II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3661 

To reaffirm and amend the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Authorization Act of 2010, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 5, 2012 

Mr. NELSON of Florida (for himself and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To reaffirm and amend the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration Authorization Act of 2010, 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 ‘‘Space Exploration Sus5 tainability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) A robust and balanced space program en2 hances the United States long-term national and 

3 economic security by— 

4 (A) inspiring students to pursue disciplines 

5 in science, technology, engineering, and mathe6 matics; 

7 (B) stimulating development of advanced 

8 technologies with widespread applications; 

9 (C) increasing the United States techno10 logical competitiveness; and 

11 (D) enhancing global prosperity and secu12 rity through cooperation in shared interests, 

13 such as advancement of science, understanding 

14 of Earth and the universe, and protection from 

15 space borne threats, such as asteroids. 

16 (2) The Nation’s space program should include 

17 endeavors that balance— 

18 (A) national security space and civil space; 

19 (B) robotic and human exploration; 

20 (C) advancement of scientific knowledge 

21 and engagement of the general public; 

22 (D) U.S. Government led launch capability 

23 development, including the Space Launch Sys24 tem and multi-purpose crew vehicle, and partVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:03 Dec 07, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3661.IS S3661

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1 nerships with commercial and international en2 tities; 

3 (E) advancement of the space frontier and 

4 stimulation of commerce within Earth Orbit; 

5 and 

6 (F) peering outward to further under7 standing of the universe and observing Earth to 

8 expand knowledge of our home planet. 

9 (3) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad10 ministration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

11 18301 et seq.) provides for a robust and balanced 

12 national space program. 

13 SEC. 3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. 

14 Section 202 of the National Aeronautics and Space 

15 Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

16 18312) is amended— 

17 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(a) LONG-TERM GOAL.—The long-term goal of the 

20 human space flight and exploration efforts of NASA shall 

21 be to sustainably expand permanent human presence be22 yond low-Earth orbit and to do so, where practical, in a 

23 manner involving international partners and expanding 

24 economic activity in space.’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ‘‘and ex2 panding throughout cis-lunar space and beyond’’ 

3 after ‘‘infrastructure’’. 

4 SEC. 4. REPORT ON CIS-LUNAR SPACE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

7 National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall sub8 mit to Congress a strategy to achieve the long-term goal 

9 of sustainably expanding a human presence beyond low10 Earth orbit under section 202(a) of the National Aero11 nautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 

12 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18312(a)) through robust utilization of 

13 cis-lunar space. 

14 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The strategy shall include a 

15 discussion of— 

16 (1) the utility of an expanded permanent 

17 human presence in cis-lunar space to enable mis18 sions to the lunar surface, asteroids, the Mars sys19 tem, and other destinations of interest for future 

20 human exploration; 

21 (2) the utility of an expanded permanent 

22 human presence in cis-lunar space to economic, sci23 entific, and technological advances; 

24 (3) the opportunities for— 


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1 (A) international partner collaboration to2 ward the establishment and continuance of an 

3 expanded permanent human presence in cis4 lunar space; 

5 (B) international partner contributions to 

6 the missions listed under paragraph (1) that 

7 are uniquely enabled by mission architectures 

8 that make use of an expanded and persistent 

9 human presence in cis-lunar space; 

10 (C) commercial industry participation to11 ward the expansion and continuance of perma12 nent human presence in cis-lunar space; 

13 (D) commercial industry contributions to 

14 the missions listed under paragraph (1) that 

15 are uniquely enabled by mission architectures 

16 that make use of an expanded and persistent 

17 human presence in cis-lunar space; and 

18 (E) commercial ventures that result from 

19 an expanded and persistent human presence in 

20 cis-lunar space; 

21 (4) the opportunities and uses for the National 

22 Aeronautics and Space Administration managed al23 location of the International Space Station National 

24 Laboratory, including a specific discussion of high 

25 priority scientific and technological developments 


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1 that use the International Space Station toward ex2 panding and sustaining a human presence in cis3 lunar space; and 

4 (5) a range of exploration mission architectures 

5 for the missions listed under paragraph (1). 

6 (c) COMPARISON OF ARCHITECTURES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The strategy shall include a 

8 comparison of architectures that use an expanded 

9 and persistent human presence in cis-lunar space 

10 and architectures that do not, with a primary objec11 tive of identifying the architectures and approaches 

12 that— 

13 (A) best support the long-term goal under 

14 section 202(a) of the National Aeronautics and 

15 Space Administration Authorization Act of 

16 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18312(a)); and 

17 (B) are enabled by the transportation ca18 pabilities developed under titles III and IV of 

19 the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis20 tration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

21 18301 et seq.). 

22 (2) FACTORS.—Factors to be considered in the 

23 comparison shall include recurring and non-recur24 ring cost, safety, sustainability, opportunities for 

25 international collaboration, enabling of new markets 


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1 and opportunities for commercial industry, compel2 ling scientific opportunities, flexibility of the archi3 tecture to adjust to evolving technologies, and lead4 ership and priorities over time. 

5 (d) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The strategy shall in6 clude a plan that establishes a method and schedule for 

7 implementation of the strategy. The implementation plan 

8 shall include— 

9 (1) proposed Program Formulation events; 

10 (2) Program Critical Design Reviews; 

11 (3) System Integration Reviews; 

12 (4) Systems Assembly, Integration and Test 

13 milestones; and 

14 (5) schedules of planned test launches and 

15 events, up to and including initial missions. 

16 SEC. 5. ASSURANCE OF CORE CAPABILITIES. 

17 Section 203 of the National Aeronautics and Space 

18 Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

19 18313) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(c) ASSURANCE OF CORE CAPABILITIES.—The Ad21 ministrator shall proceed with the utilization of the ISS, 

22 technology development, and follow-on transportation sys23 tems, including the Space Launch System, multi-purpose 

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1 tation capabilities authorized by this Act in a manner that 

2 ensures— 

3 ‘‘(1) that these capabilities remain inherently 

4 complimentary and interrelated; 

5 ‘‘(2) a balance of the development, sustainment, 

6 and use of each of these capacities, which are of crit7 ical importance to the viability and sustainability of 

8 the U.S. space program; and 

9 ‘‘(3) that resources required to support the 

10 timely and sustainable development of these capabili11 ties are not derived from a reduction in resources 

12 from one capability as a means of increasing re13 sources to support another capability.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN SPACE LAUNCH LIABILITY 

15 PROVISIONS. 

16 Section 50915(f) of title 51, United States Code, is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2012’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘December 31, 2014’’. 

19 SEC. 7. EXEMPTION FROM INKSNA. 

20 Section 7(1) of the Iran, North Korea, and Syria 

21 Nonproliferation Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended 

22 to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(1) EXTRAORDINARY PAYMENTS IN CONNEC24 TION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.— 

25 The term ‘extraordinary payments in connection 


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1 with the International Space Station’ means pay2 ments in cash or in-kind made or to be made by the 

3 United States Government for work on the Inter4 national Space Station which the Russian Govern5 ment pledged at any time to provide at its ex6 pense.’’. 

Æ 


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