and, where necessary, redundant transportation systems 
capable of delivering crew and cargo to low-Earth orbit, 
in particular to the International Space Station, and to 
destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. Systems developed 
and operated by the United States Government shall be 
the primary means for delivering crew and cargo to des-
tinations in low-Earth orbit until such time as commercial 
entities demonstrate, through a successful flight regime, 
as determined by established milestones within current 
Space Act Agreements, that they have the capability to 
deliver cargo to destinations in low-Earth orbit, including 
the International Space Station. Systems developed and 
operated by the United States Government shall be the 
primary means for delivering crew and cargo to destina-
tions beyond low-Earth orbit. Commercially developed 
launch systems, such as those being developed under 
NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation System, for 
which the United States Government will serve primarily 
as a customer, shall be the primary means for delivering 
cargo to the International Space Stations once they have 
successfully demonstrated that capability, as required by 
this subsection. 
(b) NATIONAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.— 
The Administrator is directed to develop a plan, no later 
than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, for 
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the establishment of a National Space Transportation Sys-
tem. The National Space Transportation System shall in-
clude— 
(1) an architecture of Government developed 
and operated space transportation systems, includ-
ing one or more launch vehicles and associated crew 
and cargo carriers; 
(2) a streamlined approach to development and 
acquisition of such systems funded and overseen by 
the United States Government, including possible 
adoption or modification of effective acquisition 
practices utilized by the Department of Defense, 
where appropriate, to more effectively meet civil 
space transportation requirements; 
(3) an operational concept that utilizes existing 
Government and industry personnel and infrastruc-
ture in an efficient and cost effective manner; 
(4) continuation or modification of ongoing pro-
grams, associated contracts, and testing and evalua-
tion plans initiated under the Constellation Pro-
gram, including the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle 
and the Ares–1 Crew Launch Vehicle, to the extent 
that such elements are determined to be cost effec-
tive and operationally effective; 
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(5) a plan for incrementally upgrading initially 
developed and deployed systems so that such sys-
tems can be made operational with existing tech-
nology at the earliest possible opportunity and then 
upgraded over time to fulfill more demanding mis-
sions and incorporate new technology as it becomes 
available; and 
(6) a United States Government-managed ap-
proach for overseeing and ensuring crew safety, with 
safety standards for human life support, including 
oversight of human ratings requirements established 
under subsection (f)(2)(A) of this section. 
(c) TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT NA-
TIONAL
SPACE
TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEMS
EVO-
LUTION.—The Administrator shall develop and keep up 
to date a technology development plan to support the 
evolving requirements of the National Space Transpor-
tation System, both for low-Earth orbit requirements and 
for missions beyond low-Earth orbit. Technology funding 
provided pursuant to this subsection shall be determined 
based on the specific mission benefits and the performance 
requirements needed to achieve clearly identified mission 
objectives, such as planning to reach destinations beyond 
low-Earth orbit. There are authorized to be appropriated 
to the Administrator such amounts for technology funding 
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for propulsion elements as may be necessary to advance 
the state of the art in propulsion elements as a priority 
over developments of current state of the art in propulsion 
systems. 
(d) HEAVY-LIFT VEHICLE DEVELOPMENT.— 
(1) REVIEW.—As part of the National Space 
Transportation system required in subsection (b) of 
this section, the Administrator is directed to conduct 
a review of alternative heavy-lift launch vehicle con-
figurations that may be developed by the United 
States Government to transport crew and cargo to 
low-Earth orbit and beyond. 
(2) CONTENT.—The review shall— 
(A) include shuttle-derived vehicles which 
use existing United States propulsion systems, 
including liquid fuel engines, external tank, and 
solid rocket motor technology and related 
ground-based manufacturing capability, launch 
and operations infrastructure, and workforce 
expertise; 
(B) take into consideration technologies 
developed under the Constellation Program, in-
cluding those developed for the Ares–1 system; 
(C) include consideration of the degree to 
which alternative vehicles may be developed in 
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an evolutionary fashion with the objective of 
supporting initial crew and cargo transportation 
to the International Space Station by the end 
of 2013 and missions beyond low-Earth orbit by 
the end of 2018; and 
(D) include comparative development and 
projected operational costs. 
(e) NATIONAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AU-
THORITY TO PROCEED.—The Administrator is directed to 
select a heavy-lift launch vehicle and accompanying crew 
vehicle design concept and to initiate detailed design ac-
tivities no later than 6 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act. If ongoing program development elements and 
activities from the Constellation Program are to be in-
cluded in such a National Space Transportation System, 
the Administrator shall take appropriate steps to extend 
or modify existing contracts to facilitate this objective. 
(f) COMMERCIALLY DEVELOPED SPACE TRANSPOR-
TATION VEHICLES.— 
(1) LAUNCH
AND
DELIVERY
SYSTEMS.—The 
Congress restates its commitment, expressed in the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Acts 
of 2005 and 2008, to the development of commer-
cially developed launch and delivery systems to the 
International Space Station for crew and cargo mis-
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