I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3853 

To provide for the establishment of Commercial Space Transportation Cooperative Research and Development Centers of Excellence, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2009 

Ms. KOSMAS (for herself and Mr. POSEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of Commercial Space Transportation Cooperative Research and Development Centers 

of Excellence, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Space 

5 Transportation Cooperative Research and Development 

6 Centers of Excellence Act of 2009’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

3 Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

4 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

5 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

6 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

8 SEC. 3. CENTERS. 

9 The Administrator shall make grants to consortia of 

10 2 or more institutions of higher education, at least 1 of 

11 which shall be located within 100 miles of an active com12 mercial spaceport, to establish and operate Commercial 

13 Space Transportation Cooperative Research and Develop14 ment Centers of Excellence. 

15 SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS. 

16 (a) ENHANCED DEVELOPMENT.—The Centers estab17 lished under section 3 shall leverage the resources of the 

18 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, aca19 demia, and industry through public-private partnerships 

20 to enhance the development of commercial space transpor21 tation through research and development activities in the 

22 following areas: 

23 (1) Space transportation policy analysis. 

24 (2) Spaceport safety, including range system 

25 development, testing, simulation, and qualification, 


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1 and spaceport instrumentation, technologies, and 

2 processes. 

3 (3) Spaceflight passenger and crew training and 

4 qualification. 

5 (4) Spaceflight biomedical countermeasures. 

6 (5) Aerospace workforce technical training and 

7 certification. 

8 (6) Space vehicle design, including materials 

9 and engineering research and development, launch 

10 vehicle flight safety analysis, and design of pas11 senger-carrying spaceflight vehicles to maximize 

12 safety and functionality. 

13 (7) Space weather interactions with space 

14 transportation systems. 

15 (8) Aviation and space transportation system 

16 convergence planning and analysis. 

17 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Centers established under 

18 section 3 shall provide educational, technical, and analyt19 ical assistance to the National Aeronautics and Space Ad20 ministration and other Federal agencies with research and 

21 development and operational responsibilities that have ap22 plicability to commercial space transportation. 

23 SEC. 5. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION. 

24 (a) APPLICATION.—Any institution of higher edu25 cation interested in receiving a grant under this Act shall 


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1 submit to the Administrator an application in such form 

2 and containing such information as the Administrator may 

3 require. 

4 (b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall 

5 select recipients of grants under this Act on the basis of 

6 the following criteria: 

7 (1) Demonstrated research and development ca8 pabilities necessary for carrying out the program. 

9 (2) The extent to which the members of the 

10 consortium seeking a grant have established space 

11 transportation or aerospace research and develop12 ment programs. 

13 (3) The demonstrated ability of the applicant to 

14 disseminate results of commercial space transpor15 tation research and development widely to appro16 priate stakeholders. 

17 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 Such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 

19 years 2010 through 2012 are authorized to be appro20 priated to the Administrator to carry out this Act. No 

21 more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated under this 

22 section for a fiscal year may be used by the Administrator 

23 to cover administrative costs associated with the impleVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:45 Oct 21, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853

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1 mentation and maintenance of the program established 

2 under this Act. 

Æ 


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