I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3853 
To provide for the establishment of Commercial Space Transportation Cooper-
ative 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 Trans-
portation Cooperative Research and Development Centers 
of Excellence, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Space 
Transportation Cooperative Research and Development 
Centers of Excellence Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
SEC. 3. CENTERS. 
The Administrator shall make grants to consortia of 
2 or more institutions of higher education, at least 1 of 
which shall be located within 100 miles of an active com-
mercial spaceport, to establish and operate Commercial 
Space Transportation Cooperative Research and Develop-
ment Centers of Excellence. 
SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS. 
(a) ENHANCED DEVELOPMENT.—The Centers estab-
lished under section 3 shall leverage the resources of the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, aca-
demia, and industry through public-private partnerships 
to enhance the development of commercial space transpor-
tation through research and development activities in the 
following areas: 
(1) Space transportation policy analysis. 
(2) Spaceport safety, including range system 
development, testing, simulation, and qualification, 
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and spaceport instrumentation, technologies, and 
processes. 
(3) Spaceflight passenger and crew training and 
qualification. 
(4) Spaceflight biomedical countermeasures. 
(5) Aerospace workforce technical training and 
certification. 
(6) Space vehicle design, including materials 
and engineering research and development, launch 
vehicle flight safety analysis, and design of pas-
senger-carrying spaceflight vehicles to maximize 
safety and functionality. 
(7) Space weather interactions with space 
transportation systems. 
(8) Aviation and space transportation system 
convergence planning and analysis. 
(b) ASSISTANCE.—The Centers established under 
section 3 shall provide educational, technical, and analyt-
ical assistance to the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration and other Federal agencies with research and 
development and operational responsibilities that have ap-
plicability to commercial space transportation. 
SEC. 5. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION. 
(a) APPLICATION.—Any institution of higher edu-
cation interested in receiving a grant under this Act shall 
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submit to the Administrator an application in such form 
and containing such information as the Administrator may 
require. 
(b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall 
select recipients of grants under this Act on the basis of 
the following criteria: 
(1) Demonstrated research and development ca-
pabilities necessary for carrying out the program. 
(2) The extent to which the members of the 
consortium seeking a grant have established space 
transportation or aerospace research and develop-
ment programs. 
(3) The demonstrated ability of the applicant to 
disseminate results of commercial space transpor-
tation research and development widely to appro-
priate stakeholders. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 
years 2010 through 2012 are authorized to be appro-
priated to the Administrator to carry out this Act. No 
more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated under this 
section for a fiscal year may be used by the Administrator 
to cover administrative costs associated with the imple-
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mentation and maintenance of the program established 
under this Act. 
Æ 
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