabilities;

   Conducting National-Laboratory-based research and technology 
        development; and

   Providing opportunities for astrophysics, space, and Earth 
        Science research.

    These long-term requirements, while similar to that of the current 
ISS Program, could be met with various types of modules or platforms 
that do not necessitate a vehicle (or vehicles) as complex as the ISS. 
Many of the research activities could be conducted on shorter-duration 
platforms, similar to the Space Shuttle, or even crew-tended platforms.
Fast Forwarding to the Mid-2020s
    Continuing with current policies, including the Commercial LEO 
Development program, NASA can project what the LEO landscape may look 
like in the mid-2020s. We will maintain our strong global leadership 
position in LEO, starting with the continuation of the ISS through 
2024, the validation of commercial cargo and crew transportation costs, 
and the completion of many NASA exploration-related human and systems 
research and demonstration activities. Through the commercial LEO 
development program, we hope to have in operation multiple alternatives 
to the current model of space station operations that can both meet 
growing commercial needs and meet Government needs at a lower total 
cost to the Government than exists today.
Conclusion
    NASA looks forward to working with Congressional stakeholders, 
researchers, private industry, and our ISS international partners on 
the future of the ISS and LEO, to ensure that the U.S. maintains our 
human spaceflight leadership.
    Mr. Chairman, I would be happy to respond to any questions you or 
the other Members of the Subcommittee may have.

    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Mr. Gerstenmaier.
    Mr. Martin.

 STATEMENT OF HON. PAUL K. MARTIN, INSPECTOR GENERAL, NATIONAL 
              AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

    Mr. Martin. Thank you, Chairman Cruz, Senator Nelson, and 
thank you for the opportunity to discuss the future of the 
International Space Station.
    Over the past 5 years, the Office of Inspector General has 
issued 13 reports related to the ISS, including reviews on 
NASA's efforts to maximize onboard research, manage contracts 
with private companies to fly cargo and crew, and maintain 
international partnerships that fund almost one-quarter of the 
Station's annual expenses.
    My testimony today is informed by these past reviews, but 
draws primarily on findings from a forthcoming OIG audit that 
assesses NASA's progress in maximizing utilization of the ISS 
to accomplish its human exploration objectives. This report, 
which we plan to publicly release in a few weeks, will also 
examine the challenges associated with continuing ISS 
operations after 2024, as well as the status of NASA's plans 
for the Station's eventual decommissioning and deorbit.
    For the past 20 years, the ISS has served as a unique 
platform for humans to learn about living and working in space, 
but a platform that costs NASA between $3 billion to $4 billion 
annually or about half of its human space flight budget. The 
President's 2019 budget request proposes ending direct Federal 
funding of the ISS beginning in 2025, and a March report 
outlines NASA's plans to become one of many customers of a 
commercially operated station or other privately owned low 
Earth orbit platform. In my remarks today, I offer three 
observations about the Administration's admittedly high-level 
plans for the ISS post-2024.
    Observation One. Based on our work, we question whether a 
sufficient business case exists under which private companies 
can create a self-sustaining and profit-making business using 
the ISS independent of significant government funding. From our 
perspective, it is unlikely that a private entity or entities 
would assume the Station's annual operating costs currently 
projected at $1.2 billion in 2024. Such a business case 
requires robust demand for commercial market activities. 
Candidly, the scant commercial interest shown in the Station 
over its nearly 20 years of operation give us pause about the 
agency's current plans.
    Observation Two. The amount of savings NASA may realize 
through commercialization of the ISS may be less than expected 
given the significant expenditures--particularly for crew and 
cargo transportation for NASA-sponsored flights to LEO coupled 
with ongoing civil servant and infrastructure costs--are 
expected to continue past 2025, even if many activities 
transition to a privatized ISS or another commercial platform. 
Consequently, any assumption that ending direct Federal funding 
frees up $3 billion to $4 billion beginning in 2025 to use on 
other NASA exploration initiatives is wishful thinking.
    That said, unless the agency receives a substantial 
increase in funding or can dramatically reduce costs, it will 
be hard pressed to continue supporting ISS operations under its 
current model while attempting to fund other initiatives such 
as the Lunar Gateway, a lunar orbit and moon landing, and a 
crewed Mars mission.
    Observation Three. One obvious alternative is to extend ISS 
operations under the current regime, which from a technical 
standpoint is doable, given that the Station's infrastructure 
and critical equipment are or soon will be certified to at 
least 2028. Our recent audit work determined that research for 
at least six of 20 top human health risks that require the ISS 
for testing and four of 40 technology gaps will not be 
completed by the end of 2024.
    In addition, research into two other human health risks and 
17 technology gaps are not scheduled to be completed until 
sometime in 2024, meaning that even minor schedule slippages 
could push their completion past the Station's planned 
retirement date.
    Finally, at some future point, whether in an emergency or 
because its useful life has ended, NASA likely will need to 
decommission and deorbit most or all of the Station. NASA 
estimates a controlled re-entry of the ISS will take up to 3 
years to execute and cost approximately $950 million. However, 
NASA has not finalized such a plan or developed the necessary 
capabilities to safely deorbit the Station in an emergency.
    In whatever time remains, NASA must redouble its efforts to 
maximize the Station's potential, and the sooner Congress and 
the Administration agree on a path forward for the ISS, the 
better NASA will be able to plan.
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Martin follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Hon. Paul K. Martin, Inspector General, 
             National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Markey, and Members of the 
Subcommittee:

    The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is committed to providing 
independent, aggressive, and objective oversight of NASA, and we 
welcome this opportunity to discuss the Agency's utilization of the 
International Space Station (ISS or Station) and the challenges and 
opportunities related to its post-2024 future.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The ISS is currently authorized to continue operations until 
October 1, 2024.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The OIG has issued 13 reports related to the ISS over the past 5 
years, including reviews on NASA's efforts to maximize research, extend 
its operations, manage contracts with private companies to fly cargo 
and eventually crew to the Station, and maintain international 
partnerships that fund close to one-quarter of the Station's annual 
expenses. My testimony today is informed by these past reports, but 
primarily draws on findings in a forthcoming audit assessing NASA's 
progress in maximizing utilization of the ISS to accomplish its human 
exploration objectives. This report--which we plan to release publicly 
in the next few weeks--will also examine the options and challenges 
associated with the Station's eventual retirement and deorbit.
    For the past 20 years, the ISS has served as a platform for humans 
to learn about living and working in space. NASA's original vision was 
that astronauts living on the Station would conduct biological and 
materials research, demonstrate American leadership in space, forge 
international cooperation, and lead efforts to commercialize low Earth 
orbit. To date, the Agency has accomplished many of these goals. NASA 
has sponsored research aboard the ISS in the areas of life and physical 
sciences, human health, astrophysics, Earth sciences, space science, 
and commercial research and development for pharmaceuticals, materials, 
manufacturing, and consumer products. The ISS has also been used in 
disaster response on Earth by providing near-real time mapping support 
for recovery and humanitarian aid efforts. However, all of these 
achievements have come at a cost of $3--$4 billion annually or about 
half of NASA's annual human space flight budget.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ In FY 2018, the ISS budget included approximately $1.7 billion 
for crew and cargo transportation, $1 billion for systems operations 
and maintenance, $267 million for research, and $225 million for labor 
and travel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Against this backdrop, the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget 
request proposes ending direct Federal funding of the ISS beginning in 
2025, and a congressionally mandated report prepared by NASA and 
submitted in late March provides a high-level outline of the Agency's 
plan to transition the Station to commercial operation. Our forthcoming 
report examines this plan as well as other options the Agency may 
consider, including extending ISS operations beyond the current 
retirement date and the necessity at some future point to safely 
dispose of the Station through a controlled destructive re-entry into 
the Earth's atmosphere.
Transition to Private Operations
    NASA's current plan for the future of the ISS past 2024 is to 
transition responsibility for its operation--in whole or in part--to a 
commercial entity or entities. The Agency expects this approach to 
offset some portion of its substantial annual investment in ISS 
operations while providing more cost-effective operation of the Station 
through increased private sector investment, ultimately spurring 
greater commercial development of low Earth orbit. Under this plan, 
NASA envisions itself as only one of many customers for the ISS or 
other privately-owned and operated low Earth orbit platforms.
    As part of this vision, the Agency is considering a range of 
options including transitioning operations to private industry, 
augmenting the Station with privately developed modules, combining 
portions of the current platform with a new private platform, or 
deploying an entirely new free-flying platform and de-orbiting the ISS. 
NASA is also assessing whether its long-term research requirements, 
while similar to those of the current ISS Program, could be met with 
platforms or modules that do not require a vehicle as complex and 
expensive as the ISS.
    NASA has taken several concrete steps over the past 10 years to 
meet its goal of increasing commercialization of the ISS and low Earth 
orbit. Most prominently, NASA pays commercial partners Orbital ATK and 
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) to deliver cargo to 
the ISS with a third contractor, the Sierra Nevada Corporation, 
scheduled to begin resupply flights in 2020.\3\ In addition, NASA is 
paying The Boeing Company (Boeing) and SpaceX to transport astronauts 
to the ISS as early as FY 2019. These activities represent NASA's most 
significant investment in the commercialization of low Earth orbit, 
given that cargo and crew transportation account for approximately $1.7 
billion or roughly 50 percent of the Station's annual costs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Through its first round of Commercial Resupply Services 
contracts (CRS-1), NASA awarded a total of 31 cargo resupply missions 
to Orbital ATK and SpaceX worth $5.9 billion, or an average cost of 
$191.3 million per mission. As a follow-on to CRS-1, in 2016 NASA 
awarded a second round of resupply contracts known as CRS-2 to Orbital 
ATK, SpaceX, and the Sierra Nevada Corporation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NASA is also engaging private industry directly regarding potential 
future commercialization of the ISS. For example, in July 2016 NASA 
issued a Request for Information seeking industry ideas to stimulate 
economic development through the use of unique ISS capabilities. Last 
month, NASA released a Research Announcement soliciting industry 
concepts, business plans, and viability studies for development of 
commercial platforms in low Earth orbit, as well as industry input on 
the role Government should play in the commercialization of low Earth 
orbit. NASA also plans to coordinate with the Departments of Commerce 
and Transportation to create a multi-agency working group to identify 
specific actions or legislation that would enhance development of a 
commercial market in low Earth orbit.
    While all of these actions are positive steps, NASA's current plan 
to privatize the ISS remains a controversial and highly debatable 
proposition, particularly with regard to the feasibility of fostering 
increased commercial activity in low Earth orbit. Specifically, it is 
questionable whether a sufficient business case exists under which 
private companies can create a self-sustaining and profit-making 
business independent of significant Government funding. In particular, 
it is unlikely that a private entity or entities would assume the 
Station's annual operating costs, currently projected at $1.2 billion 
in 2024. Such a business case requires robust demand for commercial 
market activities such as space tourism, satellite servicing, 
manufacturing of goods, and research and development, all of which have 
yet to materialize.
    Candidly, the scant commercial interest shown in the Station over 
its nearly 20 years of operation gives us pause about the Agency's 
current plan. This concern is illustrated by NASA's limited success in 
stimulating non-NASA activity aboard the Station through the Center for 
the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS). Established in 2011 
to facilitate use of the ISS by commercial companies, academia, and 
other Government and non-Government actors for their research or 
commercial purposes, CASIS's efforts have fallen short of expectations. 
Apart from these privatization challenges, the amount of cost savings 
NASA may realize through commercialization of the ISS may be less than 
expected given that significant expenditures--particularly in crew and 
cargo transportation and civil servant costs--will likely continue even 
if many low Earth orbit activities transition to a privatized ISS or 
another commercial platform.
Extension and Continued Operations
    An obvious alternative to privatization is to extend current ISS 
operations. NASA originally targeted the Station's service life to end 
in 2015, approximately 15 years from the time its first elements were 
placed into orbit. Since that time, NASA has extended the Station's 
operational life on two occasions: the first in 2011 when ISS 
construction was nearing completion (an extension through 2020) and the 
second in 2014 that approved continuation of ISS operations through 
2024.
    NASA is currently evaluating the feasibility of extending the 
Station's service life through at least 2028. As of June 2017, Boeing, 
NASA's prime ISS contractor, had certified all major U.S. structural 
elements to 2028 with the exception of an external stowage platform and 
six truss segments that it expects to certify by 2019. In addition, 
Boeing has assessed and cleared to 2028 critical operational 
capabilities such as electrical power, environmental control and life 
support, and thermal control.
    An extension to 2028 or beyond would enable NASA to continue 
critical on-orbit research into human health risks and to demonstrate 
the technologies that will be required for future missions to the Moon 
or Mars. In recent audit work we determined that, as of February 2018, 
NASA forecast that research for at least 6 of 20 human health risks 
requiring the ISS for testing and 4 of 40 technology gaps will not be 
completed by the Station's planned retirement in September 2024. In 
addition, research into 2 other human health risks and 17 additional 
technology gaps is not scheduled to be completed until sometime in 
2024, meaning that even minor schedule slippage could push completion 
past the Station's planned retirement date.
    While NASA may be able to find alternative, ground-based testing 
options for certain health risks and technology demonstrations, Agency 
officials have stressed that research into others will continue to 
require the Station's unique microgravity environment. If the remaining 
health risks and technology demonstrations cannot be fully tested on 
the ISS, NASA may have to accept higher levels of risk than planned for 
future exploration missions.
    Extending the ISS past 2024 presents NASA with multiple challenges, 
most pointedly its $3--$4 billion annual cost. Moreover, any extension 
could also increase the possibility of failure in the Station's aging 
systems and infrastructure. Finally, continued support from NASA's 
international partners--who currently pick up about 23 percent of the 
U.S. Segment's operating costs--remains an open question beyond 2024.
Funding Issues
    NASA currently spends about half of its Space Operations budget in 
support of ISS operations and will continue to do so with any extension 
of the ISS's service life beyond 2024. Unless the Agency receives a 
substantial increase in funding or can dramatically reduce the cost of 
ISS operation and maintenance, NASA will be hard pressed to continue 
supporting ISS operations under its current model while attempting to 
fund its other potential space exploration initiatives such as the 
Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a lunar orbit/landing mission, and 
preparations for a crewed Mars mission.
    Even if the Agency ends direct funding of the ISS in 2025 as 
envisioned in the President's FY 2019 budget request, it is unlikely 
that the bulk of the funding currently devoted to the ISS Program could 
be immediately diverted to these and other exploration activities. Even 
with termination of most Station activities, NASA expects to retain a 
presence in low Earth orbit and therefore would need to fund related 
crew and cargo transportation costs. Furthermore, significant funding 
would be required to maintain offices and infrastructure currently 
funded by the ISS Program such as the Mission Operations office, which 
is expected to be needed by future exploration programs.
    Over the past 10 years, NASA has worked to reduce the costs of 
supporting the ISS, particularly crew and cargo services--the Program's 
most expensive element. In addition, NASA has saved more than $172 
million annually since 2007 through de-scoping, renegotiating, and 
combining Station-related contracts. For example, NASA renegotiated the 
Program's largest contract for engineering support with Boeing in 2010, 
reducing requirements and saving an estimated $67 million per year. In 
addition, by combining its mission support, program integration, and 
infrastructure operations contracts, NASA estimates it has saved an 
average $59 million per year since 2013. NASA also awarded a new 
contract in 2015 to support spaceflight operations, thereby reducing 
costs by an average $46 million per year. While these are positive cost 
reductions, taken together they represent a small portion of the ISS 
Program's overall budget.
Managing Risks of Hardware Failures
    By 2028, the original elements of the Station will be 30 years old 
and will have operated for 3 decades in a harsh microgravity 
environment, exposed to ionizing radiation, extreme temperature 
changes, and micrometeoroids and orbital debris. While many systems 
have been replaced or upgraded and the Agency has not identified any 
structural issues that would preclude an extension through 2028, risks 
related to hardware degradation, system failure, and technological 
obsolescence may increase with continued operation beyond 2024. These 
issues have significant implications on NASA's ability to repair or 
replace components because transportation of relatively large items is 
more difficult since retirement of the Space Shuttle, an issue NASA is 
taking steps to address.
    According to NASA, micrometeoroids and orbital debris strikes are 
the primary threat to the Station's integrity because a direct strike 
can cause catastrophic and irreversible depressurization or other 
significant damage with immediate life-threatening risks to the crew. 
To mitigate this risk, the U.S. Government currently tracks more than 
500,000 pieces of man-made, orbital debris, which consists of 
nonfunctional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, and other 
mission-related debris.
Continued Support of International Partners
    Lastly, any discussion of whether to extend ISS operations past 
2024 needs to consider the level of support from NASA's current 
international partners--Russia, the European Space Agency (ESA), 
Canada, and Japan--whose continued participation hinges on issues 
ranging from international politics to differing space exploration 
goals. For example, the outlook for Russia's continued involvement with 
the ISS is uncertain given the current state of relations between the 
two countries. Russia's role is critical to sustaining Station 
operations because it controls the Station's propulsion system and 
propellant and is currently the only partner capable of providing crew 
transportation to and from the ISS. The participation of NASA's other 
current international partners is also unsettled at this time given 
their desire to consider exploration missions beyond the ISS. For 
example, ESA has announced its intent to partner with NASA on the Lunar 
Orbital Platform-Gateway and other lunar activities. ESA is also 
working with the Chinese Space Agency to fly European astronauts on the 
Chinese space station planned for operation in 2022. Given that NASA's 
current international partners cover 23 percent of the Station's shared 
annual costs, the loss of one or more of these space agencies could 
have a significant impact on NASA's cost to extend ISS operations 
beyond 2024.
Decommission and Deorbit
    At some point, whether in an emergency or because its useful life 
has ended, NASA will need to decommission and deorbit the Station. 
Ideally, this will occur via a controlled, destructive re-entry into 
the Earth's atmosphere. NASA estimates a controlled reentry of the ISS 
will take up to 3 years to execute and cost approximately $950 million. 
However, the Agency has not completed the necessary tasks to execute 
such a deorbit. In January 2017, NASA completed a draft plan to address 
various deorbit scenarios; however, the plan has not been finalized and 
is pending review by the Russia Space Agency. And, while NASA engineers 
continue to work on the technical details of deorbit scenarios, the 
Agency presently does not have the capability to ensure a controlled 
deorbit of the ISS in the event of an emergency.
Conclusion
    For the past 20 years, NASA has used the ISS as a research platform 
in low Earth orbit essential for advancing its deep space ambitions. 
But such celestial research comes at a steep cost: each year the 
Station remains in orbit, NASA allocates roughly half of its total 
human space flight budget to ISS operations--an expenditure that limits 
the Agency's ability to fund development of systems needed to visit the 
moon and other destinations beyond low Earth orbit.
    Each of the options for extending, transitioning, or retiring the 
ISS presents NASA with significant challenges that will require it to 
balance cost, feasibility, and risk. The President's FY 2019 budget 
request proposes ending direct Federal funding of the ISS by 2025, at 
which time NASA proposes transitioning the Station to commercial 
operations. While this proposal faces an uncertain future in Congress, 
we question whether a sufficient business case will exist by that time 
to make such an option feasible.
    Similarly, NASA's other options present challenges. Extension of 
the ISS past 2024 will require significant ongoing funding, which would 
eat into the money available for NASA to pursue its other exploration 
goals. In addition, extending the ISS to 2028 or beyond would increase 
safety risks due to aging hardware and equipment. Moreover, it is 
unclear whether NASA can count on funding from its existing 
international partners if it seeks to extend the Station's operations 
beyond 2024. Finally, NASA needs to finalize a plan to decommission and 
safely deorbit all or part of the ISS at the end of its useful life.
    Regardless of the outcome, NASA must redouble its efforts to 
maximize the potential of whatever time remains on the Station. 
Important work on several human health risks and technology 
demonstrations will not be completed by 2024, leaving NASA with the 
choice of extending Station operations, relying on alternate testing 
methods, or accepting higher levels of risk. The sooner Congress and 
the Administration decide on a path forward for the future of the ISS, 
the better NASA will be able to plan.

    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Mr. Martin. Thank you, gentlemen, 
for your testimony.
    Mr. Gerstenmaier, where did the 2025 date to end Federal 
support for the ISS that's cited in both the ISS Transition 
Report and also the President's budget request--where did that 
date originate?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. It originated in the Administration.
    Senator Cruz. Did it originate in OMB?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. I don't know specifically where it came 
from, but it came from the Administration and discussions about 
picking a date collectively.
    Senator Cruz. So the date did not come from NASA?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. We didn't pick a particular date. We 
talked about criteria, as you've seen in the Transition Report 
and other things. We didn't see the necessity of picking a 
specific date within the agency, but as part of the 
Administration, we came to the conclusion that picking a date 
would prompt a serious discussion.
    Senator Cruz. The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 
2017, as you know, required NASA to submit the ISS Transition 
Report to Congress not later than December 1, 2017. NASA was 3 
months late in submitting that report, which was in direct 
contradiction to Federal law. How many drafts of the ISS 
Transition Report were prepared before the final report was 
submitted to Congress on March 30, 2018?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. I don't have a specific number, but we go 
through a pretty iterative process of putting the report 
together with lots of comments from a variety of folks, so 
there were numerous iterations of the report placed together. I 
think part of the reason was the complexity of the report. If 
you look at the requirement language in the bill, there was a 
lot of information required, and we did our best to pull 
together all that data, and, frankly, we missed the December 
date on our own just because we couldn't get the information 
put together and written down in time to make that December 
date.
    Senator Cruz. Is it correct that NASA sent at least two 
drafts to the Administration, both of which were rejected?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. I don't know. I'd have to go check on the 
specific number. I would say they'd never been rejected. They 
get sent over, and we get comments back. We iterate back and 
forth on the comments, and that occurred after the December 
deadline. It occurred this year.
    Senator Cruz. On February 20, 2018, Senator Nelson and I 
together sent a letter to NASA requesting, quote, ``All 
preliminary versions of the ISS Transition Report as described 
in Public Law 115-10 including any drafts of the report that 
have been delivered to OMB or the National Space Council for 
review.'' To date, that request has not been complied with. 
Does NASA intend to comply with that request?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Let me take that question for the record, 
and we'll deliberate and see.
    [The information referred to follows:]

    Answer: The process of generating a report is an iterative one, 
both inside NASA and with the rest of the Administration. Thus, it is 
not the case that drafts are ``rejected''--they are revised to reflect 
the wider policy context in which they are developed.
    Answer: Draft reports are predecisional materials that reflect 
Executive Branch deliberations. They often contain initial views of 
individuals before other individuals have commented and further 
discussions occur. They are by nature preliminary and often do not 
reflect the ultimate view of the Administration or the Agency. 
Accordingly, their release creates a risk of impeding the free exchange 
of views and positions that is critical to effective decision-making.

    Senator Cruz. To your knowledge, is someone in the 
Administration specifically blocking NASA from providing those 
documents?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. There's no specific blockage. I think we 
just need to discuss amongst ourselves what the benefit is and 
what's in those versions of the documents and see if they're 
helpful or not in the discussion moving forward. Many of the 
comments will reflect actual debates within NASA itself, where 
we had lots of discussions back and forth about what should be 
in the document, what shouldn't be in the document, et cetera. 
Some of those things we consider somewhat pre-decisional, where 
we'd like to have that free debate within the agency.
    We think it's important for us to have open dialogue within 
the agency where we can disagree with each other and not be 
subject to external review. So for some of those reasons, we'd 
like to hold some of those back. But I'd like to meet with our 
teams and the legal folks, and we'll get together and determine 
what the right approach is.
    Senator Cruz. Well, let me be clear. We're not asking for 
internal documents within NASA. We're asking for any drafts 
that were submitted to OMB. So, presumably, once a draft was 
submitted to OMB, NASA had resolved the internal questions and 
was submitting something for approval, and it is my concern 
that considerations other than the merits of the science drove 
this decisionmaking process.
    So the letter from Senator Nelson and me was not a request 
for NASA to assess how helpful it might be or not to have those 
drafts submitted to OMB turned over to us. It is rather for 
Congress to make that determination.
    Let me ask a different question on the merits. Mr. 
Gerstenmaier, as a scientific matter, is the ISS capable of 
operating beyond 2025?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Yes.
    Senator Cruz. How long do you believe we can safely operate 
the ISS?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. We've done a look at the structural 
integrity and the major components through 2028, and it looks 
very viable through 2028. The current maintenance on Station is 
fairly low. We just did a space walk today to repair some 
things and move things forward, but that's predicted. I think 
we have a good operational life at least through 2028 and 
possibly a little bit further beyond that. We just need to 
continue to watch Station and continue to maintain it.
    The IG calls out in their report components we need to 
watch and upgrade and maintain. But the teams are doing a good 
job of doing that and keeping it in good operational 
capability. What we don't want to have happen is where we're 
spending more time doing maintenance than we are doing 
research. At that point, then, the utility of Station starts to 
diminish, and we have not seen that yet. Station is very viable 
at least through 2028.
    Senator Cruz. Page six of the ISS Transition Report states, 
quote, ``Among the benefits beyond the prospect of lower 
operational costs for an LEO platform, shifting focus to 
industry can additionally reduce the infrastructure burden on 
NASA, as has already been demonstrated at NASA facilities at 
Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center, Stennis Space 
Center, and Michoud Assembly Facility.''
    If the policy as described in the ISS Transition Report is 
carried out, how will the infrastructure of the Johnson Space 
Center be reduced?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. I think what the report is referring to 
is it's talking about a way we can reduce the infrastructure 
costs for NASA programs. So in the case of the Michoud Assembly 
Facility, we were able to bring some commercial companies in 
that could use the facilities at Michoud in parallel with our 
operations. So then they would share some of the facility use, 
some of the utility bills, some of the support personnel. There 
were multiple users in the facility of which NASA only had to 
pay now a portion of some of that infrastructure cost. So 
that's what that report is referring to.
    So when we think of Space Station, if we have multiple 
users in space, where NASA is just one of multiple users, then 
that cost of infrastructure and, say, cargo flights or crew 
flights--those can be shared between the government and the 
commercial sector, and then that lowers the cost to the 
government. That's what's implied by that infrastructure 
discussion. So it's not a reduction in personnel. It's an 
efficiency that's gained.
    So at the Johnson Space Center, if some commercial 
companies could come in and do operations in the facility or in 
the center where they share some of the overhead of maintenance 
and lighting and utilities, then that lowers costs for NASA. So 
that was what the intent of that discussion was in the report.
    Senator Cruz. How would you project that Mission Control at 
JSC would be impacted?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Again, we see Mission Control continuing 
at JSC as we bring commercial crew online. Boeing has chosen to 
operate CST-100 out of the Johnson Space Center. We also see 
the Gateway activity that we do around the moon--that will be 
operated out of the Johnson Space Center. So I see Mission 
Control continuing into the future as we move human presence 
into the solar system, carrying the traditional role that the 
Johnson Space Center has carried in the past.
    Senator Cruz. So as I mentioned in my opening statement, 
NASA hasn't fared well in the past when decisions were made 
prematurely in major programs, like Constellation and the Space 
Shuttle. While there were a host of valid reasons for needing 
to transition away from the Space Shuttle, the reality is the 
program was phased out before an alternative was established. 
This decision created a gap in capability for our National 
Space Program and has made NASA reliant upon Russia to 
transport American astronauts to and from the ISS.
    As you can see from this first chart here, between 2006 and 
2018, the price that NASA has paid the Russian government to 
secure seats to transport American astronauts to and from the 
ISS has increased from roughly $21 million to over $80 million, 
a cost increase of 372 percent or a $60 million increase in 
just 12 years.
    As you can see from this second chart, the consequence of 
having this gap in capability means that American taxpayers 
will have sent roughly $567 million to the Russian government 
to transport our astronauts to and from the ISS, which comes 
out to roughly $3.5 billion between 2006 and 2018. And it's 
also worth noting that commercial delivery systems cost will be 
2.4 times more than the Space Shuttle.
    What do you see as the consequences in terms of capability 
lost if Federal funding is phased out for the ISS in 2025?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Again, I think, you know, we have some 
principles that we carry within human space flight, and one of 
those principles is the continuity of human space flight. We 
believe keeping a continuous presence in human space flight is 
important and continuing to keep a leadership role in space 
flight, and I think Station needs to have that leadership role.
    What we're describing here with this activity is we think 
now is the time to do the planning to make sure that we have a 
good transition from the predominantly government-funded Space 
Station we have today to where we have now commercial space 
stations and other activities in low Earth orbit that we can 
continue to use to keep our leadership role and to keep human 
presence in space. So we're thinking more of a transition 
rather than a stop and then a start. As you've shown through 
your graphs in the plots here, it's not good when you stop and 
then you start at some TBD point in space.
    So what we're trying to do through this activity and 
through the Transition Report is establish some principles, 
which you can read in the report. We're trying to go out to 
industry, ask industry what the government can do to help them 
take a better role in low Earth orbit operations, and how we 
can make an effective transition where the government doesn't 
have to be the sole payer and U.S. industry can do new things 
in innovative ways in space.
    We've seen some positive examples of that with both 
commercial crew and commercial cargo. I think there are some 
real advantages of the private sector doing some things in 
innovative and creative ways. I think we can do the same thing 
in low Earth orbit. We need some time to do that. We would like 
to begin that activity in earnest now, and then we can see how 
that works through the period of time and then figure out when 
the right time is to transition Station.
    Senator Cruz. So, as you know, China has announced that it 
intends to have its first permanent manned space station ready 
for service in 2022. Do you have any concerns that China may be 
putting itself in a position to fill a leadership vacuum in low 
Earth orbit if it's the only country with an operational 
station beyond 2025?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. I think we need to be aware of that 
consideration and factor that into our planning as we go 
forward.
    Senator Cruz. Final question for Mr. Martin. Both the ISS 
Transition Report and the President's budget request list 2025 
as the date on which direct Federal support of the ISS will 
end. Has your office looked into where that 2025 date 
originated, and, if not, will you commit to examining that 
question?
    Mr. Martin. We have not looked into where the 2025--and, 
respectfully, we will not look into--it's a policy issue by the 
Administration. Unless there's some evidence of any nefarious 
outside influence on that decision, it really is a policy 
decision, much like the previous administration had decided to 
focus on an asteroid retrieval mission as opposed to a lunar 
return.
    So, really, the Inspector General's Office--we look at--we 
don't deal with policy. We're not management. We look at 
programs once they've been decided on by the Congress and the 
Administration, and then we find fault in those programs.
    Senator Cruz. With all due respect, Mr. Martin, it is not a 
policy decision when it is directly contrary to Federal statute 
that has been enacted into law--the NASA Transition 
Authorization Act of 2017--and I believe that date directly 
contradicts statutory language that was passed unanimously by 
both houses of Congress.
    Senator Nelson.
    Senator Nelson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This Senator has 
been through a kabuki dance on the issue of OMB trying to 
control NASA for years and years. It's a problem in both 
Democrat and Republican administrations and here we go again.
    Mr. Martin, I'm going to have most of my questions for you, 
because Mr. Gerstenmaier is in a very difficult position, as he 
has to mind the fact that there are those folks at OMB who 
think they're running NASA, so he has to be careful about what 
he says, even though he's one of the best NASA managers that 
has ever come down the pipe.
    But I do want to ask Mr. Gerstenmaier--and I think it will 
make the point here--when Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and I 
authored the NASA authorization bill of 2010 that set NASA off 
on the dual course of a commercial industry of launchers as 
well as NASA being able to get out beyond low Earth orbit and 
explore and, thus, the course that we are now seeing come to 
fruition with the launches of two commercial rockets carrying 
crew within the next year and then the big rocket as the first 
of the Mars program maybe in a couple of years, all of that set 
the table so that it would be worthwhile for commercial 
companies to come in and develop rockets and spacecraft in 
order to get humans to and from the International Space 
Station, which also would allow us to stop paying the Russians 
all of those monies that we've paid over the years, even though 
they've been a reliable partner.
    So, given the fact that this was a business model for 
SpaceX, for Boeing, and others to come, to go to and from low 
Earth orbit, specifically the Space Station, what do you think 
this is going to do to their business model if suddenly there's 
not an International Space Station there?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. It's envisioned in the way we've seen the 
legislation is that there would be potentially other commercial 
platforms in low Earth orbit that could be serviced by both of 
these companies, both by the cargo providers and also by the 
crew transportation providers. So the idea was instead of 
having a sole government space station, there would be a 
government station, potentially other smaller commercial space 
stations in low Earth orbit of which this industry, the supply 
industry of transportation, would be able to service.
    So that's the discussion we've had, and that's the thing 
we're trying to pursue, to see if there's a market that 
supports that and to put the details of how that works. And 
we're going to ask industry and ask others through a series of 
studies here fairly soon to give us their business plans, to 
give us their understanding of what they see as the revenue 
potential in low Earth orbit.
    I think we're starting to see a real interest in low Earth 
orbit from commercial companies, where there's just an inkling 
that there could be some revenue generation there. That's a 
starting point. That's a tipping point, and what we need to do 
is we need to figure out a way we can help enable that through 
the Commerce Department, through NASA, to get that vibrant 
economy there, and then again we'll see this commercial sector 
take activity in low Earth orbit. So we have to walk between 
figuring out the right time for the government station to start 
ramping down and the private station to start coming in place.
    Senator Nelson. And you do not have any assurance that that 
business model is still there to support their commercial 
rockets. Is that correct?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. There's no absolute assurance that that 
business model is there. But we can construct a transition plan 
thoughtfully amongst all of us that can help lower the risk to 
acceptable levels where it's a right risk for the private 
sector and it's a right risk for the government to get the 
capabilities we need in low Earth orbit.
    Senator Nelson. Mr. Martin, what was it that you were 
talking about--six of 20 human risks that requires research on 
the ISS? Six of 20 human risks, you say, have been identified 
on the Station.
    Mr. Martin. Yes, sir. NASA has a very robust program to 
look at--from their Human Research Program to look at what are 
the key health and human performance risks that can be 
detrimental to astronauts in long-duration space flight, and 
they have a very colorful chart that maps out when they would 
get these risks to a successful point where they could either 
mitigate it or they've decided to accept the risks. And 
according to NASA's own figures, six of the 20--the mitigation 
activities and the research on those health and human 
performance risks will not be completed by 2024.
    Senator Nelson. Mr. Gerstenmaier, do you think that 
substitutes, if they could be put up--commercial stations--by 
2025 would be available? Do you think that's possible?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. I think it's possible for those items, 
and what we need to do is make sure that those unique 
facilities and capabilities are present in the commercial 
activities, so we can actually make sure that they have the 
ability to investigate those particular areas.
    Senator Nelson. You know, right now, NASA is paying for the 
transportation cost to and from the Station on commercial cargo 
and soon to be American astronauts to go to and from. Do you 
think that the commercial companies could pick up that burden 
if NASA were to abandon the ISS?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Again, I think, as we've all seen, one of 
the largest costs for having a capability in low Earth orbit is 
the transportation cost. So we need to watch that 
transportation cost. Again, I think the model is if there's 
revenue generation by the private sector, then they can pay for 
some portion of that transportation cost--and what that 
percentage is, I don't know, but we can work that out--and then 
the government gets a reduced cost for the activities that the 
government needs. So then the government pays for the services 
it requires and what it needs.
    So there's a transition phase so it doesn't go from full 
government funding to no government funding. I think there 
needs to be a transition phase, and that's what we've kind of 
alluded to in the Transition Report of how we discover and how 
we build that right transition model to make sure we don't lose 
this capability that we've acquired with Space Station.
    Senator Nelson. Not just the transportation cost, but the 
$1.2 billion per year that Mr. Martin indicated just to keep 
the Station alive. So commercial companies would have to pick 
that up. You're talking about commercial companies suddenly 
taking such a large bite of the financial pie. It's possible 
they might choke on it, isn't it?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Again, I think we have to be careful as 
we think about the next platform in low Earth orbit. The Space 
Station, as you described in your opening remarks, is amazing 
in terms of size and complexity. These commercial stations 
could be dramatically simpler and dramatically smaller, and, 
potentially, the operating costs for those and some of the 
transportation costs can be reduced some amount by having a 
smaller capability.
    We've seen some things now where the cargo providers are 
doing an after-mission activity with their cargo vehicles. They 
actually fly an extended mission after they're done delivering 
cargo to Station. That could serve a function of a space 
station to be crew tended, in a sense, not even in orbit for a 
permanent amount of time and return.
    So I think we have to open up our thinking about what that 
new commercial station is and recognize that having a 
commercial entity take on the full cost of ISS doesn't make 
sense, but is there another model that still can give us the 
capability we need for reduced costs in maybe a different 
manner and innovative way of achieving it, and that's what we 
want to start exploring with companies in the near term, 
because at some point, Station will wear out. Station will no 
longer be supportable. We're going to have to deorbit Station. 
We want to make sure that event doesn't occur without us being 
prepared to look at a transition to another activity in low 
Earth orbit that can keep this continuous presence moving 
forward.
    Senator Nelson. Well, I would suggest, Mr. Gerstenmaier, 
that I can speak on behalf of Senator Cruz and myself and say 
that as you do all of this planning, you also ought to plan for 
the alternative that the Station is going to stay alive until 
2028 and even beyond. And as you look at your different 
scenarios, I would recommend that you do that because this 
Committee is going to require that.
    Mr. Martin, does the ISS Transition Report adequately 
consider the risk of ending the ISS program in 2025?
    Mr. Martin. We don't believe, based on our work, that it 
does, Senator.
    Senator Nelson. What are your impressions of the Transition 
Report and the manner in which it was influenced by the 
Administration?
    Mr. Martin. Senator, I can't speak to the latter part of 
your question because we have no knowledge of the input that 
OMB had or didn't have on the language. But looking at the 
report--and, again, based on the OIG's work--the report is--
apart from describing a high-level framework and using words--
dropping words like ``robust economy in low Earth orbit''--we 
think that a lot of the conclusions or observations are overly 
optimistic in nature, particularly with the ability over the 
next 6 years to generate a sufficient economy in low Earth 
orbit to pull off this plan. So we have serious reservations 
about it, sir.
    Senator Nelson. Of the $3.5 billion that NASA spends on ISS 
operations, transportation, and research each year, roughly $1 
billion goes, as you have already indicated--$1.2 billion--to 
operating and maintaining the Station itself. The ISS 
Transition Report makes it clear that NASA will continue to 
need access to low Earth orbit, even as we move to exploring 
Mars.
    The report says NASA is going to keep paying for research 
and for transportation to low Earth orbit, yet it doesn't say 
how transitioning to a privately-run Space Station or platform 
will actually save money. If a commercial space station exists 
by 2025, it won't be free.
    How, Mr. Gerstenmaier, will using commercial platforms in 
low Earth orbit save NASA money?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Again, it has to come from the things we 
described. There needs to be some ability for the commercial 
sector to generate revenue in low Earth orbit on their own so 
they have a revenue stream separate from the government, or 
other government agencies contribute to the funding. That 
lowers some of the cost, or the cost is shared now across a 
community rather than just NASA paying for that cost. The other 
way would be if we back off on some of the capability and we 
have less functionality in low Earth orbit such that it costs 
less to maintain that functionality in low Earth orbit.
    Those would be two examples that we need to investigate and 
see which ones of those have the potential of yielding the 
benefit that we describe or we would like to try to get by 
making this transition.
    Senator Nelson. So, Mr. Martin, I ask you, based on the 
work of the Office of Inspector General, is the commercial 
industry ready to assume the cost of operating and maintaining 
the ISS?
    Mr. Martin. We don't believe so, and we think the--we had 
some specific concerns with the Transition Report. If you look 
on page 27, it talks about an STPI study that assesses the 
economic viability of a commercial low Earth platform. Some of 
the assumptions that this study uses are belied by the chart 
that the Chairman just put up. The operating assumption in that 
study was the cost of an astronaut transportation to low Earth 
orbit was $20 million. Last time I looked, it was closer to $84 
million per seat.
    In addition, on page 29 of the Transition Report was an 
interesting comment about venture capitalists that were 
contacted by the study writers to assess the economic 
viability. No venture capitalists that they spoke with for this 
report would invest in a commercial platform in low Earth orbit 
until there was much more clarity on revenue and costs.
    Senator Nelson. On the basis of what you just said, if I 
were trying a jury trial, I would say, ``Your Honor, the 
plaintiff or the defense rests.''
    Are there areas in which NASA could save cost under the 
current ISS program?
    Mr. Martin. Myself or Mr. Gerstenmaier?
    Senator Nelson. You, Mr. Martin.
    Mr. Martin. I'm sure there are, and they have--they've 
consolidated contracts, they've moved from--to fixed price 
contracts with its main contractor, Boeing. There are lots that 
they've done over the past five, 10 years, and our hats are off 
to the managers at NASA for that, and I'm sure that there are 
additional efficiencies that they could identify in the coming 
years.
    Senator Nelson. And then there's the question of demand. 
NASA's goal is to be one of many users of commercial space 
stations. But right now, I don't see who those non-government 
users are.
    Mr. Gerstenmaier, do you expect--who would be the one that 
would join NASA for LEO services on a commercial space station?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Again, I think if we look at what's going 
on on the Station today, we don't see a single user that's 
going to come in and take a majority stake in the operations on 
the Station or have a majority activity. But what we're 
starting to see for the first time is we're starting to see a 
variety of companies find benefits that they can gain by doing 
research onboard the Station.
    So the pharmaceutical companies, of which you're well 
aware, have been doing research into various drugs on Station. 
They've been using animal models and plant models to go look at 
various drug efficiencies, and some of those are having very 
interesting and positive benefits. The fact that the human 
genome changes slightly in space is also very intriguing to 
drug companies and other folks. There's some very novel new 
treatments that may come out for disease that we face that are 
coming that companies could gain revenue from.
    We're also beginning to start to see some manufacturing 
companies actually fabricate some material in space. There's 
some fiber optic material that's being manufactured today that, 
again, has the potential of being a better fiber conductor of 
optical transmissions on the Earth.
    So, again, I would say it's too early to say that there's 
any one company, any one discipline, but there are a variety of 
areas and disciplines that show promise. Our job, along with 
Commerce and others, is to figure out ways that we can enable 
that industry to continue to investigate and see through their 
entrepreneurial and their innovative understanding that they 
can generate a case to generate revenue, and then at that 
point, they can start picking up some of the burden that we 
carry in space. But, again, I think it's a slow step-wise 
process.
    Senator Nelson. Thank you for that comprehensive answer, 
and, if you would, since you have just made the case for 
extending the ISS, would you provide to the Committee examples 
of all those things that are going on that you just referenced 
for the Committee's perusal and probably the Committee's 
wanting to talk about it? Because the general public doesn't 
really understand some of the research that is quite dramatic, 
as you said, on pharmaceuticals that is going on.
    [The information referred to follows:]

    Please see the attached slides for examples of entities involved in 
the ISS National Laboratory and their research areas.

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    Senator Nelson. Since we have a vote in progress, Mr. 
Chairman, I think I'll stop right there. I thank the witnesses, 
thank them for their expertise, and I think that the purpose of 
this hearing has been accomplished.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Senator Nelson.
    We just heard the defense rest, and I will say my friend, 
Senator Matlock, would receive a directed verdict if this were, 
indeed, a courtroom.
    Senator Nelson. If you were the judge, I'm sure.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Cruz. I'm going to ask just a couple of very brief 
questions, and we're going to wrap this hearing up.
    Mr. Gerstenmaier, a minute ago, you were having a 
discussion with Senator Nelson about pharmaceutical research. 
If a billion dollar drug is created due to the research on the 
ISS, what claim would NASA have to the intellectual property, 
and what share, if any, of the revenue would NASA receive?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Again, we can--that's a pretty detailed 
answer that comes from that, and we can go look at that. We've 
been trying to look at the advantages of providing--if a 
company operates with NASA, typically, we own the intellectual 
property rights if they participate and develop something in 
our facilities. But if they put in the majority of the work, 
all the innovation comes from their side, all the creativity 
comes from their side, then they should rightfully have 
ownership. So we've been trying to look at ways that we could 
amend or clarify what our ownership of intellectual property 
right is.
    Typically, we have those rights. We typically don't ever 
grab those rights from someone that does research, but we own 
those rights. That's held some people back from doing research 
on Station, because there's a significant amount of work that 
these companies will have to invest to get that revenue. 
They're going to have to not only make the discovery on 
Station, but then they're going to have to take it through 
maybe 10 years of Federal drug agency trials to actually get a 
pharmaceutical that's on the market.
    So they'll make a significant amount of investment in that 
that is probably not appropriate for us to go capture some 
revenue from that, because they've earned that through the 
money they've put in place. So we'll work with that, and we'll 
see how that looks. But I think, in general, we would like to 
have them--if they put the revenue in, put the time in, put the 
creativity in, that's their intellectual property that they 
should be able to use.
    [The information referred to follows:]

    Answer: There are no special or different intellectual property 
requirements specifically applicable to research on the ISS. Under the 
current statutory and regulatory regime, commercial entities retain all 
commercial rights in intellectual property created through use of the 
ISS.
    NASA does not have authority to accept or retain royalties (or 
profit-share) for commercially-owned technologies even when those 
technologies are developed using government support or assets. 
Government agencies (including NASA) are only authorized to collect and 
retain royalties (as a share of sales or profits) from private entities 
only when the private entities are commercializing Government-owned 
technologies pursuant to a technology transfer license. (See 35 USC 209 
and 15 USC 3710c). Similarly, NASA is not authorized to seek or retain 
a share of profits or revenue earned by a commercial entity through 
making a commercial product on the ISS.

    Senator Cruz. So does NASA have any agreements in place for 
sharing revenue that could be utilized to lower ISS costs?
    Mr. Gerstenmaier. Not in that direct revenue sharing sense, 
no.
    Senator Cruz. Well, I think that may be ripe for further 
discussion, and I look forward to working with you on that.
    Let me just say, finally, I want to thank all of the good 
men and women that work at NASA, the incredible scientists, the 
incredible leaders, astronauts, brave men and women that are 
leading our country's space program. We are grateful for your 
service. As Chairman of this Committee, I view it as a 
responsibility that I take very seriously to stand up and fight 
for you. I know Senator Nelson views that responsibility with 
the same gravity. So I thank you both for your testimony.
    The hearing record is going to remain open for two weeks. 
During this time, senators are asked to submit any questions 
for the record, and upon receipt, the witnesses are requested 
to submit their written answers to the Committee as soon as 
possible.
    And with that, this hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 3:36 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Bill Nelson to 
                        William H. Gerstenmaier
    Question 1. Please provide examples of the types of users on ISS 
today that could eventually be paying customers of a commercial space 
station? What types of activities are these users engaged in?
    Answer. Please see the attached slides for examples of entities 
involved in the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory 
and their research areas.

    Question 2. At the hearing you discussed the new Commercial LEO 
Development program that is supposed to help NASA achieve its goal of 
being one of many users of commercial space stations. The FY 2019 
Budget provided very little information about this new program. Please 
provide a summary and a timeline of the activities the program will 
conduct.
    Answer. The primary purpose of the Commercial low-Earth orbit (LEO) 
Development program is to spur a vibrant, sustained U.S.-led, 
commercial LEO human spaceflight marketplace where NASA is one of many 
customers. The vision includes one or more privately-owned/operated 
platforms--either human-tended or permanently-crewed--together with 
transportation capabilities for crew and cargo that enable a variety of 
activities in LEO, where those platforms and capabilities are sustained 
to a greater degree than today by commercial revenue. These future 
platforms may either leverage the ISS or be free-flying. NASA must also 
communicate its forecasted needs in LEO to allow the private sector to 
anticipate that demand in their business cases. With this vision, NASA 
is able to share the cost of a LEO platform with other commercial, 
Government, and international users. In the President's FY 2019 Budget 
Request, the runout is as below:

   FY 2019--$150M

   FY 2020--$150M

   FY 2021--$175M

   FY 2022--$200M

   FY 2023--$225M

    To achieve the Commercial LEO Development program's goals, a first 
activity will be to solicit inputs from industry on the development and 
operations of private on-orbit modules and/or platforms and other 
capabilities that NASA could eventually utilize to meet its long-term 
LEO needs as one of many customers. NASA is laying the groundwork for 
2019 by working with industry in 2018 (including an industry day May 1, 
2018) and releasing small study contracts focused on understanding how 
the commercial sector can be incentivized to support NASA's LEO needs. 
Based on these initial inputs, NASA expects to then conduct a full and 
open competition for public and privately funded module(s) and/or 
platform(s) attached to the ISS or free-flying in LEO, or other 
capabilities in FY 2019.
    NASA also intends to use a portion of these funds to continue to 
stimulate non-NASA demand for LEO activities that will be needed to 
support private LEO platforms. For example, NASA has been investing--
and will continue to invest--in commercial on-orbit facilities and 
integration costs for promising research leading to sustained non-NASA 
use of LEO, such as on-orbit manufacturing. NASA has been covering 
transportation costs, which allows a variety of companies to experiment 
with different revenue-generating activities or demand for space-based 
activities. In addition, industry studies funded by this program will 
allow interested parties to specify what support they desire from NASA, 
what commercial opportunities they are pursuing, and viability of 
private industries' business cases. This could potentially include 
options such as: (a) access to a port on ISS; (b) access to NASA's 
experience and capabilities through its unique workforce with expertise 
in the design, construction, launch, operations, and/or utilization of 
orbital platforms; and (c) financial support provided through the 
Commercial LEO Development program. As a companion activity to this 
program, NASA will develop a policy that ensures that NASA or ISS 
National Laboratory activities do not compete with the capabilities 
provided by commercial LEO platforms. Ultimately, the commercial sector 
must develop the demand market. NASA and the Department of Commerce can 
create an environment that will allow commercial companies to develop 
demand. The Agency will leverage best practices from other commercial 
programs as applicable.

    Question 3. The ISS Transition Report describes in qualitative 
terms some of NASA's ongoing requirements in Low Earth Orbit. Does NASA 
plan to quantify these requirements? How are they being communicated to 
industry?
    Answer. NASA's broad long-term LEO requirements are laid out in 
Section 4.1 of the ISS Transition Report. NASA is currently working to 
develop a more detailed forecast (including quantifying where possible) 
of future LEO needs and will communicate this forecast to industry 
through public forums. An initial forecast later this summer will 
include specific types of facilities and capabilities that NASA will 
need, such as volume and interfaces for continued on-orbit testing of 
life support technologies, and research rack space. Further maturation 
of these forecasts will define estimates of crew time, upmass, and 
downmass. In order to ensure that private industry is prepared to 
provide the services and capabilities that support NASA's needs in LEO, 
NASA is proposing a step-wise transition of LEO human spaceflight 
operations from a Government-directed activity to a model where private 
industry is responsible for how to meet and execute NASA's 
requirements, as well as the needs of commercial operators. In order to 
effect a smooth transition, provide private industry with a vision of 
the future work, and allow NASA to plan and alter its activities, NASA 
is proposing that this transition of LEO human spaceflight 
responsibility to private industry will be essentially complete by 
2025. This will give NASA time to engage with industry to begin 
transforming the many NASA-directed activities that are currently 
performed through several contracts into more of a public-private 
partnership and/or services contract(s) model where NASA's current 
responsibilities are executed and managed by private industry. This 
time period will also provide the opportunity for NASA and private 
industry to engage with stakeholders and to only proceed when industry 
has matured and is capable of executing NASA's requirements.
    On May 17, 2018, NASA released a research announcement requesting 
proposals to study the future of human spaceflight commercialization in 
LEO. The research announcement solicits industry concepts detailing 
business plans and viability for habitable platforms, whether using the 
ISS or a separate free-flying structure, that would enable a space 
economy in LEO in which NASA is one of many customers. NASA will 
continue to have a need in LEO for regular crewed operations, long-term 
technology development and demonstrations, space and life sciences 
research, and opportunities for astrophysics, space, and Earth Science 
research. Access to an orbital platform on which to conduct these 
activities will be key as NASA and its commercial and international 
partners prepare for crewed missions to the Moon and beyond. NASA 
anticipates awarding multiple four-month, fixed priced contracts, not 
to exceed $1M per award. Selection is expected to take place in July 
with the final reports delivered to NASA in the December timeframe. 
Through these studies, NASA is looking forward to learning how industry 
plans to meet NASA's ongoing needs in LEO as well as develop non-NASA 
demand.
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   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Edward Markey to 
                        William H. Gerstenmaier
    Research Conducted on the ISS. Since 2005, the International Space 
Station has been a platform on which our astronauts carry out 
groundbreaking scientific research in low-Earth orbit. The ISS is the 
only microgravity research platform of its kind. This research on 
engineering, physical sciences, and biology, is absolutely necessary as 
we look to exploring our Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA has always held 
that QUOTE, ``Failure is not an option.'' However, the Administration's 
proposal to decommission the ISS in just seven years puts this pivotal 
research in jeopardy and without it, failure is inevitable.

    Question 1. Mr. Gerstenmaier, it was mentioned that six out of 20 
human health risk assessments will not be completed by the 
Administration's proposed decommission date of ISS in 2025. How can you 
guarantee that these critical assessments and other scientific research 
will continue uninterrupted in low-Earth orbit?
    Answer. The Administration is not proposing to decommission the ISS 
in seven years. The Administration is proposing to end direct Federal 
funding of the ISS by 2025. Research that has not been completed by the 
end of 2024 will be conducted on whatever platforms--whether they be 
new commercial platforms or commercially-operated ISS elements--are 
available in 2025. NASA wants to ensure there is no gap between ISS in 
its present operating model and what follows it.

    Question 2. Do you believe the private market and NASA will be able 
to support this research, including a reliable platform, by the mid-
2020s?
    Answer. Yes. NASA has been able to support this research already 
even in the absence of a robust commercial market. NASA's Commercial 
low-Earth orbit (LEO) Development effort will explore options for 
conducting human LEO operations and research beyond 2025, and encourage 
the development of viable commercial platforms and operations. In 
support of this, on May 17, 2018, NASA released a research announcement 
requesting proposals to study the future of human spaceflight 
commercialization in LEO. The research announcement solicits industry 
concepts detailing business plans and viability for habitable 
platforms, whether using the ISS or a separate free-flying structure, 
that would enable a space economy in LEO in which NASA is one of many 
customers. NASA will continue to have a need in LEO for regular crewed 
operations, long-term technology development and demonstrations, space 
and life sciences research, and opportunities for astrophysics, space, 
and Earth Science research. Access to an orbital platform on which to 
conduct these activities will be key as NASA and its commercial and 
international partners prepare for crewed missions to the Moon and 
beyond.

    Commercial Partnerships. Several of my Subcommittee colleagues and 
I are working on bipartisan commercial space legislation and one of my 
top priorities in this bill is to make it easier for smaller businesses 
to partner with NASA for use of assets and facilities in order to build 
up the commercial market. Mr. Gerstenmaier, in your testimony you state 
that ``NASA's vision for low-Earth orbit is a sustained U.S. commercial 
human spaceflight marketplace where NASA is one of many customers.''

    Question 3. What do you think are the biggest challenges and 
impediments facing small businesses in building working partnerships 
with NASA?
    Answer. Through Requests for Information (RFIs) and other 
interactions since 2014, including workshops with external stakeholders 
(most recently in August 2017), industry has identified the following 
challenges and barriers to achieving the vision of a self-sustaining 
marketplace in LEO:

   Uncertainty Concerning Future Availability and Uses of ISS/
        LEO Platforms;

   Cost of Transportation/Access;

   Government Acceptance of the Premise that Commerce has 
        Value;

   Ability of Government Astronauts to Participate in 
        Commercial Activities;

   Lack of Current Commercial Pricing Structure;

   Flexibility in Contracting and Public/Private Partnership 
        Agreement Mechanisms; and

   Recognition of Intellectual Property (IP) Rights;

   Lack of a clear demand signal from Government; and

   Threat of competition by the Government that would undercut 
        private investment.

   Foreign competition.

    Question 4. Do you think these challenges will be overcome in time 
for the proposed decommissioning of ISS in the mid-2020s?
    Answer. In order to achieve the vision of a self-sustaining 
marketplace in LEO, NASA will work together with industry to overcome 
these challenges. Some can be addressed through the development of an 
ISS commercial use policy and pricing structure for ISS services. Cost 
of transportation/access is expected to continue to be a significant 
barrier, particularly for small businesses. By setting 2025 for the end 
of direct Federal funding for ISS and releasing the RFP noted above, 
the Agency has spurred the discussion with its about how best to 
realize a commercial LEO environment and provided a time-frame for the 
resolution of the challenges.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Gary Peters to 
                        William H. Gerstenmaier
    ISS Funding Deadlines. I am concerned that setting an arbitrary 
deadline for ending direct funding to ISS increases the risk that NASA 
will lose access to low Earth orbit for a period of time. I propose 
that it would be better to make a decision to end funding based on the 
ability for commercial providers to meet NASA's needs in low Earth 
orbit.

    Question 1. What sort of capabilities will commercial providers 
need to demonstrate in the near term to give us confidence that we are 
on track toward healthy public-private partnerships in low Earth orbit?
    Answer. On May 17, 2018, NASA released a research announcement 
requesting proposals to study the future of human spaceflight 
commercialization in low-Earth orbit (LEO). This commercial LEO NASA 
Research Announcement is the next step in enabling a LEO space 
marketplace. The announcement solicits industry concepts detailing 
business plans and viability for habitable platforms, whether using the 
International Space Station (ISS) or a separate free-flying structure 
that would enable a space economy in LEO in which NASA is one of many 
customers. Via this announcement, industry is tasked to identify ways 
to stimulate demand for commercial LEO services with a goal to sustain 
the space marketplace. Additionally, the announcement seeks industry 
input about the role of Government and evolution of the ISS in the 
process of transitioning U.S. human spaceflight activities to a non-
Governmental commercial human spaceflight enterprise in LEO.
    NASA will continue to have a need in LEO for regular crewed 
operations, long-term technology development and demonstrations, and 
Earth, space and life sciences research. Access to an orbital platform 
on which to conduct these activities will be key as NASA and its 
commercial and international partners prepare for crewed missions to 
the Moon and beyond.

    Question 2. If we start planning to end funding by 2025, but it 
becomes apparent before that deadline (for example in 2022) that this 
will result in an interruption in access to low Earth orbit, would 
costs of changing plans to ensure continued access to low Earth orbit 
exceed currently planned costs in those years leading up to 2025?
    Answer. The proposal to discontinue direct Federal funding to ISS 
by 2025 represents a balance among the need to continue to conduct 
exploration-related research in LEO to prepare for deep-space missions, 
the recognition that the commercial sector is rapidly developing space 
capabilities that can support the requirements of both Governmental and 
non-Governmental customers, and the need for NASA to utilize the Moon 
as a stepping-stone to eventual human missions to Mars. NASA is laying 
the groundwork (e.g., the issuance of the RFP noted above) to ensure 
that the Agency will be able to meet its LEO requirements after the end 
of direct Federal funding to the ISS. The current budget leading up to 
2025 does not preclude continued access to LEO beyond 2025 should no 
alternate platforms become viable.

    Commercializing Low Earth Orbit. The ISS Transition report includes 
forecasts from STPI saying a commercial operator will lose a 
significant amount of money under all but the rosiest of scenarios.

    Question 3. What specific evidence can you cite that points toward 
a robust market for low Earth orbit and likely commercial success?
    Answer. While the commercial LEO market is still developing the ISS 
National Lab, managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science In 
Space (CASIS), has been a key enabler of the expanded commercial use of 
LEO. Since 2011, more than 200 ISS National Laboratory research 
projects have been flown to the ISS--ranging from developing new drug 
therapies, to monitoring tropical cyclones, to improving equipment for 
first-responders on the ground, to producing unique fiber-optics 
materials. In the last several years, at least 50 percent of the ISS 
National Lab projects were new-to-space customers, and more than 50 
percent involve commercial users (i.e., for-profit companies). CASIS 
has estimated a projected incremental revenue of more than $900 million 
directly tied to National Laboratory projects to date.
    The ISS National Lab is currently opening up the possibilities of 
the Station research environment to a diverse range of researchers, 
entrepreneurs, and innovators that could create entirely new markets in 
space. These areas include, but are not limited to the following: drug 
delivery systems; crop science; regenerative medicine; reaction 
chemistry; materials science; fluid dynamics and transport phenomena; 
on-orbit production and microgravity-enabled materials; protein crystal 
growth (also known as macromolecular crystal growth); and, Earth 
observation and remote sensing. These activities are part of a young 
portfolio of non-NASA projects that are beginning to benefit from 
increased access to the ISS as well as shorter timeframes from project 
concept to implementation on the ISS. The ISS National Lab portfolio's 
current positioning forecasts growth in the next ten years in areas 
such as cell and gene therapy, 3D bio-printing scaffolds, and aerospace 
projects using the LEO platform to raise technological readiness levels 
of next-generation LEO and beyond infrastructure systems. Additionally 
as discussed in question 1 above, the commercial LEO NASA Research 
Announcement is the next step in enabling a LEO space marketplace.
    As one example of a commercial use of ISS, NanoRacks' CubeSat 
Deployer is a stackable, modular, ground loaded launch case which is 
designed to meet the growing demand to deploy CubeSat format satellites 
from ISS for a variety of customers. As of June 2018, over 600 payloads 
have been launched to ISS via NanoRacks services for the U.S. 
Government (including NASA), commercial entities, and a variety of 
international space agencies and other organizations.
                                 ______
                                 
    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Gary Peters to 
                          Hon. Paul K. Martin
    ISS Funding Deadlines. I am concerned that setting an arbitrary 
deadline for ending direct funding to ISS increases the risk that NASA 
will lose access to low Earth orbit for a period of time. I propose 
that it would be better to make a decision to end funding based on the 
ability for commercial providers to meet NASA's needs in low Earth 
orbit.

    Question 1. What indicators in the low Earth orbit market might 
demonstrate that we are headed toward a robust commercial environment?
    Answer. The most significant indicator that a robust commercial 
environment exists in low Earth orbit is for commercial entities such 
as Goodyear, Merck or Proctor and Gamble to make significant monetary 
investments in low Earth orbit research and activity. Such an 
environment would require expansion beyond the more traditional 
investments in microgravity research and applications into broader 
commercial activities such as space tourism, satellite servicing, 
manufacturing of goods, and corporate research and development, all of 
which have yet to materialize.

    Question 2. If we start planning to end funding by 2025, but it 
becomes apparent before that deadline (for example in 2022) that this 
will result in an interruption in access to low Earth orbit, would 
costs of changing plans to ensure continued access to low Earth orbit 
exceed currently planned costs in those years leading up to 2025?
    Answer. If NASA, for example, decides in 2022 to retain and extend 
ISS operations beyond 2025, much of the added operations and 
maintenance costs will be determined by the level of investment needed 
to address aging systems and infrastructure issues as well as crew and 
cargo transportation payments to supporting companies such as Boeing, 
SpaceX and Sierra Nevada. Operations and maintenance costs are 
currently scheduled to decrease to about $1.4 billion in the three 
years prior to 2025 because NASA would not be making advance payments 
for future repair parts or cargo and crew flights. Such payments to 
contractors typically begin up to 36 months before a flight occurs. If 
additional flights are scheduled, planned annual costs in the years 
leading up to 2025 would increase to $3 to $4 billion or about half of 
NASA's annual human space flight budget.
                                 ______
                                 
             International Space Station Transition Report
                              pursuant to
  Section 303(c)(2) of the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 
                             (P.L. 115-10)
                             March 30, 2018
                           Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction

2.0 Executive Summary

3.0 Transition

4.0 Major Elements of Transition

        4.1 NASA's Long-Term LEO Requirements

        4.2 Enabling the Development of a Commercial Market in LEO

        4.3 Science and Technology Policy Institute Analysis

        4.4 Utilizing the ISS to Enable Human Exploration of the Solar 
        System

        4.5 Benefits to Humanity

        4.6 Technical Evaluation of Extending ISS Through the 2020s

        4.7 Cost Estimates of ISS extension

        4.8 Community Input

5.0 Conclusion

Appendix--Excerpt from NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 (P.L. 
115-10)
                                 ______
                                 
                           1.0: Introduction
    This report responds to direction in the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-10, 
hereafter ``the Act''), Section 303(c)(1), to submit to Congress a 
report evaluating the International Space Station (ISS) as a platform 
for research, deep space exploration, and low-Earth orbit (LEO) 
spaceflight in partnership with its four foreign space agency partners, 
and the commercial space sector (see Appendix for text of the reporting 
requirement, excerpted from the Act).
    The ISS represents an unparalleled capability in human spaceflight 
that is increasing knowledge of engineering and physical sciences, 
biology, the Earth, and the universe. This knowledge is benefiting life 
here on Earth and enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. private 
industry. The research and technology demonstrations onboard the ISS 
are not only providing the basis for extending human presence beyond 
the bounds of LEO and taking America's next steps into the proving 
ground of cislunar space, but also advancing the competitiveness of 
U.S. private industry. Building on the partnership of five space 
agencies representing the 15 ISS Intergovernmental Agreement signatory 
nations, over 101 countries and areas have utilized, or are currently 
utilizing, the ISS. Astronauts have continuously lived aboard the ISS 
for over 17 years. Approximately one-quarter of the U.S. population 
today only knows a time when Americans have lived in space.
    This report lays out NASA's activities and future plans for 
operations, research, and development in LEO. ``Transition,'' (Section 
3), as that term is used in Section 303 of the NASA Transition 
Authorization Act of 2017, discusses the LEO capabilities that the ISS 
currently provides the Nation, which include a sustained American 
presence in LEO, sustained American global space leadership, the 
continued development of a commercial space industry and a commercial 
space marketplace, the continued development of deep space exploration 
capabilities, and the continued return of research and development 
benefits to humans on Earth. ``Transition'' also discusses what NASA 
envisions the LEO landscape to look like in 2024 and beyond, as well as 
the key issues that need to be considered when contemplating ISS end-
of-life and transition to other platforms. ``Major Elements of 
Transition'' (Section 4) goes into detail on the LEO commercial 
marketplace, the ISS's role in the expansion of humanity into deep 
space, the benefits currently being returned to Earth from research on 
ISS, and an evaluation of the technical and cost implications of 
continuing to operate ISS through and beyond 2024. Section 5 provides a 
Summary.
                         2.0: Executive Summary
    The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-10) 
provided for an ISS Transition Report under section 303:

        The Administrator, in coordination with the ISS management 
        entity (as defined in section 2 of the National Aeronautics and 
        Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017), ISS 
        partners, the scientific user community, and the commercial 
        space sector, shall develop a plan to transition in a step-wise 
        approach from the current regime that relies heavily on NASA 
        sponsorship to a regime where NASA could be one of many 
        customers of a low-Earth orbit non-governmental human space 
        flight enterprise.

Uses of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Platforms
Preparing for Human Deep Space Missions
    In order to prepare for human expeditions into deep space, the 
Agency must first conduct breakthrough research and test the advanced 
technology necessary to keep crews safe and productive on long-duration 
space exploration missions. An on-orbit platform like the ISS is 
necessary to mitigate 22 of the 33 human health risks in the portfolio 
identified by NASA's Human Research Program in support of current and 
future deep space missions. NASA is also using the ISS as a testbed to 
fill critical gaps in technologies that will be needed for long-
duration deep space missions. For example, elements of the ISS life 
support and other habitation systems will be evolved into the systems 
that will be used for deep space exploration missions and undergo long-
duration testing. It is NASA's plan to first develop and demonstrate 
many critical technology capabilities using the ISS (and potentially 
other future platforms) as a permanently-crewed testbed prior to 
deploying these capabilities beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). This 
approach is much more cost-effective and faster than conducting this 
research in cislunar space because of the risks inherent in operating 
so far from the Earth.
Global Leadership in Human Spaceflight
    Consistent with the President's space policy directive, ``Lead an 
innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and 
international partners to enable human expansion across the solar 
system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities'', 
the strength of the international partnership created through the ISS 
Program is a testament to U.S. leadership in space and to the aerospace 
expertise of all the nations involved. It serves as an example of how 
many countries can work together to design, build, operate, and 
maintain large, complex human space assets. As we consider the future 
of ISS and potential successors and prepare for human missions of 
exploration into deep space, it is important to reflect on the critical 
value of the proven partnership that has made the ISS possible, and to 
consider how to build on these relationships as NASA proceeds into 
cislunar space. The ISS partner agencies are looking for leadership in 
human spaceflight and LEO from the U.S. Informally, all of the partner 
agencies have indicated that they expect to continue cooperative 
activities with NASA as long as NASA continues to maintain America's 
commitment to the partnership.
Enabling a LEO Commercial Market
    NASA's vision for LEO is a sustained U.S. commercial LEO human 
space flight marketplace where NASA is one of many customers. The 
vision includes one or more privately-owned/operated platforms--either 
human-tended or permanently-crewed--and transportation capabilities for 
crew and cargo, that enable a variety of activities in LEO, where those 
platforms and capabilities are sustained primarily by commercial 
revenue rather than relying on NASA and the U.S. Government as their 
main source of revenue as is the case today with the ISS. NASA must 
also communicate its forecasted needs in LEO to allow the private 
sector to anticipate that demand in their business cases. With this 
vision, NASA is able to share the cost of a LEO platform with other 
commercial, Government, and international users. This allows NASA to 
maximize its resources toward missions beyond LEO, while still having 
the ability to utilize LEO for its ongoing needs as described in 
Section 4.1.
    In order to enable this vision, NASA is executing several public-
private partnerships centered around the ISS to foster the development 
of customers for LEO capabilities, but also is maturing the supply 
industry to be able to meet future demands. NASA is also initiating the 
Commercial LEO Development program to further the development of 
private on-orbit capabilities beyond what is available today through 
the ISS.
    The Commercial Resupply Services (CRS), the Commercial Crew 
Program, and the ISS National Lab are key complementary enabling 
activities to enable this vision. Under the CRS contracts, NASA's two 
commercial cargo partners, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and 
Orbital ATK, have demonstrated not only the ability to provide cargo 
deliveries to ISS, but also the flexibility to recover effectively from 
mishaps. The addition of the Sierra Nevada Corporation as a third 
commercial service provider will add significant on-orbit and return 
capability. Both Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corporation have begun 
to investigate options to perform significant on-orbit operations after 
their primary cargo mission is completed. These two providers are able 
to provide an on-orbit research capability independent of ISS. NASA's 
commercial crew partners, SpaceX and the Boeing Company, are developing 
the Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, respectively. These 
companies have made significant progress toward returning crew launches 
to the U.S., and NASA anticipates having these capabilities in place by 
2019 to regularly fly astronauts safely to and from ISS. The crew and 
cargo vehicles, as well as the launch vehicles developed by these 
providers, have the potential to support future commercial enterprises 
as well as ISS.
    The Center for the Advancement of Science In Space (CASIS) manages 
the activities of the ISS National Laboratory to increase the 
utilization of the ISS by other Federal entities and the private 
sector. CASIS works to ensure that the Station's unique capabilities 
are available to the broadest possible cross-section of U.S. 
scientific, technological, and industrial communities. The ISS National 
Laboratory is helping to establish and demonstrate the market for 
research, technology demonstration, and other activities in LEO beyond 
the requirements of NASA. Commercial implementation partners are now 
bringing their own customers to the ISS through the National Lab as 
well.
Benefitting Humanity
    Across a range of disciplines and applications, research on a 
crewed space platform ultimately benefits people on Earth. In the 
physical and biological sciences arena, a LEO space platform can allow 
researchers to use microgravity conditions to understand the effect of 
the microgravity environment on microbial systems, fluid physics, 
combustion science, and materials processing, as well as environmental 
control and fire safety technologies. Technologies developed for use in 
space, such as water purification technologies, can have applications 
on Earth. Crewed platforms can also be the site of sensors that provide 
data used to support activities such as disaster relief.
ISS Transition
ISS Transition Principles
    There are several key principles to any strategy or decision to be 
made regarding the ISS and the future of LEO and NASA's role as one of 
many customers of services or capabilities that are provided by private 
industry as part of a broader commercial market. The following 
principles will ensure uninterrupted access to LEO capabilities to 
enable NASA and the Nation's long-term interest in LEO and human 
spaceflight exploration including supporting National security 
objectives, such as a competitive industrial base and U.S. leadership:

   Continuity among NASA's LEO, deep space exploration, and 
        development and research activities and missions toward 
        expanding human presence into the solar system;

   Expanding U.S. human spaceflight leadership in LEO and deep 
        space exploration, including continuity of the relationship 
        with our current ISS international partners;

   Increase platform options in LEO to enable more ISS 
        transition pathways, security through redundant capabilities, 
        and industrial capability that can support NASA's deep space 
        exploration needs;

   Spur vibrant commercial activity in LEO;

   Maintaining critical human spaceflight knowledge and 
        expertise within the Government in areas such as astronaut 
        health and performance, life support, safety, and critical 
        operational ground and crew experience;

   Continuing to return benefits to humanity through 
        Government-sponsored basic and applied on-orbit research;

   Continuing Government-sponsored access to LEO research 
        facilities that enable other Government agencies, academia, and 
        private industry to increase U.S. industrial competitiveness 
        and provide goods and services to U.S. citizens; and

   Continuing to reduce the Government's long-term costs 
        through private industry partnerships and competitive 
        acquisition strategies.
ISS Transition Strategy
    As part of a cohesive exploration strategy, NASA intends to begin 
shifting responsibility for meeting its needs and requirements in LEO 
by leveraging private industry capacity, innovation, and 
competitiveness that would offer the prospect of lower cost to the 
Government to enable NASA to apply more personnel and budget resources 
on expanding human spaceflight beyond LEO and enhancing U.S. leadership 
in human spaceflight around the world. Among the benefits beyond the 
prospect of lower operational costs for a LEO platform, shifting focus 
to industry can additionally reduce the infrastructure burden on NASA 
has already been demonstrated at NASA facilities at Kennedy Space 
Center, Johnson Space Center, Stennis Space Center, and the Michoud 
Assembly Facility.
    In order to ensure that private industry is prepared to provide the 
services and capabilities that support NASA's needs in LEO, as outlined 
in the key principles above, and to enable private industry to develop 
markets and customers beyond the Government, NASA is proposing the 
following approach:

  1.  Begin a step-wise transition of LEO human space flight operations 
        from a Government-directed activity to a model where private 
        industry is responsible for how to meet and execute NASA's 
        requirements. Consistent with the ISS Transition Principles, 
        this does not mean NASA is ``commercializing the ISS.'' 
        Instead, NASA maintains leadership and governing 
        responsibilities as outlined in the Partnership agreements, and 
        continues to maintain the essential elements of human 
        spaceflight such as astronaut safety and the high-risk 
        exploration systems.

      In order to effect a smooth transition, provide private industry 
        with a vision of the future work, and allow NASA to plan and 
        alter its activities, NASA is proposing that this transition 
        LEO human space flight responsibility to private industry be 
        essentially complete by 2025. This will give NASA time to 
        engage with industry to begin transforming the many NASA-
        directed activities that are currently performed through 
        several contracts into more of a public-private partnership 
        and/or services contract(s) model where NASA's current 
        responsibilities are executed and managed by private industry. 
        This time period will also provide the opportunity for NASA and 
        private industry to engage with stakeholders and to only 
        proceed when industry has matured and is capable of executing 
        NASA's requirements. The transition of ISS will ensure that 
        there are private companies with the experience and expertise 
        to operate various types of platforms in LEO by the mid-2020s. 
        This transition to private industry must be done in a cost-
        effective manner and not exceed current operational costs.

      Consistent with the ISS Transition Principles, NASA will continue 
        discussions with the ISS International Partners to help shape 
        the long-term future of LEO.

  2.  Solicit information from industry on the development and 
        operations of private on-orbit modules and/or platforms and 
        other capabilities that NASA could utilize to meet its long-
        term LEO requirements that are consistent with the ISS 
        Transition Principles. The scope of the solicitation may 
        include risk reduction development activities, or modules or 
        elements that could either be attached to the ISS or be free-
        flying. The solicitation may also include private industry 
        conducted studies on the future of the ISS platform that may be 
        combined with private industry objectives in LEO.

      NASA will begin with a solicitation in FY 2018 to gather broad 
        industry input on interest in meeting NASA's long-term needs 
        and objectives that should lead to multiple awards in FY 2019 
        funded out of the Commercial LEO Development program.

    Throughout this approach, NASA will also be requesting market 
analysis and business plans from private industry in order to gauge the 
depth of possible commercial markets as they apply to industry's 
ability to meet NASA's needs and requirements with a base where NASA is 
only one of many customers. This approach is also dependent on NASA 
identifying our long-term requirements for LEO, which are highlighted 
in Section 4.1.
ISS Considerations and the Eventual Future of the ISS Platform
    From a structural integrity analysis standpoint, the ISS platform 
is expected to have significant structural life well beyond 2028 (based 
on the current assessment period). Many of the ISS modules, 
particularly the modules launched in the later years of ISS assembly, 
are likely to have structural life well into the 2030s (see section 
4.4). Although it is thus likely technically feasible to continue to 
operate the ISS well beyond 2028, it is also necessary to consider the 
costs of operating this complex facility as we have been doing 
(approximately $1.1 billion per year for O&M in the outyears) as we 
consider the future of the ISS platform.
    NASA's international partners are likely to have different levels 
of interest in continuing the ISS and in moving to new LEO programs. 
There are common themes across the partnership, however, in considering 
the future of ISS and exploration, such as:

   Reducing operational costs;

   Offering frequent visible national astronaut opportunities;

   Continuation and continuity of research and technology 
        development activities;

   Balancing LEO and exploration;

   Maturation of commercial opportunities.

    The eventual future of the ISS, whether it is transitioning the 
operations of the ISS platform to private industry through the use of 
public-private partnerships, augmenting it with privately developed 
modules, combining portions of the ISS with a new private platform, or 
beginning anew with a free-flying platform and de-orbiting the ISS, 
will be evaluated using the ISS Transition Principles.
Fast Forwarding to the mid-2020s
    Continuing with current policies, including the Commercial LEO 
Development program, NASA can project what the LEO landscape may look 
like in the mid-2020s. In predicting the LEO landscape, areas that have 
a high degree of certainty include maintaining our strong global 
leadership position with the continuation of the ISS through 2024, 
validating commercial cargo and crew transportation costs, and 
completing the majority of NASA exploration-related human and systems 
research and demonstration. Other nations will have deployed their own 
space station(s). Examples of areas that will have a lower degree of 
certainty include whether or not private industry capabilities have 
matured enough to satisfy NASA's needs and requirements, and whether or 
not a viable commercial market has matured in LEO that is not dependent 
on Government support. The Commercial LEO Development program, along 
with expanded ISS public-private partnerships, is targeted to address 
these uncertainties.
NASA's long-term LEO requirements
    NASA and the U.S. have a long history of human spaceflight 
leadership and LEO research and technology development that go all the 
way back to the Mercury program through Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, the 
Space Shuttle, and the ISS.
    Regardless of the eventual fate of the ISS platform itself, NASA is 
expecting to maintain U.S. leadership in LEO and human spaceflight 
through lunar exploration and eventually to Mars consistent with the 
ISS Transition Principles. Within that context, NASA is planning to 
continue with the following LEO needs and objectives beyond the life of 
ISS:

   Maintaining the Partnership with our current ISS 
        international partners and possibly adding new international 
        and domestic participants;

   Regular LEO crewed operations, including short and long 
        durations:

     Enables operational space proficiency;

     Shift from human health and performance 
            countermeasures development (the ISS portion of which is 
            expected to be complete by 2024) to validations of 
            integrated long-duration system, habitation, operations, 
            and crew isolation;

   Long-term technology/systems development and demonstrations 
        (e.g., life support);

   Space life and physical sciences basic and applied research 
        at current level and capabilities;

   National Laboratory-based research and technology 
        development;

   Opportunities for astrophysics, space, and Earth Science 
        research.

    These long-term requirements, while similar to that of the current 
ISS Program, could be met with various types of modules or platforms 
that do not necessitate a vehicle (or vehicles) as complex as the ISS. 
Many of the research activities could be conducted on shorter-duration 
platforms, similar to the Shuttle, or even crew-tended platforms. These 
requirements are expanded upon in Section 4.1.
Conclusion
    NASA believes that this is a well-balanced approach where the 
Agency's and other U.S. Government interests are protected and enhanced 
while offering the prospect of lower cost to the Government and opening 
new markets and new business models to the U.S. industrial base. This 
approach will also lay the foundation where NASA could be one of many 
customers in a LEO commercial marketplace and provides the basis for 
determining the long term future of the ISS Platform and LEO along with 
the ISS International Partners.
    NASA looks forward to working with Congressional stakeholders along 
with researchers, private industry, and our ISS International Partners 
on the future of the ISS and LEO, to ensure that the U.S. maintains our 
human spaceflight leadership in LEO while shifting Government resources 
and focus towards expanding human presence into the solar system and 
returning benefits to U.S. taxpayers.
                            3.0: Transition
    On November 2, 2017, NASA marked 17 years of continuous United 
States human presence in LEO onboard the ISS. The Station has enabled 
the U.S. to solidify its global space and innovation leadership across 
multiple capabilities and policy objectives. In determining where the 
U.S. wants to position itself in the mid-2020s, there are several key 
principles to any strategy or decision regarding the ISS and the future 
of LEO and NASA's role as one of many customers of services or 
capabilities that are provided by private industry as part of a broader 
commercial market. Adhering to the following principles in considering 
ISS transition will ensure uninterrupted access to LEO capabilities for 
NASA and the Nation's long-term interests in LEO and human spaceflight 
exploration. National interests include supporting national security 
objectives of maintaining a competitive industrial base and U.S. 
leadership.

   Continuity between NASA's LEO, deep space exploration, and 
        development and research activities and missions to expand 
        human presence into the solar system;

    Rationale: Continuity provides a key stabilizing factor in 
        Government and industry due to the multi-decadal nature of 
        spaceflight. Instability in policy and programmatics can result 
        in misdirected efforts and funding and decreased capability and 
        investment from Government, industry, and international 
        partners.

   Expanding U.S. human spaceflight leadership in LEO and deep 
        space exploration, including continuity of the relationship 
        with our current ISS international partners;

    Rationale: U.S. leadership in exploration and human spaceflight is 
        based on the foundation of the ISS international partnership 
        that has matured over 20 years. Expanding international 
        partnerships will ensure that the U.S. continues its global 
        leadership into the future.

   Increase platform options in LEO to enable more ISS 
        transition pathways, security through redundant capabilities, 
        and industrial capability that can support NASA's deep space 
        exploration needs;

    Rationale: Creating multiple dissimilar suppliers is a key element 
        of fostering a commercial market and is also one of the key 
        elements of securing the capabilities to needed to meet the 
        long-term needs of NASA and the U.S. in LEO.

   Spur vibrant commercial activity in LEO;

    Rationale: A vibrant commercial activity in LEO is essential to the 
        goal of NASA becoming one of many customers in LEO. It is also 
        key to lowering the cost of access to the Government and to 
        other customers.

   Maintaining critical human spaceflight knowledge and 
        expertise within the Government in areas such as astronaut 
        health and performance, life support, safety, and critical 
        operational ground and crew experience;

    Rationale: The knowledge and expertise to expand human missions 
        into deep space for long durations is required to be maintained 
        over many years as well as many programs and missions that are 
        inherently Government-led and -executed. This is due to the 
        unique NASA mission of expanding human presence into the solar 
        system.

   Continuing to return benefits to humanity through 
        Government-sponsored basic and applied on-orbit research;

    Rationale: Continuing NASA's portfolio in basic and applied 
        research is a natural extension of the knowledge and expertise 
        that the U.S. has developed in space over the past half 
        century.

   Continuing Government-sponsored access to LEO research 
        facilities that enable other Government agencies, academia, and 
        private industry to increase U.S. industrial competitiveness 
        and provide goods and services to U.S. citizens;

    Rationale: With the creation of the ISS National Lab in 2010, the 
        U.S. has taken the lead in enabling private industry and other 
        Government agencies (such as NIH and NSF) to conduct research 
        and technology development activities in LEO. These activities, 
        though in its beginning stages, are producing results that 
        could directly benefit the competitiveness of U.S. industry and 
        quality of life for U.S. taxpayers. Continuing the National Lab 
        and NASA's support will continue to be critical to the success 
        of private industry and other Government agencies' research 
        activities.

   Continuing to reduce the Government's long-term costs 
        through private industry partnerships and competitive 
        acquisition strategies.

    Rationale: As industry becomes more capable in executing NASA's 
        mission independently, NASA should leverage the competitiveness 
        and efficiencies of private industry to realize cost 
        reductions. Broad-based industry investments and capabilities 
        also enhance the industrial capacity security of the U.S. to 
        carry out not only NASA's missions but broader National goals.
Fast Forwarding to the mid-2020s
    Continuing with current policies, NASA can project what the LEO 
landscape in the mid-2020s may look like. Some areas that can be 
projected with some confidence include:

   Americans have maintained a continuous presence on the ISS 
        for over 24 years;

   NASA continues to lead a strong international ISS 
        partnership;

   Commercial crew transportation to the ISS is operational, 
        and has enabled the permanent addition of a 4th U.S. On-orbit 
        Segment (USOS) crew member;

   Commercial cargo and crew transportation costs to ISS have 
        been validated over several years;

   NASA is conducting human missions in cislunar space using a 
        deep space capability such as the Lunar Orbital Platform-
        Gateway;

   NASA has completed the majority of exploration-related human 
        research, life support, and other system demonstrations which 
        are ready for incorporation into missions beyond cislunar 
        space, including preparations for crewed orbital flights to 
        Mars;

   Other nations are operating their own LEO space stations, 
        possibly in partnership with other nations (including some of 
        the ISS Partner nations), and potentially offering subsidized 
        services.

    Some areas that can be projected with less certainty include:

   How successful the Commercial LEO Development program has 
        been in reducing the barriers to alternative approaches to 
        support government and commercial LEO activities;

   Whether or not private industry users, have built self-
        sustaining business cases that include integration, 
        transportation, and execution of their research or technology 
        development for LEO capabilities;

   Whether or not other Government organizations, like the 
        National Institutes of Health (NIH), have established long-term 
        requirements for conducting research in LEO and have allocated 
        funds to pay for overhead costs;

   Whether or not independent commercial market activities in 
        LEO (e.g., tourism, activities supporting the satellite sector, 
        manufacturing products and services for use in space and on 
        Earth, research and development, and media advertising and 
        education) have been established;

   Whether or not ISS is a hub of the growing space economy, 
        providing infrastructure services for a broad spectrum of 
        Government, commercial, and academic users and serving as one 
        of multiple consumers of LEO launch, on-orbit, and return 
        services;

   Whether NASA has been able to reduce the cost of operating 
        the ISS.
ISS Transition Strategy
    Given the above ISS Transition Principles and the projected state 
of LEO in the mid-2020s, NASA intends to implement a transition 
strategy that builds upon the strengths of the projected U.S. position 
in LEO, and to mitigate the uncertainties. NASA intends to begin 
shifting responsibility for meeting its needs and requirements in LEO 
to the private sector by leveraging private industry capacity, 
innovation, and competitiveness. This will offer the prospect of lower 
cost to the Government to enable NASA to apply more personnel and 
budget resources on expanding human spaceflight beyond LEO and 
expanding U.S. leadership in human spaceflight around the world. Among 
the benefits beyond the prospect of lower operational costs for a LEO 
platform, shifting focus to industry can additionally reduce the 
infrastructure burden on NASA as already demonstrated at NASA 
facilities at KSC, JSC, Stennis, and MAF.
    In order to ensure that private industry is prepared to provide the 
services and capabilities that support NASA's needs in LEO, as outlined 
in the key principles above, and to enable private industry to develop 
markets and customers beyond the Government, NASA is proposing the 
following approach:

  1.  Begin a step-wise transition of ISS operations from a Government-
        directed activity to a model where private industry is 
        responsible for planning how to meet and execute NASA's 
        requirements. Consistent with the ISS Transition Principles, 
        this does not mean NASA is ``commercializing the ISS.'' 
        Instead, NASA maintains leadership and governing 
        responsibilities as outlined in the Partnership agreements, and 
        continues to maintain the essential elements of human 
        spaceflight such as astronaut safety and the high-risk 
        exploration systems.

      In order to incentivize private industry and to effect the 
        transformation of NASA's responsibilities, NASA is proposing 
        that this transition of ISS execution responsibility to private 
        industry be essentially complete by 2025. This will give NASA 
        time to engage with industry to begin transforming the many 
        NASA-directed activities that are currently performed through 
        several contracts into more of a public-private partnership 
        model where NASA's current responsibilities are executed and 
        managed by private industry. This time period will also provide 
        ample opportunity for NASA and private industry to engage with 
        stakeholders and to only proceed when industry has matured and 
        is capable of the responsibility to execute NASA's 
        requirements. The transition of ISS will ensure that there are 
        private companies with the experience and expertise to operate 
        platforms in LEO by the mid-2020s.

      In FY 2018 NASA will begin to develop this strategy.

      Also, in FY 2018 NASA intends to solicit inputs from private 
        industry regarding interest in planning and executing the day-
        to-day ISS operations.

      Consultations with the ISS partners and stakeholders are 
        essential to developing an implementation strategy that could 
        result in the day-to-day execution of the ISS being performed 
        by private industry by 2025.

      Additionally, in support of enabling further development of 
        commercial market-driven activities onboard the ISS and its 
        commercial cargo and crew systems, NASA is developing a 
        commercial use policy for ISS resources including crew time, 
        up-and down-mass, and crew rotation opportunities. This policy 
        addresses private activities, such as tourism, private 
        professional astronauts, marketing, and advertising that are 
        outside the scope of the National Laboratory statutory 
        activities such as education and research activities, and where 
        there are legal, policy, regulatory or contractual gaps in 
        NASA's ability to participate in such activities, even only as 
        part of a transitional role to enable a LEO marketplace. A 
        draft of this policy will be provided to our International 
        Partners and also be made available for industry comment in FY 
        2018.

      Consistent with the ISS Transition Principles, NASA will continue 
        discussions with the ISS International Partners to help shape 
        the future of the ISS platform and LEO after 2024.

  2.  Solicit information from industry on the development and 
        operations of private on-orbit modules and/or platforms and 
        other capabilities that NASA could utilize to meet its long-
        term LEO requirements that are consistent with the ISS 
        Transition Principles. NASA will begin with a solicitation in 
        FY 2018 to gather broad input on industry interest in meeting 
        NASA's long-term needs and requirements that could lead to one 
        or more awards in FY 2019 funded by the Commercial LEO 
        Development program. The scope of the solicitation will include 
        modules or elements that could either be attached to the ISS or 
        be free-flying. The solicitation will offer funded and non-
        funded opportunities as well as asking what Government services 
        or capabilities industry is interested in. The solicitation 
        will also request inputs on the relative merits of Government-
        provided funds vs. no funding. The result of this solicitation 
        could result in NASA purchasing services and/or capabilities in 
        the mid-2020s.

    Throughout this approach, NASA will also be requesting market 
analysis and business plans from private industry in order to gauge the 
depth of possible commercial markets as they apply to industry's 
ability to meet NASA's and other customers' needs and objectives with a 
base where NASA is only one of many customers. This approach is also 
dependent on NASA identifying our long-term requirements for LEO; which 
are highlighted in Section 4.1.
Additional Transition Activities
    There are additional activities that NASA plans to execute in the 
near future that expand the enabling of a LEO commercial market, enable 
increased international cooperation beyond the current Partnership 
activities, help define a broader Government role in the development of 
a commercial market in LEO, and expand the role of other Government 
agencies in utilizing the ISS and other platforms in their research and 
development activities. Some of the activities include:
Enabling a LEO Commercial Market
        Allowing private industry use of ISS resources and crew and 
        cargo transportation for commercial for-profit activities - 
        Offering on a competitive basis spare ISS resources, including 
        crew time, commercial crew seats on NASA missions, cargo 
        transportation, and other resources for commercial for-profit 
        activities. NASA is currently developing a commercial use 
        policy for ISS resources including crew time, up-and down-mass, 
        and crew rotation opportunities. This policy will address 
        private activities that are outside the scope of the National 
        Laboratory statutory activities such as educational and 
        research activities. A draft of this policy will be provided 
        for industry comment following consultation with 
        intergovernmental stakeholders and ISS International Partners.
Global Leadership

   Offering targeted crew opportunities to foreign nationals - 
        Based on broader national foreign policy objectives, invite 
        targeted non-ISS Partner countries to join ISS missions in LEO 
        on a one-time basis or long-term strategic basis. In accordance 
        with the IGA and MOUs, NASA could offer existing seat 
        opportunities aboard commercial crew transportation vehicles 
        already on contract with NASA or expand the ISS crew for short 
        durations. NASA would work to ensure that any such activities 
        do not undercut any U.S. commercially-offered services.

   Offering targeted research and utilization opportunities to 
        foreign countries beyond the ISS Partners - In accordance with 
        the IGA and MOUs, NASA could offer additional opportunities to 
        targeted non-ISS Partner countries that would benefit U.S. 
        strategic scientific and technology leadership in many 
        disciplines. These opportunities could be realized on the ISS 
        or on new commercial platforms.

   Building on the existing ISS partnership as a stepping stone 
        to human space flight activities beyond LEO - Under strong U.S. 
        leadership, the resiliency of the international partnership, 
        involving the harmonization and effective integration of over a 
        dozen different political systems, budgetary mechanisms, and 
        cultural, management, and industrial approaches, has laid the 
        foundation for exploring beyond LEO. It demonstrates every day 
        how numerous countries can work together to design, build, 
        safely operate, and maintain large, complex space systems. As 
        we consider the future of ISS and prepare for human missions of 
        exploration into deep space, it is important to reflect on the 
        critical value of the proven partnership that has made the ISS 
        possible, and to consider how to build on these relationships. 
        The ISS partner agencies depend on the U.S. to lead in human 
        spaceflight, both in LEO and beyond.
Government Role in the Development of a LEO Commercial Market
    With the objective of a sustained U.S. commercial LEO marketplace 
where NASA is one of many customers, NASA is executing a broad effort 
to address the policy and regulatory environment, development of 
capable private industry suppliers, and development of a demand for LEO 
services across broad areas of the economy. A main part of this effort 
will be successful execution of Commercial LEO Development program 
activities with private industry, which will focus on enabling, 
developing, and deploying commercial orbital platforms. This effort is 
expanded upon in Section 4.1. Working across Government agencies is 
among the efforts that NASA is pursuing.

   Participate in a multi-agency working group among NASA, the 
        Department of Transportation, and the Department of Commerce, 
        and others to identify specific actions or legislation that 
        would further the development of a commercial market in LEO - 
        The development of a commercial market has not been a 
        traditional NASA policy objective. Though NASA for many years 
        has supported the National aerospace industrial base, it is not 
        well-equipped in the policy and regulatory fields that are the 
        responsibility of other Government agencies. As the development 
        of a commercial market in LEO is a long-term national goal, 
        NASA recommends that a multi-agency working group be formed to 
        address the policy, rules and regulations, and legislative 
        actions that would be necessary to enable a market in LEO. 
        Participation in such a multi-agency activity has also been 
        endorsed by the National Space Council in March 2018:

        At the request of the Vice President, the Acting Administrator 
        of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Robert 
        Lightfoot agreed to work with the Secretaries of State, 
        Commerce, and other interested members to develop a strategy 
        for how we can further enable cooperation with our 
        international and private industry partners to continue to 
        develop the infrastructure and policies necessary to spur 
        economic growth in space. This strategy will be reported out at 
        the fall council meeting.
Expanding the Role of Government Agencies in LEO Research and 
        Utilization

   Initiate a government wide policy to access research needs 
        for LEO platforms like the ISS across agencies such as NSF, 
        NIH, NIST and others. The assessment could be conducted in 
        cooperation with the National Academies as NASA currently does 
        - LEO platforms like ISS offer unique on-orbit science and 
        technology development capabilities that can benefit 
        Government-wide research beyond the NASA mission.

    The National Lab, through CASIS, is working with other Government 
        agencies to conduct research onboard the ISS that is based on 
        limited objectives. Several of their experiments are already 
        onboard the ISS, and more are planned. However, if the Nation 
        is intent on funding the capability to perform research in LEO 
        for many years to come, it would be prudent to initiate a 
        broader Government activity to establish long-term Government 
        research that would benefit the Nation.
ISS Considerations and the Eventual Future of the ISS Platform
    Clarity regarding plans for the ISS and exploration would be 
beneficial for NASA's ISS International Partners as well. There are 
common themes across the partnership in considering the future of ISS 
and exploration, such as:

   Reducing operational costs;

   Offering frequent visible national astronaut opportunities;

   Continuation and continuity of research and technology 
        development activities;

   Balancing LEO and exploration;

   Maturation of commercial opportunities.

    The eventual future of the ISS, whether it is transitioning the 
operations of the ISS platform to private industry, augmenting it with 
privately developed modules, combining portions of the ISS with a new 
private platform, or deploying a new free-flying platform and de-
orbiting the ISS, should be evaluated against such considerations as:

   Whether alternative platforms for conducting necessary NASA 
        research and technology development are available;

   The cost of continuing ISS and the cost of enabling the 
        development of new capabilities that could meet NASA's long-
        term LEO needs and the needs of others;

   The interest among NASA's International Partners to extend, 
        change, or terminate the existing ISS Partnership;

   NASA's strategic human spaceflight leadership;

   The potential for different management approaches for the 
        ISS to reduce its operating costs;

   Changes to the current assessment of the technical 
        feasibility of extending the platform beyond 2024;

   The demand outside of NASA in private industry and other 
        Government agencies for LEO research and technology development 
        capabilities;

   The amount of time required for ISS maintenance vs. research 
        time; and

   The ability to add additional international participants, 
        including distributing costs among a wider base.

    From a structural integrity analysis standpoint, the ISS platform 
has significant structural life well beyond 2028 (based on the current 
assessment period). Many of the ISS modules, particularly the modules 
launched in the later years of ISS assembly, are likely to have 
structural life well into the 2030s (see section 4.4).
    These considerations should also be taken into account within the 
broader national policy questions concerning the importance of an 
ongoing U.S. human presence in LEO, the foreign policy value of 
international collaboration in space exploration, and the role of the 
U.S. Government in that ongoing presence.
    NASA believes that with the transition approach and near-term 
activities outlined here, the U.S. will be well positioned in the mid-
2020s to continue to be the global leader in human spaceflight, space 
research and technology development, and will continue to expand 
commercial markets that directly benefits the U.S.
    This approach will put in place the necessary private industry and 
Government capabilities and activities that will allow for the ISS 
Transition Principles to be continued to be met through a smooth and 
uninterrupted process and to facilitate a graceful and predictable 
logical end to the ISS on-orbit platform in the future.
                   4.0: Major Elements of Transition
    The following sections highlight several of the major elements of 
ISS Transition that shape current ISS operations and utilization, as 
well as the ISS Partnership, and the future of the ISS and LEO.
                 4.1: NASA's Long-Term LEO Requirements
    Consistent with the ISS Transition Principles, NASA's exploration 
strategy and the U.S. Government's obligation under the International 
Partner agreements, NASA has developed the following long-term LEO 
requirements that are meant to be part of a broader commercial market 
in LEO where NASA is one of many customers.
Expanding our International Partnerships
    With the expectation that NASA will leverage the ISS International 
Partnerships to expand the U.S. leadership in space from LEO to the 
Moon and eventually to Mars, it is vital that NASA continue to meet 
U.S. obligations under the ISS agreements. Additionally, given the 
expected geopolitical environment in LEO in the mid-2020s, and to 
expand the U.S. leadership position beyond the current ISS 
International Partners, NASA intends to support relationships with 
other space agencies and/or nations that share NASA's goals in LEO and 
exploration.
Regular LEO Crewed Operations, Including Short and Long Durations
    It will remain vital to NASA's mission of exploration and discovery 
to continue regular crew rotations and operations in LEO. The demands 
and risks associated with deep space travel will require seasoned and 
experienced crews who are proficient in the rigors of human spaceflight 
as well as the operational experience of critical dynamic flight 
operations such as launches, vehicle proximity operations, docking, and 
extra-vehicular activity. LEO provides the only cost-effective and 
viable environment to gain the experience necessary to send crews into 
deep space.
    Additionally, NASA crews can be available to conduct research 
activities that are consistent with their exploration mission. It is 
expected that research could also be conducted by private or other 
Government agency professional astronauts in the future.
Human Health and Habitation System Integrated Performance and 
        Validation
    Human health and performance risks during spaceflight derive from 
five primary stressors: Altered Gravity, Hostile/Closed Environment, 
Isolation and Confinement, Radiation, and Distance From Earth. The 
impacts of these individual stressors on health and performance vary 
with both mission and vehicle design.
    Many years of health and performance monitoring coupled with 
dedicated research facilities and crew participation in LEO research 
experiments, especially aboard the Space Shuttle, Mir Station, and more 
recently ISS, have significantly improved our understanding of and 
ability to mitigate the risks associated with Altered Gravity and 
Hostile/Closed Environment.
    As currently planned onboard the ISS, NASA expects to conclude its 
Altered Gravity and Hostile/Closed Environment research and 
countermeasures development by 2024. In addition, NASA also expects to 
complete its long-duration habitation system/technology demonstrations 
by 2024 onboard the ISS including the life support system, 
environmental monitoring, and other systems.
    The other three individual stressors, Isolation and Confinement, 
Radiation, and Distance From Earth, will be very different from our 
current experience on ISS than during exploration missions, especially 
those beyond the Earth-Moon system. Combining the elements of 
spacecraft design and life support systems, with the expected time 
delay in communications on deep space missions, along with isolation 
and confinement of an actual on-orbit flight simulation is an essential 
element for validating countermeasures and integrated system/vehicle 
performance during long-duration deep space missions. Ideally, these 
simulations of up to a year in length would be conducted in deep space 
to also include the effects of radiation as well. However, it may be 
prudent from an access and overall integrated LEO and exploration 
strategy to begin these simulations in LEO where access is more readily 
available. These simulations can also be combined with other NASA 
requirements as described in this section.
Long-Term Technology/System Development and Demonstrations
    In order to continue to be able to operate long-duration deep space 
systems that are reliable and functional on missions of one-to-three 
years in duration, NASA will require that the technology and systems 
that support human health and performance are ``life'' tested and have 
the ability to evolve in a real-life test bed environment. This testbed 
environment is ideally suited for LEO and longer-duration crew 
rotations. The human-related systems such as life support and 
environmental monitoring will always remain critical to the NASA 
exploration mission as it is key to human spaceflight.
Space Life and Physical Sciences Basic and Applied Research at Current 
        Levels and Capabilities
    NASA will continue to require access to a LEO platform to enable 
exploration and to pioneer scientific discovery for and with other 
Government agencies, commercial companies, and international partners. 
NASA will continue to focus research in the highest value areas as 
guided by the National Academy of Sciences' Decadal Survey and NASA 
exploration program needs. These areas include research in plant and 
microbial biology, animal and human biology, fundamental physics 
research, cryogenics and heat transfer, combustion research, and 
applied materials research, among others.
    The knowledge gained and the researchers trained through this 
effort will help develop the future commercial workforce and be the 
foundation of future generations of space technologies, as NASA expands 
human presence in space and uses this understanding of the behavior of 
biological and physical systems in space to expand human capabilities.
National Laboratory-Based Research and Technology Development
    Just as other national laboratories, such as those run by the 
Department of Energy, have provided ongoing essential science and 
technology research assets to the nation, an ongoing microgravity 
national laboratory capability is needed for use by other Government 
agencies and academia. Some specific examples are:

   The Department of Defense programmatic expansion of life 
        sciences research, development for Regenerative Medicine and 
        Living Foundries, and activities to advance technology 
        readiness levels for advanced materials, advanced 
        manufacturing, and laser communication initiatives.

   The National Institutes of Health biomedical research 
        focused on human physiology and disease such as recently-
        sponsored ``tissue chips'' (or ``organs-on-chips''), that will 
        help scientists develop and advance novel technologies to 
        improve human health. Additional discussions with other NIH 
        institutes and centers include the National Cancer Institute 
        (NCI), the National Institute of Aging (NIA), the National 
        Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 
        (NIAMS), and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and 
        Bioengineering (NIBIB).

   The National Science Foundation's research in the physical 
        sciences and biomedical systems.

    These and other Government agencies, as well as academic 
institutions, have broadened their engagement in microgravity research 
and applications, and are expected to have continued needs for a LEO 
research platform going forward.
Opportunities for Astrophysics, Space, and Earth Science Research.
    The infrastructure for maintaining human presence in LEO for longer 
durations is well-suited to accommodating some investigations in the 
fields of astrophysics, space and Earth sciences. The power, heat 
rejection, communication, and scale of platforms that can accommodate 
humans can also accommodate exterior payloads with compatible 
requirements, given appropriate forethought in attachment sites and 
available payload services such as power and communication. This 
approach has been used now for several years onboard the ISS. This 
approach is also being applied to the Gateway in cislunar space.
Conclusion
    In this post-2025 timeframe, these long-term requirements, while 
similar to that of the current ISS Program, could be met with various 
types of modules or platforms that do not necessitate a vehicle (or 
vehicles) as complex as the ISS. Many of the research activities could 
be conducted on shorter-duration platforms, similar to the Shuttle, or 
even crew-tended platforms.
      4.2: Enabling the Development of a Commercial Market in LEO
    NASA's vision for LEO is a sustained U.S. commercial LEO human 
space flight marketplace where NASA is one of many customers. The 
vision includes one or more privately-owned/operated platforms--either 
human-tended or permanently-crewed--and transportation capabilities for 
crew and cargo, that enable a variety of activities in LEO, where those 
platforms and capabilities are sustained primarily by commercial 
revenue rather than relying on NASA and the U.S. Government as their 
main source of revenue as is the case today with the ISS. NASA must 
also communicate its forecasted needs in LEO to allow the private 
sector to anticipate that demand in their business cases. With this 
vision, NASA is able to share the cost of a LEO platform with other 
commercial, Government, and international users. This allows NASA to 
maximize its resources toward missions beyond LEO, while still having 
the ability to utilize LEO for its ongoing needs as described in 
Section 4.1.
    Since 2014, NASA has identified specific goals and initiated key 
activities to help enable the vision for a sustained LEO human space 
flight marketplace. This plan has evolved as the landscape has changed, 
informed by the challenges and progress highlighted above.

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    Initiatives are organized into three main goal areas--policy, 
enabling commercial supply, and enabling demand.
Policy and Regulatory Environment
    NASA will continue to support the National Space Council's 
commercial space cross-agency planning. Although other Government 
agencies are utilizing the ISS National Lab to an increasing extent, 
NASA would like to facilitate a multi-agency decadal planning 
initiative for LEO research to further support future LEO platforms 
from Government users besides NASA. NASA will continue to assess 
marketplace needs to help facilitate the ability of companies to 
conduct business. Executing the transition planning for the ISS, along 
with instituting new commercial activities on the ISS, is important to 
provide expanded opportunities and certainty for companies proposing 
new commercial activities.
Self-Sustaining Supply of Commercial LEO Services
    The development of a healthy commercial supplier base for LEO 
activities is critical to NASA's plans. Today, the ISS is already 
enabling commercial cargo and crew transportation that industry is 
working to make more cost-effective in the future. Through initiatives 
such as the Research, Engineering, and Mission Integrated Services 
(REMIS) contract, NASA is transitioning from historically NASA-provided 
services for tasks such as payload integration to purchasing those 
services from a wide variety of commercial suppliers (see Section 4.2.1 
for more on REMIS). NASA intends to continue to expand these types of 
commercial interactions, utilizing more commercial acquisition 
strategies, and enabling greater commercial use of ISS by offering its 
unique capabilities while providing Earth-similar laboratory 
capabilities that ultimately can be transitioned to other platforms. As 
a first step in enabling Earth-similar laboratory capabilities on ISS, 
NASA has provided state-of-the-art, real-time analytical capabilities, 
such as quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR), utilized 
standard laboratory processing techniques, and enabled the crew to 
operate as partners through real-time space-to-ground discussions with 
the researchers. NASA and CASIS have identified a candidate list of 
additional hardware and data capabilities including:

   Automated cell-culture hardware with commercial off-the-
        shelf microfluidic systems;

   Cell-culture hardware with embedded sensors capable of 
        providing information on cell physiology and health status, 
        metabolic flux, or electrophysiological output;

   Expanded capabilities for rodent research;

   Expanded capabilities for additive manufacturing, tissue 
        engineering, and biofabrication;

   CubeLab capabilities, including heating and accommodation of 
        chemical reactions;

   Multi-material 3D printing facility, dedicated metal casting 
        facility, and computer-controlled milling capability;

   Self-contained, plug-and-play, remotely-operated printed 
        circuit board and electronics facility enabling in-space 
        manufacturing of conductive materials, biologic material, 
        functional electronic components, sensors, and circuits.

    The final initiative in the supply category is to facilitate new 
commercial LEO platforms and services and transition NASA's needs in 
LEO to those services once available. In 2016, NASA issued an RFI and 
received interest in utilizing available ISS ports and other unique 
capabilities for commercial activities from multiple companies. Since 
then, the Agency has been assessing the policy, programmatic, and 
technical impacts of implementing a commercial module on the ISS. 
Currently, NASA is planning to solicit input from industry for 
capabilities and services in LEO that could meet NASA's needs as one of 
many customers. This could include a module on the ISS, free-flyers, or 
other related capabilities.
Demand from Broad Sectors of the Economy
    The final and most critical goal area relates to the development of 
commercial markets and demand for LEO activities beyond the more 
``traditional'' microgravity research and applications, into broad 
sectors of the economy. Unless this demand is expanded, future private 
LEO platforms will likely not be viable without significant ongoing 
Government support. It is necessary to maximize the value and impact of 
the ISS today to allow users to explore new microgravity applications 
and test markets, and communicate those success stories to stimulate 
broader interest in LEO from non-traditional space users. Finally, NASA 
must communicate its forecasted future needs for LEO (described in 
Section 4.1) so that private companies can incorporate expected NASA 
demand into their business cases.
                   4.2.1: The Current LEO Environment
    The following section will examine: (1) the current commercial LEO 
landscape; (2) the challenges and barriers to enabling greater 
commercial utilization and markets in LEO; (3) the potential commercial 
LEO markets; and (4) the Commercial LEO Development program.
(1)  The Current Commercial LEO Environment
    Today, NASA is supporting the development of a commercial space 
economy in LEO through public-private partnerships to include 
contracts, and other agreements centered around the ISS platform. Total 
launches to the ISS equate to 14 percent of the worldwide commercial 
launch market, with NASA's commercial cargo launches representing 5 
percent of total launches.\1\ NASA's commercial crew partners, SpaceX 
and Boeing, have made significant progress toward returning crew 
launches to the United States by 2019. NASA's commercial cargo 
partners, Orbital ATK and SpaceX, continue to provide reliable and 
increasingly timely cargo deliveries to ISS, and the Sierra Nevada 
Corporation has been added to the fleet under the Commercial Resupply 
Services-2 (CRS-2) contract. Some of these launch vehicles are now 
being used for non-NASA customers, and the crew and cargo spacecraft 
have the potential to support future commercial enterprises as well.
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    \1\ FAA Commercial Space Transportation Forecast, https://
www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/reports_studies/
forecasts/
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    When NASA initiated the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services 
(COTS) effort, the Agency was in need of U.S. cargo transportation 
systems for the ISS and the United States had lost almost all of the 
global market for commercial launch services. COTS successfully 
addressed both of these issues. NASA is currently purchasing commercial 
cargo transportation services to and from the ISS and NASA's commercial 
partners' cost-competitive launch systems have allowed the United 
States to regain global commercial launch leadership. Since 2005, the 
year NASA began working with its partners, the U.S. share of the 
commercial launch market has grown from 9 percent in 2006 to 52 percent 
in 2016 and continues to increase today. Enabling commercial cargo and 
payload launch services development through the public-private COTS 
partnership and the CRS contracts proved to be a benefit to NASA, with 
both companies--Orbital ATK and SpaceX--financing the majority of their 
development costs. During the COTS partnership, NASA contributed $396 
million toward development of SpaceX's commercial cargo transportation 
systems (Dragon spacecraft and Falcon rocket), while SpaceX estimates 
contributing approximately $450 million. Likewise, NASA contributed 
$288 million towards the development of Orbital ATK's (then Orbital 
Sciences) system (Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rocket), while Orbital 
ATK estimates their company contribution to be approximately $500 
million. The COTS effort proved to be cost effective for NASA when 
compared to traditional development approaches. NASA compared SpaceX's 
Falcon 9 launch vehicle development costs using the estimated costs of 
a traditional cost-reimbursement contract versus the COTS milestone-
based effort. NASA's models predicted that Falcon 9 development would 
cost the Government multiple times more using a cost-reimbursement 
acquisition. SpaceX has indicated that their Falcon 9 development costs 
were approximately $300 million.
    In addition to the cargo and crew transportation initiatives, NASA 
is leveraging the ISS to enable other commercial capabilities. As the 
demand for space research and development projects increases, numerous 
commercial companies are developing, operating, and maintaining their 
own commercial payload facilities on the ISS. These organizations 
operate their facilities internally and externally on Station and 
provide users with more choices to address unique research needs; they 
are the pathfinders for a marketplace in LEO. Many of these 
organizations have used their own resources to invest in on-orbit 
research and development facilities, reducing the risk for the Federal 
sector to develop these facilities and services. These companies find 
customers through CASIS and their own business development efforts to 
enable the research and development for customers CASIS has developed. 
When these companies are able to provide capabilities that meet NASA 
needs, the Agency may contract with them as one of potentially many 
customers utilizing their unique services. Currently, a number of 
companies are providing services on-orbit, including BioServe, Made In 
Space, NanoRacks, Space Tango, TechShot, and Teledyne Brown 
Engineering.
    Through the ISS Research, Engineering, Mission and Integration 
Services (REMIS) contract, NASA has begun to transition from a model 
where NASA provides its own payload integration, engineering 
development, and sustaining services to one where those services can be 
purchased from one of many commercial providers through a competitive 
process. This contract was developed to allow companies to slowly take 
over historically governmental functions in a step-wise manner using 
their commercial approaches to doing business. By allowing industry to 
take over these functions, companies will develop more efficient 
approaches that will be cheaper and further reduce the costs of doing 
business in space.
    The ISS National Lab, managed by CASIS, has been a key enabler of 
the expanded commercial use of LEO. Since 2011, more than 200 ISS 
National Laboratory research projects have been flown to the ISS--
ranging from developing new drug therapies, to monitoring tropical 
cyclones, to improving equipment for first-responders on the ground, to 
producing unique fiber-optics materials. In the last several years, at 
least 50 percent of the ISS National Lab projects were new-to-space 
customers, and more than 50 percent involve commercial users (i.e., 
for-profit companies). The ISS National Lab is currently opening up the 
possibilities of the Station research environment to a diverse range of 
researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators that could create entirely 
new markets in space. These areas include, but are not limited to, drug 
delivery systems, crop science, regenerative medicine, reaction 
chemistry, materials science, fluid dynamics and transport phenomena, 
on-orbit production and microgravity-enabled materials, protein crystal 
growth (also known as macromolecular crystal growth), Earth 
observation, and remote sensing. These activities are part of a young 
portfolio of non-NASA projects that are beginning to benefit from 
increased access to the ISS as well as shorter timeframes from project 
concept to implementation on the ISS. The ISS National Lab portfolio's 
current positioning forecasts growth in the next ten years in areas 
such as cell and gene therapy, 3D bio-printing scaffolds, and aerospace 
projects using the LEO platform to raise technological readiness levels 
of next-generation LEO and beyond infrastructure systems.
    CASIS has developed a successful sponsored-program model that 
attracts third-party funding from private industry and other Government 
agencies to solve significant problems or address target challenges. 
Successful sponsored programs include those by Boeing/Mass Challenge, 
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, NSF fluid dynamics and combustion, 
and NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) 
Tissue Chips in Space program. The significance of this model is the 
shift from 100 percent NASA-funded projects to an ability to attract 
third-party funding. Time is needed for the private sector to develop 
and grow new markets and opportunities in LEO using the ISS and to be 
willing to invest greater amounts of capital into such efforts.
    These initiatives represent great progress toward enabling a 
commercial space economy around LEO; however, today the non-NASA market 
demand is not able to offset the costs without significant Government 
support. The next sections will discuss the ongoing challenges and 
projected commercial market landscape.
(2) Challenges
    Through Requests for Information (RFIs) and other interactions 
since 2014, including workshops with external stakeholders (most 
recently in August 2017), industry has identified the following 
challenges and barriers to achieving the vision of a self-sustaining 
marketplace in LEO:
Uncertainty Concerning Future Availability and Uses of ISS/LEO 
        Platforms
    Industry needs a clear statement of U.S. policy and commitment 
regarding the creation and support of an economy in LEO. Industry wants 
to understand what NASA's transition plan is for ISS and LEO beyond 
2024. Companies need concrete assurances that they can plan activities 
in LEO beyond the ISS program, and that the U.S. Government is 
committed to being involved in a commercial replacement, including 
whether it is as a regulator and customer, or other role.
Cost of Transportation/Access
    Today, the $1.7 billion annual cost of transportation to the ISS 
represents over half of the total ISS budget. NASA's current policy of 
providing transportation for all payloads has been a significant 
incentive to attract new users to the platform. It is uncertain whether 
these and future users would be able to afford their own access costs. 
The U.S. commercial launch providers are continuing initiatives to 
lower costs through innovations including reuse of components; however, 
launch costs continue to be substantial. Access to affordable and 
reliable transportation also has broader implications, such as ability 
to operate and manage any such ISS/LEO platforms.
Government Acceptance of the Premise that Commerce has Value
    ISS activities shouldn't be limited to only those activities that 
are considered the ``best and highest'' uses of the ISS National 
Laboratory. U.S. companies seek authorization to brand, advertise, 
promote tourism, and manufacture commercial products on government 
platforms like the ISS that otherwise have little intrinsic value from 
a national perspective. In the view of U.S. industry, commercial 
companies should be able to conduct business on ISS as long as those 
activities are safe, legal, and ethical. There also needs to be a 
discussion with the ISS International Partners on the implications of 
broadened use in order to ensure consensus and effective 
implementation. This is being addressed in the development of the ISS 
commercial use policy.
Ability of Government Astronauts to Participate in Commercial 
        Activities
    Appropriated funds limitations, absence of statutory promotion 
authority and Federal ethics rules affect the ability of Government 
employees to participate in certain commercial activities being sought 
by companies, especially where endorsement or advertising are involved. 
This limits the types of activities that can be performed and some 
private revenue-generating activities. NASA has received expressions of 
interest to enable these types of activities as a means to an end for 
development of a commercial LEO marketplace.
Lack of Current Commercial Pricing Structure
    In order to transition to a more commercial model where commercial 
users pay for transportation and other services, NASA must develop a 
pricing structure for ISS services that does not exist today.
Flexibility in Contracting and Public/Private Partnership Agreement 
        Mechanisms
    Industry sees funded Space Act Agreements and other non-Federal 
Acquisition Regulation agreement mechanisms as preferred options for 
stimulating a new commercial space capability and would like NASA to 
expand their use as part of any LEO commercialization efforts.
Recognition of Intellectual Property (IP) Rights
    NASA and the Department of Energy are the two principal Federal 
agencies that, pursuant to statute, take title to contractor inventions 
made in performance of their duties under their contract (including 
recipients of cooperative agreements, like CASIS, and grants) [51 
U.S.C. Sec. 20135]. Today, this title-taking requirement is seen as a 
barrier to private industry seeking to participate with NASA in 
research and development activities on the ISS National Lab because 
NASA takes title to any inventions made by such entities in the course 
of work funded by NASA.
    In 2017 NASA improved the ability of private industry to retain 
title to their inventions. NASA granted a patent waiver (i.e., a 
``Class Waiver'') that allows commercial institutions with user 
agreements to retain title to their inventions. Specifically, the 
waiver applies to CASIS' user agreements with commercial institutions 
that: (1) receive access to the ISS National Lab under CASIS' 
cooperative agreement with NASA, but (d) do not receive any NASA funds 
from CASIS under the user agreement. This change is reflected in the 
patent rights clause in CASIS' cooperative agreement. NASA also 
ensured, through the data rights clause, that parties to user 
agreements receive unlimited rights to data produced under the 
agreement and need only share such data with the Government and CASIS 
in limited situations. It is anticipated that the patent waiver and 
revised data rights clause will spur greater interest in performing 
privately-funded research and development work on the ISS National Lab.
    In addition to NASA's grant of the ``Class Waiver,'' the Agency has 
also sought a legislative proposal that would further maximize the 
intellectual property rights retained by ISS National Laboratory users. 
Although users may retain title to their inventions under the recently 
approved ``Class Waiver,'' the Government is still required under the 
Space Act to retain a license in such inventions for Government 
purposes. Therefore, while the U.S. Government purpose license does not 
permit any transfer of the inventions to commercial entities for 
commercial purposes, it continues to be identified by industry as a 
barrier to commercial research and development because of a fear that 
the license could result in their competitors gaining access to their 
sensitive and/or proprietary information. The proposed legislation 
would exempt in totality inventions arising from use of the ISS 
National Laboratory from NASA's title taking authority under the Space 
Act. ISS National Laboratory users would thus have immediate and full 
ownership of their inventions without NASA and other Federal agencies 
utilizing those commercial inventions for their own programs and 
activities. NASA supports this legislative proposal as a means to 
facilitate greater use of ISS National Laboratory and LEO 
commercialization.
(3) Potential markets
    As non-NASA utilization of the ISS National Lab and interest in LEO 
continues to expand, some initial assessments of potential revenue-
producing activities have been conducted by CASIS, NASA, and the 
Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI--see Section 4.3). Based 
on these preliminary assessments, the potential activities that could 
generate revenue for a crew-tended or permanently-crewed platform in 
LEO can generally be summarized in the following categories:

   Human habitats as a destination for private space flight 
        participants, including Government-sponsored astronauts from 
        the United States and other Partner or non-Partner nations;

   Activities supporting the satellite sector, such as on-orbit 
        assembly of satellites;

   Manufacturing products and services for use in space and on 
        Earth;

   Research and development, testing, and Earth observation;

   Media, advertising, and education.

    Estimates for revenues from these activities vary widely depending 
on many assumptions--operating costs of the platform, revenue models, 
magnitude of forecasted demand, future transportation costs--making it 
difficult to make projections as to the viability of these or other 
potential markets that might emerge.
    These types of assessments will continue to be updated as markets 
and assumptions mature over time. Though NASA is seeing an increase in 
new users that suggests a promising trend, today's projections conclude 
that it is unlikely that these activities will have matured to the 
point where they can sustain a private platform and their own 
transportation costs to LEO by 2024 without significant ongoing 
Government support.
(4) The Commercial LEO Development Program
    Through the proposed Commercial LEO Development program, NASA will 
support commercial partner development of capabilities that the private 
sector and NASA can use. Efforts will focus on enabling, developing, 
and deploying commercial orbital platforms and user demand 
capabilities, with a goal towards ensuring that the U.S. has access to 
an orbital platform on which to conduct research and develop new 
technologies.
    To achieve the Commercial LEO Development program's goals, its 
initial activities may include studies on the transition of ISS and 
other platforms in LEO, risk reduction activities to begin the 
development of capabilities that could satisfy NASA's needs in LEO, or 
the development of private platforms or modules attached to the ISS or 
free-flying in LEO. $150M has been requested in FY2019 for these 
activities. This mechanism will allow interested parties to specify 
what support they desire from NASA, what commercial opportunities they 
are pursuing, and viability of private industries business case. This 
could potentially include options such as: (a) access to a port on ISS; 
(b) access to NASA's experience and capabilities through its unique 
workforce with expertise in the design, construction, launch, 
operations, and/or utilization of orbital platforms; and (c) financial 
support provided through the Commercial LEO Development program. As a 
companion activity to this program, NASA will develop a policy that 
ensures that NASA or ISS National Laboratory activities do not compete 
with the capabilities provided by commercial LEO platforms. In the 
longer term, activities currently supported by NASA and the ISS 
National Laboratory could be fully transitioned onto these new 
platforms once available. The Commercial LEO Development program will 
allow private industry to experiment with commercial activities and 
demonstrate the viability of commercial human spaceflight activities.
    The Commercial LEO Development program will advance the Nation's 
goals in LEO and exploration by furthering development and maturity of 
the commercial space market to enable private industry to assume roles 
that have been traditionally Government-only, and to potentially 
realize cost savings to the Government by leveraging private industry 
innovation and commercial market incentives.
         4.3: Science and Technology Policy Institute Analysis
    An initial assessment was conducted in 2017.
    The Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI), under the 
direction of OSTP, conducted an initial assessment in 2017 of the 
viability of a private LEO platform. An executive summary of the full 
report (``Market Analysis of a Privately Owned and Operated Space 
Station,'' by Keith W. Crane, Benjamin A. Corbin, Bhavya Lal, Reina S. 
Buenconsejo, Danielle Piskorz, Annalisa L. Weigel, February 2018) 
follows:

    The Administration has set the goal of transitioning the 
International Space Station (ISS) to a model where NASA is one of many 
customers of a non-governmental enterprise that owns and operates a 
human-tended space station in low Earth orbit (LEO). This transition 
poses important questions about continued U.S. human presence in LEO. 
Is the private sector likely to take over and run ISS on a commercial 
basis? Or will governments, including that of the United States, 
continue to be the primary owners, operators, and customers for space 
stations? The purpose of this evaluation is to determine whether a 
future (i.e., 2025 and beyond) private space station could generate 
sufficient revenues from a variety of possible activities to cover the 
operations and capital costs of such an endeavor.
Methodology
    We assumed that a private space station would be wholly owned and 
operated by private parties who would decide the station's 
capabilities, the markets it would serve, and the prices it would 
charge for its services. We identified revenue-generating activities, 
envisioning the station as an industrial park in space where entities 
rent parts of the station for their activities. We then generated 
``high'' and ``low'' estimates of revenues that the space station could 
earn by leasing space or providing services in support of these 
activities, corresponding to different sets of revenue-driving 
assumptions, although neither should be considered a strict lower or 
upper bound. We generated these estimates using inputs from interviews 
with over 70 experts, by examining current ISS activities, and by 
drawing on other sources to determine likely market size in order to 
develop separate cost methodologies for each posited activity.
    The analysis has had to incorporate a number of cost assumptions 
for the 2025 and beyond timeframe. Some of the most critical of these 
are: cost of launching an astronaut, about $20 million; encapsulated 
cargo, about $20,000 per kilogram (kg); and propellant transport, 
$5,000 per kg. These represent considerable savings over market prices 
when research for this project was conducted, between May and October 
2016.
Potential Private Space Station Activities and Revenue Streams
    STPI identified 21 separate types of activities that could generate 
revenues on a private LEO space station. These fell into five broad 
categories: (1) Habitats for space flight participants or government 
astronauts, (2) activities supporting the satellite sector, especially 
on-orbit assembly of satellites, (3) manufacturing products and 
services for use in space and on Earth, (4) research and development 
(R&D), testing, and Earth observation, and (5) Media, advertising, and 
education.
    The ``low'' estimate for total annualized revenues from activities 
conducted on a space station is about $460 million, and the ``high'' 
estimate is roughly $1.2 billion. Manufacturing in space is the largest 
contributor to overall revenues, accounting for nearly 35 percent of 
the ``high'' estimate and more than half of the ``low''. Potentially 
profitable manufacturing of exotic optical fibers drive these revenues. 
Revenue from satellite support is 30 percent of total revenues in the 
``high'' estimate.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The large difference between the ``high'' and ``low'' estimates 
reflects the highly tentative nature of the cost estimates. Our 
methodology ruled out products and services such as growing human 
organs in space that we believe are more than a decade away from 
reality. Other challenges make our projections particularly uncertain, 
such as competition from other nations, new technology developments 
that negate the need for production in microgravity, and uncertain 
market growth patterns. While the projections are per force 
speculative, they do provide empirically-based assessments of almost 
all of the activities that have been discussed as potential revenue 
sources for a privately owned and operated space station.
Private Space Station Potential Costs and Net Profits
    We next examined general types of space station configurations to 
determine ones that might best generate revenues. We developed cost 
estimates for a station constructed from ISS-heritage modules and one 
constructed from expandable modules. We also used a publicly available 
estimate of the costs of a Skylab-like station as a benchmark. There 
are three elements in the breakdown of the annual cost estimate: (1) 
the costs of designing and constructing the station (amortized over 10 
years), (2) costs of operations, and (3) costs to the station owner of 
transporting their astronaut employees to and from the station and 
resupplying them. Given the lack of consensus among our interviewees, 
we generated a low and a high estimate for operations costs.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Neither estimate of annual revenues covers the estimate of 
annualized costs for the expensive benchmark station. Out of the four 
boundary scenarios, only in the high-revenue low-cost estimate would 
the station be profitable, as shown in the diagram below. Venture 
capitalists interviewed for the project noted that the projections of 
revenues and costs are so uncertain that they would have little 
interest in financing a space station until projected revenues show 
signs of actually materializing.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    A sensitivity analysis on the results showed launch costs to be the 
major driver of both revenues and costs. If launch costs were cut in 
half, either as a result of a technology breakthrough or a government 
subsidy, the estimates of revenues for the low-cost station would 
increase by 23 to 53 percent, for the ``high''- and ``low'' scenarios, 
respectively, and costs would decrease by 16 percent. If the government 
subsidizes launch costs entirely, revenues for a low-cost private space 
station would go up by 46 to 106 percent, for the ``high''- and ``low'' 
scenarios, respectively, and costs would decrease by 33 percent.
Federal Government Participation in the Private Space Station Market
    The Federal Government may wish to plan in advance about how it 
would engage in the emergence of a private space station or space 
stations, to potentially reduce market, financing, regulatory, policy, 
and technology risks to operators and their investors. Options that 
could be used separately or together to assemble a strategy for 
government participation include:

   Early stage investment through a public-private partnership: 
        A private space station is inherently risky. The U.S. 
        Government can participate as an investor in a public-private 
        partnership with a space station owner and operator to ensure 
        that the project comes to fruition and also to influence the 
        design of the station to ensure that it fills NASA's needs. The 
        private partners need not be commercial entities; they could be 
        a non-profit consortium of universities or other organizations 
        with the ability to raise private funds.

   Advance purchase or lease agreements: Through advance 
        purchase agreements and advance long-term lease agreements for 
        a private space station, the U.S. Government could provide an 
        early customer commitment to secure a guarantee-of-service at 
        more favorable conditions than purchases at market prices after 
        the station is completed. These policy instruments shift the 
        outlays of expenditures closer to the time of delivery of the 
        product or service than would a direct investment in the 
        station.

   Direct purchases of space station services: The U.S. 
        Government could choose to wait until a space station is 
        completed and operating, then rent space for R&D or purchase 
        other services provided by the station as needed. At that point 
        in time, purchases of services would be at market prices that 
        would likely be higher than prices provided for advance 
        purchases. Services may also be subject to availability 
        constraints; however, purchases on these conditions would offer 
        the government flexibility, as the government would have made 
        no commitment in advance to purchase services.
 4.4: Utilizing The ISS to Enable Human Exploration of the Solar System
    Through its Exploration Campaign, NASA will lead an innovative and 
sustainable program of human and robotic exploration with commercial 
and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar 
system, and to bring new knowledge and opportunities back to Earth. 
Beginning with missions beyond LEO, the U.S. will lead the return of 
humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed 
by human missions to Mars and other destinations. The delivery and 
return of astronauts and cargo to and from ISS is measured in hours, 
but any journey to Mars will take many months each way, and early 
return is not an option. Deep space crewed missions will not have 
regular access to the Earth's resources or the ability to rapidly 
return to Earth if a system fails. This is an entirely different 
operating regime, not just for physical access but also for 
communications with Earth-based teams. Astronauts in deep space must be 
more self-reliant and spacecraft systems and operations must be more 
automated to operate safely. Habitation systems must become more 
efficient and more reliable for safe, healthy, and sustainable human 
exploration. Furthermore, crews must be protected from the unique 
hazardous environments of deep space. Some deep space systems may have 
to remain dormant for years in preparation for crew, and must remain in 
operational order. Overcoming these challenges will be essential for 
deep space exploration.
    The Agency has developed a phased approach for deep space 
exploration, starting with ISS and progressing to cislunar space, the 
lunar surface, then to Mars and beyond. NASA is already well underway 
in executing this approach. Aboard the ISS, NASA and its partners are 
conducting targeted research to improve understanding of how humans 
adapt and function during long-duration space travel. Current and 
planned risk-reducing investigations include bone and muscle loss 
studies, understanding the effects of intracranial pressure changes and 
fluid shifts, monitoring immune function and cardiovascular health, 
conducting nutritional studies, and validating exercise protocols. With 
these studies, NASA explores the physiology of the human body, 
preparing for long-duration spaceflight and supporting development of 
terrestrial drugs and therapeutic practices. NASA and its partners' 
activities on the ISS are achieving key milestones and enabling an 
expansion to early pioneering missions in cislunar space.
    On ISS over the coming years, NASA will also demonstrate many of 
the capabilities needed to maintain a healthy and productive crew in 
deep space. Currently manifested or planned experiments and 
demonstrations include improved long-duration life support, improved 
environmental monitoring technologies, advanced fire safety equipment, 
next-generation spacesuit technologies, advanced avionics and autonomy, 
high-data-rate communications and precision navigation, in-space 
additive manufacturing, advanced exercise and medical equipment, and 
radiation monitoring and shielding.
    Specific systems and capabilities under development on ISS include:

    Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) and 
Environmental Monitoring Leveraging the ISS, NASA is focused on 
demonstrating advanced capabilities for robust and reliable ECLSS, 
which must operate for up to 1,100 days with minimal spares and 
consumables. Water and oxygen for human exploration in deep space will 
need to be launched with the crew, recycled from the spacecraft's 
atmosphere and astronauts' waste, or made using the resources of the 
destination--such as water ice on Mars. Missions into deep space will 
not have Station's resupply capability, so improvements to recycling 
processes and technologies are needed to fly long-duration missions. 
The Station's current system recycles about 90 percent of the water and 
about 47 percent of the oxygen in the spacecraft while disposing of the 
crew's solid waste and the briny liquid waste left over from recycling. 
Regular resupply missions to the orbiting outpost supplement the 
unrecovered water and oxygen and provide replacement components for 
those that fail on the system.
    To reach a water recovery goal of 98 percent, for example (in 
comparison with ISS' current recovery capability of approximately 90 
percent), NASA will test new technology to reclaim additional water 
from the urine brine and process for reuse. NASA is also planning 
upgrades to improve the water recovery system reliability and reduce 
maintenance, including an improved catalyst for the water processing 
assembly.
    To reach a goal of greater than 75 percent recycled oxygen for deep 
space missions, NASA is investigating methods that involve the reaction 
of hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce solid carbon and water, or 
acetylene and water. These candidate technologies go beyond the current 
system on the Station that reacts carbon dioxide and hydrogen to 
produce methane and water, and would increase oxygen recovery to 
between 75 and 100 percent. The resulting water is split into 
breathable oxygen for the crew by the oxygen generation system, and the 
hydrogen is recycled back to react with more carbon dioxide.
    Methods to manage and reduce metabolic and non-metabolic solid 
waste will also be demonstrated on ISS. A new Universal Waste 
Management System (UWMS) will be added to the current Russian commode. 
Technologies to compact, stabilize, and recover useful resources from 
trash, methods to repurpose logistical packing materials such as cargo 
bags and foam, and a simple laundry system will also be demonstrated.
    Over the next five years, NASA will install a series of exploration 
ECLSS demonstrations on ISS, culminating in an integrated demonstration 
of an exploration ECLSS system on the Station for two to three years to 
prove reliability. Additionally, ISS will conduct demonstrations of 
Environmental Monitoring systems that detect potentially hazardous 
materials in the atmosphere and water as well as combustion products. 
This will enable a transition away from sample return to fully on-orbit 
environmental monitoring.

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Communications and Navigation
    Currently, Mars robotic rovers have data rates around two million 
bits per second, using a relay, such as the Mars Reconnaissance 
Orbiter. Transmission from the ISS is two orders of magnitude faster, 
at a rate of 300 million bits per second. Future human Mars missions 
may need up to a billion bits per second at a range many times greater 
than the distance to ISS, requiring laser-based communications, in 
addition to radio, to reduce weight and power. In addition, disruption 
and error-tolerant interplanetary networking and improved navigation 
capabilities are required to ensure accurate trajectories and precision 
landing. The Neutron-star Interior Composition Explorer/Station 
Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (NICER/SEXTANT), 
installed on ISS in June 2017, is one such capability that will enable 
improved navigation. It will test--for the first time in space--
technology that relies on pulsars as navigational beacons. The 
technique may eventually guide human exploration to the distant reaches 
of the solar system and beyond. Additional details on communications 
and navigation technology will be included in the Space Communications 
plan (called for in Section 304(a) of the NASA Transition Authorization 
Act of 2017) to be provided to Congress in spring of 2018.
Advanced Avionics, Software, and Autonomy
    In order to support extended human exploration to the Moon and 
beyond, a more integrated and autonomous vehicle will be needed, 
requiring more advanced avionics (computers, memory, networking, and 
software). As these systems and associated architecture are developed, 
systems will be flown on ISS to test and verify the capabilities in 
space. The advanced avionics will also be used to connect other new 
systems (e.g., ECLSS, or power), such as the Lunar Gateway and future 
interplanetary vehicles.
    Future vehicles will need to operate with no crew and limited 
ground control. To achieve this, more comprehensive and advanced 
autonomous systems, including vehicle health monitoring and 
reconfiguration, need to be developed and tested. The ISS will serve as 
a testbed for these systems. Initially, new autonomous system 
technology is being tested using existing ISS computers. As these 
advanced avionics architectures and systems are developed, the enhanced 
computing capability will be used to test and verify more advanced 
autonomous operations. In addition, the crew will need more advanced 
tools to assist them, such as planning assistants and augmented reality 
for troubleshooting and maintenance. As these are being developed, they 
will be tested on ISS to ensure they provide the astronauts with the 
required capabilities. Early versions of some of these tools are being 
tested on ISS now; this will grow in number and complexity as NASA 
develops more comprehensive or diverse tools and some of these will 
require the advanced avionics.
Exploration Extravehicular Activity
    Human explorers will require deep space exploration Extravehicular 
Activity (EVA) suits for use in cislunar space and beyond. Such suits 
must be available to provide for exploration of deep space destinations 
and environments, and for contingency EVAs in transit. The environments 
and logistics demand a different design solution than met by the 
current flight suit. New EVA systems must supply basic biological needs 
during spacewalks, provide protection from hostile environments, and 
enable comfort, flexibility, and dexterity to support human exploration 
and investigation of new worlds. Advanced space suit design, 
manufacture, and operation must address a wide range of considerations 
NASA has identified in recent years. For example, advanced space suits 
will operate at higher suit pressures to reduce EVA prebreathe and risk 
of decompression sickness. Filling consumables at higher pressures 
reduces the need to return exploration suits to Earth for servicing 
after contingency events have drained secondary oxygen tanks. High 
pressure oxygen generation systems will be demonstrated on ISS to 
address this requirement. Near-term planned EVA technology 
demonstrations on ISS include testing to advance the technology 
readiness level of the Solid Water Membrane Evaporation (SWME) system 
to provide cooling for the next-generation spacesuit. More details on 
the challenges associated with EVA in deep space environments and 
NASA's planned EVA capability development efforts can be found in the 
Advanced Suit Capability Plan provided to Congress in June 2017.
Fire Safety
    Whether traveling through interplanetary space or on the surface of 
another planet, the habitat must detect and stop a fire while 
protecting the crew, and sustaining only minimal, if any, damage. 
Current systems onboard ISS rely upon large carbon dioxide suppressant 
tanks and have no fire cleanup capability other than depressurizing and 
re-pressurizing the cabin atmosphere. Deep space exploration systems 
require a unified fire safety approach that works across small and 
large architecture elements.
    Early detection is key to protecting the crew and vehicle. The ISS 
uses smoke detectors to spot the presence of any potential fire-
initiated problems. Advanced smoke detectors--about the size of a small 
tissue box--are under development for NASA's Orion spacecraft and 
eventual deep space habitats. They will be placed in the vehicle's 
ventilation system and if a fire is detected, the spacecraft's fire 
suppression systems will extinguish it. Additionally, a non-toxic 
portable fire extinguisher is being developed and tested on ISS to 
provide additional fire suppression capability.
    The real danger to astronauts is not necessarily fire itself but 
the gases produced during combustion, including carbon monoxide, carbon 
dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrogen chloride. 
NASA is developing a filtering cartridge dubbed the ``smoke-eater'' to 
neutralize and remove these compounds. The smoke-eater will be used in 
the spacecraft's atmospheric cleanup system, and a smaller version will 
be used in an emergency crew mask that contains its own air supply. 
Demonstrations of the unit will occur during the Spacecraft Fire 
Experiment (SAFFIRE) series of investigations that NASA has been 
executing aboard Orbital ATK's Cygnus vehicles after they depart the 
ISS. Through these experiments, NASA will gather valuable data on how 
combustion gas and fire dangers spread in a spacecraft and how the 
vehicle's detection, suppression, and cleanup technologies respond. 
Computer models will be developed from that data, enabling prediction 
of how the fire will propagate in a spacecraft and how the cleanup will 
go.
Crew Health and Performance
    Long-duration exploration-class human missions, including Mars-
duration missions of up to 1,100 days, introduce new and increased 
concerns for human safety, health, and performance. NASA is conducting 
scientific research needed to supply the evidence base for both 
technological and operational countermeasures to best address these 
risks. Human research on ISS includes assessments of devices, 
consumables/logistics, and operational procedures for the use of these 
capabilities in a representative microgravity environment in order to 
supply appropriate solutions to meet the health, safety, and 
performance challenges of long-duration exploration class missions. 
Technological and operational interventions and countermeasures that 
mitigate risk for long duration, exploration class missions include 
those which (i) optimize adaptation of the individual and crew to the 
space environment, and maintain emotional well-being, motivation, 
social cohesion, communication, morale, and productivity; (ii) support 
prevention, monitoring, diagnosis, treatment, and long term management 
of crew in-flight health conditions; including those induced or 
exacerbated by mission characteristics e.g., microgravity and radiation 
influenced conditions, and long-duration confinement with limited 
communications beyond the crew; and, (iii) ensure that the habitat 
environment design, its ambient environment, architectural affordances, 
and crew information and communication technologies support task 
performance requirements and general safety and habitability 
requirements for crew.
    The Integrated Path to Risk Reduction (iPRR) displays the long-
range, strategic research plan and schedule and contains a top-level 
summary of all the risks to the human system, research tasks necessary 
to close the gaps in our knowledge of these risks the logical sequence 
and timing of significant tasks, milestones (such as gap closure), and 
completion of major deliverables. The current version of the iPRR is 
maintained at https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov. A simplified 
version is shown below.

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    Human Research on the ISS focuses on reducing the risks of health 
and performance problems in future exploration missions. Research is 
prioritized to maximize the productivity of ISS resources.
Radiation Protection
    Outside the Earth's magnetic field, crew and electronics are 
exposed to increased high-energy particles, including constant exposure 
to galactic cosmic rays and infrequent--but potentially deadly--solar 
particle events. These high-energy particles can reduce immune 
response, increase cancer risk, and interfere with electronics. NASA's 
HRP is developing methods and technologies to protect, mitigate, and 
treat the effects of various types of radiation on the crew and their 
exploration systems. Installed on ISS in December 2016, the Fast 
Neutron Spectrometer (FNS) investigation studies a new neutron 
measurement technique that is better suited in the mixed radiation 
fields found in deep space. Future manned and exploration missions will 
benefit from clearer, more error-free measurement of the neutron flux 
present in an environment with multiple types of radiation.
Logistics and In-Space Manufacturing
    Living in deep space away from the frequent resupply enjoyed by ISS 
crews will require NASA to reduce, recycle, reuse, and repurpose 
materials. NASA is investigating long-wearing clothing and laundry 
capabilities to replace the current practice of disposing of cotton 
clothing. The Agency is also investing in tools to repurpose packaging 
materials for use as feedstock for in-space manufacturing of items such 
as replacement parts, science equipment consumables, short-lifespan 
hygiene equipment, and other tools. NASA's in-space manufacturing 
objective is to develop and test on-demand manufacturing capabilities 
for fabrication, repair, and recycling during deep space exploration 
missions. NASA is leveraging the significant and rapidly-evolving 
terrestrial technologies for on-demand manufacturing, adapting 
technologies to the microgravity environment and operations. Technology 
demonstrations on board ISS will lead to development of an integrated 
``Fab Lab'' facility with the capability to manufacture multi-material 
components (including metal tools and electronics), as well as 
automation of part inspection and removal that will be necessary for 
sustainable exploration opportunities.
                       4.5: Benefits to Humanity
    The success of the ISS as a research platform is measured, in part, 
in traditional scientific terms such as number of scientists using the 
platform, number of experiments completed, and number of scientific 
publications and their impacts. With the completion of the U.S. On-
orbit Segment (USOS) of ISS in 2011 and the installation of its planned 
suite of science instrumentation, the academic community has given 
research on the ISS a new priority. Participation in NASA solicitations 
for ISS research continues to grow, with proposals for research 
projects submitted by leading research universities across the United 
States. Data from previous experiments on the ISS is now available 
online for scientists to study.
    The scientific rationale for the use of ISS for research and the 
potential exploration and terrestrial benefits is outlined by the 
National Academies of Science in their 2011 decadal survey--
``Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical 
Sciences Research for a New Era.'' NASA has completed a midterm review 
with the National Academies of the implementation of this survey. Of 
special interest to the Nation are those areas where knowledge gained 
on the ISS goes beyond the scientific literature to have a direct 
impact on the lives of people here on Earth. All serve as examples of 
LEO platforms' potential as a groundbreaking research facility. Through 
advancing the state of scientific knowledge of Earth, looking after 
human health, developing advanced technologies, and providing a space 
platform that fosters commercialization, these benefits will drive the 
legacy of Station as its research strengthens economies and enhances 
the quality of life here on Earth for all people. Below are some 
benefits that have come from ISS research in the area of human health, 
Earth observation, innovative technologies, and space commerce. Details 
of the highlights listed below are tracked in a triennial international 
publication, ISS Benefits for Humanity, currently in its 2nd edition, 
with a 3rd edition under development.
Human Health
    Understanding the Acting Mechanism of Osteoporosis Treatments: 
Biotech and pharmaceutical companies are using mouse models during 
spaceflight as a medium to study their drugs and do preclinical work 
that is important for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals. 
Industry partner Amgen tested three drugs (two for bone loss, one for 
muscle atrophy) that were under development on Space Shuttle missions 
to ISS. One of these drugs was Prolia, which came to market in 2011. 
CASIS has partnered with Novartis and Eli Lilly, who are also 
conducting research using mice on ISS as part of their development 
cycles for other drugs to treat muscle wasting and bone loss.
    New Drug for Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy in Clinical Trials: 
Japanese scientists, through JAXA, crystallized a human prostaglandin 
D2 synthase-inhibitor complex (H-PGDS/HQL-79 complex) on ISS, 
identifying an improved complex structure and an associated water 
molecule that was not previously known. The H-PGDS protein has been 
shown to play a critical role in the formation of Duchenne muscular 
dystrophy--the most prevalent genetic form of muscular dystrophy, 
impacting up to 1 in 3,000 boys globally. As a result of this 
discovery, a new drug was developed that was successfully tested in 
Phase 1 human clinical trials and is now being tested in Phase 2 
clinical trials.
    Improving the Delivery of FDA-approved Immunotherapy: KEYTRUDA is 
an FDA-approved drug from Merck that is a monoclonal antibody (a large 
biological molecule or biologic) used in cancer immunotherapy which was 
crystallized on ISS. Crystallizing the protein allows Merck scientists 
to understand how it functions to improve treatment for patients on 
Earth. Crystallizing these monoclonal antibodies enables a method for 
delivering large doses with injections, rather than intravenously, and 
improves methods for storing monoclonal antibodies for extended 
periods.
    Robotic Surgery Applications: The development and use of the 
robotic arm for space missions on the Space Shuttle and the ISS by CSA 
has led to the world's first MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)-
compatible image-guided, computer-assisted device specifically designed 
for neurosurgery. This technology, called Irmis, has also been applied 
to develop the world's first robot capable of performing surgery inside 
MRI machines. It is also being applied in the design of KidsArm (a 
sophisticated teleoperated surgical system designed to specifically to 
operate on small children and babies). The device is now being used to 
augment surgeons' skills to perform neurosurgeries that are 
traditionally considered difficult or impossible, thus leading to 
better patient outcomes.
    Like Irmis, the Image Guided Autonomous Robot (IGAR) was designed 
to work in conjunction with an MRI that is highly sensitive to early 
detection of suspicious breast lesions. It is being used in clinical 
trials right now to provide increased access, precision, and dexterity 
in placing the biopsy and ablation tools within 1mm of the lesion.
    Wound Treatment with Cold Plasma: Technology developed to study 
dusty plasmas--a mixture of small particles in the charged gases of a 
plasma--has led to new insights into this unusual type of matter. 
Understanding the modes and dynamics of this mixed form of matter helps 
researchers on the ground understand the antibacterial properties of 
cold plasmas and how to apply those fundamental discoveries to new 
technologies. Knowledge gained from this ESA-sponsored ISS research has 
been applied in Europe to develop a medical device called terraplasma 
GmbH for disinfecting wounds, neutralizing drug-resistant bacteria, and 
promoting improved wound healing time.
Earth Observation and Space Science
    Measuring Cyclones from ISS: Atmospheric scientists at Visidyne, 
Inc. captured time-lapse images of tropical cyclones using automated 
and handheld cameras aimed through one of the portals on Station. This 
imagery is used to measure the heights and temperature of the cloud 
tops just outside the clear eye at the center of the storm, where the 
highest winds and most torrential rainfall are located. Combining these 
measurements with other data allows scientists to retrieve the storm's 
central sea-level air pressure, which leads to more accurate prediction 
of the intensities (peak wind speeds) and paths of the storms before 
they hit land. It also provides an increased understanding of the 
eyewall replacement cycle.
    Monitoring the Earth's Atmosphere: The Stratospheric Aerosol and 
Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) was launched to ISS in February 2017, and 
stands ready to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor facilities 
to capture atmospheric data that could contribute to long-term 
monitoring of ozone vertical profiles that inform international 
assessment activities of ozone depletion and climate change. The SAGE 
III instrument's primary objective is to monitor the vertical 
distribution of aerosols, ozone, and other trace gases in the Earth's 
stratosphere and troposphere to enhance understanding of ozone recovery 
and climate change processes in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. 
In the event of natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, these 
ISS-based observations and measurements assist decision makers and 
first responders in addressing public health and aviation impacts.
    Ocean Vector Winds: ISS-RapidScat, which operated from September 
2014 until August 2016, was a scatterometer that measured wind speeds 
and direction over the ocean. These measurements were used in near-real 
time to improve weather forecast models, including storm events, used 
by the United States Navy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, and by European and Indian scientists.
    Images from Space Station Aid in Disaster Response: The Station 
offers a unique vantage for observing the Earth's ecosystems with both 
hands-on and automated equipment. Station crews can observe and collect 
camera images of unfolding events as they occur. They may also provide 
input to ground controllers for the programmed observations of the 
Station's automated Earth-sensing systems. This flexibility is an 
advantage over sensors on unmanned spacecraft, especially when 
unexpected natural events such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes 
occur. The full suite of ISS instrument sensors is informed of 
activations under the International Disaster Charter (IDC) so that 
images and data related to floods, droughts, and other events can be 
distributed to U.S. and international agencies responding to the 
crises. During FY 2017, ISS instruments received 45 IDC activations.
    Exploring the Universe: Humanity's understanding of the universe is 
being expanded through experiments flown to the ISS. The Alpha Magnetic 
Spectrometer (AMS), launched in 2011, is a multinational partnership 
led by the U.S. Department of Energy that is unlocking the secrets of 
dark matter. The Cosmic-Ray Energetics and Mass for the International 
Space Station (ISS-CREAM) was launched in 2017 to learn how cosmic rays 
are accelerated to the tremendous energies--far beyond what is produced 
in particle accelerators here on Earth--at which they pass through the 
universe. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) 
studies the extraordinary physics of neutron stars, and may pave the 
way for a future GPS-like system for spacecraft navigation anywhere in 
the solar system. Today's basic astrophysics research aboard is 
advancing NASA's strategic objectives in astrophysics and expanding 
humanity's understanding of the universe.
Innovative Technologies
    Medical Device Technology use Space-Validated Fluid Models: The 
Capillary Flow Experiments examined capillary flows in space and led to 
an understanding of how to make liquids behave and how to influence 
where the liquid goes using passive forces of wetting and surface 
tension. They also led to the first space-validated models describing 
fluid behavior in space. These models and measurements are now being 
applied to the design of a technology called the Human Emulation 
System. This ``organ on chip'' can be used for predicting human 
response to diseases, medicines, chemicals, and foods.
    Improving Semiconductors with Nanofibers: Research on the ISS led 
to the development of a two-dimensional nanofiber layer that can 
assemble by itself into a very tight, repeating pattern. This material 
layer was used as a template that can be traced like a blueprint to 
mark the processing surface of a semiconductor. This novel process can 
be useful in developing new motherboards and computers and in creating 
chemical catalysts for industrial processes. Nano-patterned surfaces 
can also be used to detect individual molecules, which may improve 
research on new drugs to treat human diseases.
    Technology Applications for Clean Water: Water recycling, oxygen 
generation, and carbon dioxide removal are critical technologies for 
reducing the logistics re-supply requirements for human spaceflight. 
This ISS demonstration project is applying lessons learned from 
operational experiences to next-generation technologies. The resin used 
in the ISS water processor assembly has been developed as a commercial 
water filtration solution for use in disaster and humanitarian relief 
zones in portable water filtration plants. The system has successfully 
provided clean water after natural disasters and in community 
development projects around the world.
Space Commerce
    A Gateway to Space: A series of CubeSats--small satellites, each 
about the size of a loaf of bread--are delivered to ISS and jettisoned 
into orbit using the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) and JAXA's 
Japanese Exposure Module-Small Satellite Orbiter Deployer (J-SSOD), 
from the Japanese Kibo module. These deployers provide a gateway to the 
extreme environment of space for Earth-and deep space observation. They 
are self-contained deployment systems that consist of rectangular 
launchers that deploy the small satellites to place them into orbit, 
and they have opened up new possibilities for U.S. Government 
organizations, commercial companies, and universities across the globe 
as a gateway to space. The satellites conduct a variety of studies, 
such as Earth observation, including studying weather patterns or 
monitoring the gaseous molecules in the atmosphere. More than 180 
CubeSats have been deployed from the Station.
Growth of the U.S. National Laboratory
    The CASIS mission is to facilitate use of the ISS National 
Laboratory by academic researchers, other Government organizations, 
startups, small businesses, and major commercial companies. More than 
half of these projects launched in FY 2017 involved commercial entities 
that funded their research and development efforts to the ISS National 
Lab. They include several Fortune 500 companies including Merck, 
Proctor and Gamble, Eli Lilly, Hewlett Packard, and Boeing. In August 
2017, Target and CASIS launched the ISS Cotton Sustainability Challenge 
to identify innovative ideas for the sustainability of cotton. In 
addition to these commercial entities, CASIS is sponsoring a protein 
crystal growth investigation led by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. This 
study optimizes crystallization of human protein kinase Leucine-rich 
repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), which is a key signaling molecule in neurons 
and is tightly associated with the development of Parkinson's disease.
    In addition, ISS National Lab projects funded by other U.S. 
Government agencies (i.e., non-NASA) continued to increase to include 
flight projects funded by the NIH's NCATS as a part of its Tissue Chip 
for Drug Screening program; the NSF combustion and thermal transport 
research, and the Department of Defense (DoD) technology development 
and space test programs.
               Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
    NASA's SBIR program leverages the Nation's innovative small 
business community to support early-stage research and development in 
support of NASA's mission in science, technology, human exploration, 
and aeronautics. This program provides the small business sector with 
an opportunity to compete for funding to develop technology for NASA, 
and to commercialize that technology to spur economic growth.
    NASA hopes to incorporate SBIR-developed technologies into current 
and future systems to contribute to the expansion of humanity across 
the solar system while providing continued cost-effective ISS 
operations and utilization for its customers, with a high standard of 
safety, reliability, and affordability. Technology developed under the 
SBIR program is transforming NASA's understanding of the complex issues 
regarding space exploration and revolutionizing technology that will 
deliver humans into the next stage of planetary exploration.
    Successful SBIR programs on ISS include:

    Techshot Bone Densitometer (Phase 3/$3,600,000): Techshot, Inc. 
(Greenville, IN) developed the first X-ray machine onboard the ISS. The 
bone densitometer is being used to study the bone density of rodents in 
microgravity. Bone loss is one of the primary challenges of long-
duration spaceflight. The bone densitometer flew to the ISS in 
September 2014 onboard SpaceX CRS-4 and has been used in multiple 
rodent investigations so far, with plans for further use in upcoming 
investigations.
    Techshot Analytical Containment Transfer Tool (ACT2) (Phase 2e/
$150,000): In 2010, the Agency's ability to analyze the DNA of 
biospecimens in space was more limited. Samples were collected, frozen, 
and analyzed post flight. Since return capsules didn't yet exist, the 
samples had to be sent back to Earth with returning crew. In addition, 
separate tools were needed for collection and analysis, making the 
transfer of samples from the Space Shuttle to the laboratory a delicate 
process. The resulting ACT2 is a device that both contains and 
transfers samples in a safe manner from unique experiment-specific, 
spaceflight hardware to on-orbit analytical tools for real-time 
analysis. There is no need to send the sample back down to Earth, which 
was the previous protocol. NASA understood the ability to do this was a 
crucial step for performing in-flight analysis. It's not only safer to 
use than the previous combination of tools, but because it is 
disposable, it is cost effective as well. The ACT2 flew to the ISS in 
February 2016 with SpaceX CRS-8. Recently, Techshot received a $9.5 
million Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with 
NASA. Spanning five years, the agreement essentially is a menu of 
services and hardware, such as the ACT2, that the Agency can buy at 
pre-negotiated rates.
    Aurora Flight Sciences ISS Universal Battery Charging Station 
(Phase 2e/$83,500; Phase 3/$167,000): Aurora Flight Sciences 
(Cambridge, MA) has developed a Universal Battery Charger (UBC) for use 
on the ISS capable of interfacing with the most commonly used batteries 
on board. This technology reduces the number of chargers and single-use 
batteries required on the ISS, reducing the cost of ISS operations and 
resupply logistics. The UBC flew to the ISS in February 2016 onboard 
SpaceX CRS-8.
    Orbital Technologies Corporation Zero-G Mass Measurement Device 
(ZGMMD) (Phase 2X/$300,000): Orbital Technologies Corporation (Madison, 
WI) developed the Zero-Gravity Mass Measurement Device to measure the 
mass of biological specimens (e.g., rodents and plants) in a 
microgravity environment. Knowing the mass of the biological specimen 
is integral to experimental manipulations (including anesthesia and 
drug doses). Once the hardware is flight-ready, it will be scheduled 
for launch to the ISS.
    Terminal Velocity Aerospace Low Cost Small Re-Entry Devices to 
Enhance Space Commerce and ISS Utilization (Phase 3/$300,000): Terminal 
Velocity Aerospace (Atlanta, GA) developed Re-Entry Devices (REDs) as a 
low-cost solution to returning small payloads from the ISS. These 
payloads are about the size of four CubeSats, and are deployed from the 
ISS to return small payloads. Smaller, alternative versions have also 
been developed that can record critical onboard engineering data from 
spacecraft reentering the atmosphere. The first group of REDs flew to 
the ISS in April 2017 onboard the Orbital ATK CRS-7.
      4.6: Technical Evaluation of Extending ISS Through the 2020s
    There has been much discussion about the physical life of the ISS 
in recent years. A technical feasibility end date of 2028 has been 
informally discussed for several years; this was based on the expected 
30-year structural life of the first on-orbit elements of the ISS that 
were launched in 1998--the FGB and the U.S. Node 1. However, many 
elements of the ISS could have a life expectancy well beyond the 2020s. 
The following technical assessment is a bottoms-up structural 
assessment of the ISS elements through 2028. Technical assessments 
beyond 2028 have not been performed. Also highlighted below are the 
critical system elements that would need to be replaced and/or 
augmented to continue with nominal ISS operations toward the end of the 
2020s.
Structural Life Assessment
    NASA is performing a structural life assessment on the major U.S. 
structural elements, including truss segments, solar arrays, radiators, 
pressurized modules (including the U.S.-owned, Russian-built Functional 
Cargo Block [FGB]), docking adapters, common berthing mechanisms, and 
external stowage platforms. The analysis is based upon the design life 
of the elements and the actual performance of the on-orbit vehicle as 
measured by in situ measurements on structural items, cycle loading of 
the vehicle from reboost operations, and loading from docking vehicles. 
All of the elements have been structurally cleared through 2024.
    As can be seen in Table 1, all of the U.S. elements that have been 
on orbit for an extended time have also been cleared to 2028. The items 
in Table 2 have been cleared to 2020 based on their launch date and 15-
year design life. These items have yet to be officially cleared to 
2028, but given that these elements have been on orbit for a shorter 
time than the items in Table 1, it is anticipated that the structural 
margin of the ISS would be fully adequate to support ISS operations to 
2028. The analysis to date indicates that there would be sufficient 
remaining margin to operate even beyond 2028. This analysis is 
scheduled to be completed by 2019.

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Non-Replaceable and Critical Hardware
    In addition to assessing the structural integrity of the vehicle, 
each of the key subsystems has been systematically analyzed to ensure 
that its functionality and safe operations can be sustained over the 
projected life extension. These analyses focused primarily on critical 
structural hardware (e.g., pressure vessels), the failure of which 
would be catastrophic; critical operating hardware that is not 
replaceable and has no identified operational workaround; on-orbit 
replacement units (ORUs) or components for which a technical time or 
cycle issue would drive limited life or operational reductions; and 
operating hardware with functionality that is necessary for crew 
habitation or provides the capability to perform the science mission. 
Hardware items that matched these criteria were examined on a case-by-
case basis. Additional work would be required for life extension to 
2028 and beyond.
    Critical functional capabilities that have been assessed and 
cleared include: electrical power; thermal control; environmental 
control and life support; propulsion; guidance, navigation and control; 
communications and tracking; command and data handling; extravehicular 
activity; and crew health care.
    Additionally, system upgrades necessary to operate the ISS beyond 
2020 have been implemented or are already under development. Such 
systems include lithium ion batteries (part of the electrical power 
system), power generation augmentation, oxygen and nitrogen composite 
overwrap resupply tanks, upgraded communication systems, docking 
systems, and rendezvous radio. The ISS is being upgraded with these 
systems over the next few years, which would support ISS operations 
beyond 2024.
    System upgrades on the current Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) 
are also being implemented. This includes new batteries, inclusion of a 
high rate data recorder, point-of-use filters to further purify cooling 
water, and a new carbon dioxide sensor. All upgrades have applicability 
toward the development of a new exploration suit. New suit technology 
development for water cooling is presently underway, with deployment to 
the ISS in 2018. In addition, funding is in place to develop and deploy 
this new suit for extensive checkout on the ISS. Production of a fleet 
of new exploration suits is still under consideration, and will be a 
future trade versus extending the current EMUs past 2024.
    Like the core systems, critical scientific capabilities have also 
been reviewed for supportability and continued safe operations. 
Permanent payload facilities supporting utilization on the ISS that 
have been cleared to 2020 or beyond include:

   EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station 
        (EXPRESS) racks (a standardized payload rack system for 
        transporting, storing, and supporting experiments on the ISS);

   Human Research Facility (HRF);

   Window Observational Research Facility (WORF);

   Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR);

   Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR);

   Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) (shown in the image 
        below);

   Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR).

    The ISS Program is currently evaluating the performance of these 
facilities through at least 2028. Assessments to date of the few cycle-
limited components indicate sufficient margin for operation well beyond 
2024 based on current predictions of facility use beyond this 
timeframe.

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Functional Availability and Sparing Assessments
    A comprehensive logistics analysis is performed each year to ensure 
that the proper quantities of spares (ORUs) are available. NASA 
assesses the expected functional availability of its systems to 
determine the type and quantity of spares that will be needed over time 
to sustain system operations. This analysis takes into account many 
factors, including age of the components and expected on-orbit 
performance based on mathematical analyses and actual hardware 
performance history. Analysis shows the sparing requirements would 
remain relatively flat as the ISS is operated beyond the current 
expected operational lifetime to at least 2028. This holds true for 
consumables as well. Consumables are those items required to sustain 
the crew and normal operation of the systems, including food, clothing, 
water, medicines, and waste and hygiene items. Over the years of ISS 
operation, the ISS Program has determined the minimum amount of 
consumables required to support operations. Consumables requirements 
are well understood and expected to remain stable. The only expected 
increase in consumables is associated with the fourth USOS crewmember, 
enabled by new commercial crew transportation capabilities via the 
Commercial Crew Program.
    The only projected additional requirements for the ISS beyond 2024 
in its current form, are the varying types and amount of new hardware 
necessary to conduct new research and technology development on the 
ISS. Much of the research growth is expected to come from private 
industry and other Government agencies.
    Consumables, spares, system upgrades, and new utilization hardware 
are delivered to the ISS via an international cargo vehicle fleet, 
comprised of the Russian Progress, Japanese HII Transfer Vehicle (HTV), 
SpaceX Dragon, and Orbital ATK Cygnus. All of these uncrewed cargo 
vehicles deliver pressurized cargo. External ORUs are primarily 
delivered via the HTV or the Dragon. The primary means of returning 
hardware, research samples, and other items to the ground is the Dragon 
vehicle, although smaller items can also be returned with the crew on 
the Soyuz vehicle (Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser is expected 
to come online in 2019 and will provide both pressurized and 
unpressurized cargo delivery, as well as pressurized cargo return). The 
other vehicles, destroyed on re-entry after departing the ISS, are used 
to dispose of trash and no-longer-needed equipment.
International Partner Hardware
    All the ISS partners have responsibility for assessing the 
capability of their elements and systems with respect to an ISS 
lifetime extension. The Russian elements have been cleared through 2020 
and are in the process of being cleared to 2028, with no known issues. 
CSA has identified no major issues with the robotic elements to 2028, 
including the ISS robotic arm, Mobile Remote Servicer Base System, and 
Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator. The JAXA elements are cleared to 
2020 and analyses for extension to 2028 are planned. The ESA 
assessments to 2028 are complete and cleared.
Safety Considerations
    The safety and mission assurance community has been involved 
throughout all of these assessments. Work continues to review existing 
hazard reports and other ISS documentation for any safety issues 
relative to the ISS lifetime extension.
    From a technical risk perspective, the same risks for the ISS that 
exist today will exist through at least 2024 and beyond. Micrometeoroid 
and orbital debris (MMOD) penetration of the pressure shell remains the 
largest risk to the ISS. The likelihood of penetration will increase as 
a function of the life of ISS on-orbit, although the likelihood of 
penetration in any six-month period is expected to remain stable. The 
USOS segment was designed with debris shields that protect the pressure 
shell from MMOD debris to about one centimeter in size. The Russian 
segment was not designed to the same shielding specifications, but has 
been modified over the years to enhance the MMOD protection capability. 
The final planned modification, which has already been implemented, is 
an additional external shield for the Progress logistics vehicle. Also, 
the ISS has an improved capability to maneuver to avoid objects that 
are large enough to be tracked, using the Predetermined Debris 
Avoidance Maneuver, which reduces the amount of notice necessary to 
perform a maneuver from over a day to down to just a few hours. The 
risks of operating in LEO are heavily outweighed by the benefits to the 
U.S. economy, human health and well-being, and the Nation's strategic 
goals in leadership and exploration of deep space.
    Station is demonstrably more capable of operating in LEO today than 
it was 15 years ago, and this experience has shown that NASA and its 
partners are able to conduct safe and effective operations in LEO 
onboard the ISS. While the risks inherent in operating in space cannot 
be eliminated, the technical environment is well understood through 
2028.
                  4.7: Cost Estimates of ISS Extension
    The ISS Program analyzes its program and budget requirements on an 
annual basis. The budget estimate for ISS life extension to 2024, 2028, 
and 2030 based on its current configuration, including the Crew and 
Cargo Program, are provided in the figure below.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Within the above budget details, ISS Systems Operations and 
Maintenance (O&M) supports vehicle operations in the extreme conditions 
of space with constant, around-the clock-support. ISS Research supports 
research on ISS across a diverse array of disciplines, from fundamental 
physics and biophysics to human physiology and biotechnology. ISS 
Research also supports CASIS, the non-profit organization that manages 
the ISS National Laboratory. Funding for research varies depending on 
the individual payloads and other work in development. Crew and Cargo 
supports transportation to and from the ISS, for both crew and cargo. 
Labor and travel supports civil servant labor and travel.
    The cost estimates provided in this section assume that ISS will be 
de-orbited rather than turned over to a commercial entity due to the 
number of potential options for that scenario. Cost estimates for life 
extension through 2024 would be reflective of the budget above through 
FY 2025 with deorbit in January 2025. Cost estimates for life extension 
through 2028 would be reflective of the budget above through FY 2029 
with deorbit in January 2029. Cost estimates for life extension through 
2030 would be reflective of the budget above through FY 2031 with 
deorbit in January 2031. As NASA begins to shift responsibility for 
meeting its needs and requirements in LEO by leveraging private 
industry capacity, innovation, and competitiveness, it could offer the 
prospect of lowering the above projected cost to the Government.
    The budget estimates are based on the following major assumptions:

   Reflects the FY 2018 President's Budget Request for FY 2018 
        and the FY 2019 President's Budget Request for FY 2019 through 
        FY 2023.

   International Partner commitments continue through the life 
        of the Program.

   Inflation is estimated at the current contract rates or 
        rates experienced within that service line. NASA is expecting 
        to achieve cost efficiencies in order to absorb inflationary 
        impacts within a flat budget.

   Funds Soyuz crew rotation and rescue services through spring 
        of 2019 and landing in fall of 2019. Assumes six-person crew 
        operations until commercial crew transportation begins.

   Legislative relief is obtained from the limitations in the 
        Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA).

   U.S. Visiting Vehicles include CRS for cargo transportation 
        and commercial crew operational services for crew rotation 
        through the life of ISS.

     The budget covers an average of four to five CRS 
            missions and two commercial crew missions per year.

     Once commercial crew transportation begins, the crew 
            complement will increase from six to seven persons; USOS 
            crew size will permanently increase from three to four.

   Consumables content is based on performance analysis and/or 
        inventory assessment.

   Corrective maintenance cost estimate is based on the current 
        hardware reliability performance.

   There will be no more than one major USOS software update 
        per year through the life of ISS.

   Six planned USOS EVAs are supported per year.

   ISS deorbit and closeout costs through FY 2024, 2028, or 
        2030 can be absorbed within a flat budget profile. As crew and 
        cargo flights reduce near ISS end of life, those funds will be 
        re-directed to purchase de-orbit vehicles. Likewise, as spares 
        purchases decrease near ISS end of life, those funds will be 
        re-directed towards closeout activities.

   Transportation and integration costs for the National Lab 
        research will continue to be provided by NASA.

   Additional funds required to support the development of 
        commercial modules in LEO or on ISS are not included in the 
        above budget. Commercial partner development of capabilities 
        that the private sector and NASA can use will be funded by the 
        Commercial LEO Development budget line.
                          4.8: Community Input
    On August 9, 2017, NASA held a workshop in Washington, D.C., to 
engage ISS stakeholders in gathering information that may be used in 
the development of NASA's future planning activities. Specifically, the 
workshop targeted the commercial space sector, researchers, technology 
developers, transportation and habitation providers, other Government 
agencies, and other interested parties, providing a forum for dialogue 
with NASA on topics relevant to Station future planning. Approximately 
130 people attended the workshop. Four breakout sessions addressed the 
LEO market, the value proposition of human spaceflight, public-private 
partnerships, and access to space. A complete summary of the workshop, 
including presentations, can be found here: https://www.nasa.gov/
content/international-space-station-stakeholder-workshop
    There were several main themes from the workshop:

   Attendees stated that a formal acknowledgment of a LEO 
        human-spaceflight-enabled commercial policy would be helpful 
        for building business cases. Specifically, this would lend 
        credibility to the idea that a need for LEO access and 
        capabilities is ongoing, which would aid in long-term planning.

   Attendees stated that it is important that the Government 
        maintain its demand for human-spaceflight-enabled LEO 
        capabilities, and that it quantify its needs where possible. 
        The National Laboratory part of the ISS Program is working 
        well, and is facilitating access to the microgravity 
        environment and ISS platform in a way that is conducive to 
        business and development.

   The attendees expressed a strong desire for a pricing policy 
        from NASA for services in LEO. While things like launch, crew 
        time, power, and data transmission are currently free for users 
        under the National Lab, this may not always be the case as 
        demand for these services increases and the availability 
        becomes more constrained. Ideas for study suggested by 
        participants included examining the pricing policy of other 
        Government agencies that regulate constrained markets, such as 
        the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for spectrum 
        licensing, and the Forestry Service for logging rights. The 
        idea of maintaining free access for users under the National 
        Lab while also providing a for-pay ``priority access'' 
        capability was also raised by participants and discussed as a 
        group.

   There was a broad desire to maintain U.S. leadership in LEO. 
        Attendees voiced little confidence in the ability of foreign 
        platforms to provide the kind of capability, reliability, and 
        security needed to maintain long-term business planning.

   Finally, attendees said that any transition away from ISS 
        needs to be gradual and well-planned.
                            5.0: Conclusion
    The ISS is in its intensive research and technology demonstration 
phase and is enabling a maturing commercial market. The maturity and 
stability of the ISS Partnership allows the United States to 
demonstrate global leadership in human spaceflight and technology 
development and is already providing the foundation for continuing 
human spaceflight beyond LEO. Closer to home, NASA's ISS National 
Laboratory partners can use the unique capabilities aboard Station to 
enable investigations that may give them the edge in developing 
valuable, high technology products and services for the global market. 
Furthermore, the demand for access to the ISS enables the establishment 
of robust U.S. commercial crew and cargo capabilities. Both of these 
aspects of the ISS National Laboratory will help establish the U.S. 
market for research in LEO beyond the current NASA requirements.
    NASA is actively developing transition strategies for the 
concurrent-and post-ISS LEO era and is engaged with the private sector 
to foster both private demand and supply for LEO services. It is NASA's 
intention to continue to foster the development of private industry 
capabilities and private demand with a goal to end direct Federal 
support for the ISS by 2025 when, NASA intends to be one of many 
customers, including both private and other Government agencies, for 
LEO platforms.
    With this approach, NASA believes that the Nation's interest in 
human spaceflight and LEO are protected and enhanced while relying on 
private industry to provide the services and capabilities to meet 
NASA's needs. This approach also offers the prospect of lower cost to 
the Government by leveraging private industry capacity and innovation 
through a commercial marketplace where NASA is one of many customers 
and provides the basis for determining the long-term future of the ISS 
Platform along with the ISS International Partners.
    NASA looks forward to working with Congressional stakeholders along 
with researchers, private industry and our ISS International Partners 
to ensure that the U.S. maintains our human spaceflight leadership in 
LEO while expanding human presence into the solar system and returning 
benefits to U.S. taxpayers.
                                 ______
                                 
APPENDIX--Excerpt from NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 (P.L. 
                                115-10)
SEC. 303. ISS Transition Plan
    (c) REPORTS.--Section 50111 of title 51, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

        (1) IN GENERAL.--The Administrator, in coordination with the 
        ISS management entity (as defined in section 2 of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization 
        Act of 2017), ISS partners, the scientific user community, and 
        the commercial space sector, shall develop a plan to transition 
        in a step-wise approach from the current regime that relies 
        heavily on NASA sponsorship to a regime where NASA could be one 
        of many customers of a low-Earth orbit non-governmental human 
        space flight enterprise.

        (2) REPORTS.--Not later than December 1, 2017, and biennially 
        thereafter until 2023, the Administrator shall submit to the 
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
        Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 
        the House of Representatives a report that includes--

                (A) a description of the progress in achieving the 
                Administration's deep space human exploration 
                objectives on ISS and prospects for accomplishing 
                future mission requirements, space exploration 
                objectives, and other research objectives on future 
                commercially supplied low-Earth orbit platforms or 
                migration of those objectives to cis-lunar space;

                (B) the steps NASA is taking and will take, including 
                demonstrations that could be conducted on the ISS, to 
                stimulate and facilitate commercial demand and supply 
                of products and services in low-Earth orbit;

                (C) an identification of barriers preventing the 
                commercialization of low-Earth orbit, including issues 
                relating to policy, regulations, commercial 
                intellectual property, data, and confidentiality, that 
                could inhibit the use of the ISS as a commercial 
                incubator;

                (D) the criteria for defining the ISS as a research 
                success;

                (E) the criteria used to determine whether the ISS is 
                meeting the objective under section 301(b)(2) of the 
                National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
                Transition Authorization Act of 2017; [Reference: 
                301(b)(2): ``to pursue a research program that advances 
                knowledge and provides other benefits to the Nation'']

                (F) an assessment of whether the criteria under sub-
                paragraphs (D) and (E) are consistent with the research 
                areas defined in, and recommendations and schedules 
                under, the current National Academies of Sciences, 
                Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey on Biological 
                and Physical Sciences in Space;

                (G) any necessary contributions that ISS extension 
                would make to enabling execution of the human 
                exploration roadmap under section 432 of the National 
                Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition 
                Authorization Act of 2017;

                (H) the cost estimates for operating the ISS to achieve 
                the criteria required under subparagraphs (D) and (E) 
                and the contributions identified under subparagraph 
                (G);

                (I) the cost estimates for extending operations of the 
                ISS to 2024, 2028, and 2030;

                (J) an evaluation of the feasible and preferred service 
                life of the ISS beyond the period described in section 
                503 of the National Aeronautics and Space 
                Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 
                18353), through at least 2028, as a unique scientific, 
                commercial, and space exploration-related facility, 
                including--

                        (i) a general discussion of international 
                        partner capabilities and prospects for 
                        extending the partner-ship;

                        (ii) the cost associated with extending the 
                        service life;

                        (iii) an assessment on the technical limiting 
                        factors of the service life of the ISS, 
                        including a list of critical components and 
                        their expected service life and availability; 
                        and

                        (iv) such other information as may be necessary 
                        to fully describe the justification for and 
                        feasibility of extending the service life of 
                        the ISS, including the potential scientific or 
                        technological benefits to the Federal 
                        Government, public, or to academic or 
                        commercial entities;

                (K) an identification of the necessary actions and an 
                estimate of the costs to deorbit the ISS once it has 
                reached the end of its service life;

                (L) the impact on deep space exploration capabilities, 
                including a crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s, if the 
                preferred service life of the ISS is extended beyond 
                2024 and NASA maintains a flat budget profile; and

                (M) an evaluation of the functions, roles, and 
                responsibilities for management and operation of the 
                ISS and a determination of--

                        (i) those functions, roles, and 
                        responsibilities the Federal Government should 
                        retain during the lifecycle of the ISS;

                        (ii) those functions, roles, and 
                        responsibilities that could be transferred to 
                        the commercial space sector;

                        (iii) the metrics that would indicate the 
                        commercial space sector's readiness and ability 
                        to assume the functions, roles, and 
                        responsibilities described in clause (ii); and

                        (iv) any necessary changes to any agreements or 
                        other documents and the law to enable the 
                        activities described in subparagraphs (A) and 
                        (B).

                                  [all]
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