vention or have the invention practiced through 
out the world by or on behalf of the Govern-
ment. In the exercise of such license, the Gov-
ernment shall not publicly disclose trade secrets 
or commercial or financial information that is 
privileged or confidential within the meaning of 
section 552 (b)(4) of title 5, United States 
Code, or which would be considered as such if 
it had been obtained from a non-Federal party. 
‘‘(B) If the Administration assigns title or 
grants an exclusive license to such an invention, 
the Government shall retain the right—
‘‘(i) to require the participating party 
to grant to a responsible applicant a non-
exclusive, partially exclusive, or exclusive 
license to use the invention in the appli-
cant’s licensed field of use, on terms that 
are reasonable under the circumstances; or 
‘‘(ii) if the participating party fails to 
grant such a license, to grant the license 
itself. 
‘‘(C) The Government may exercise its 
right retained under subparagraph (B) only in 
exceptional circumstances and only if the Gov-
ernment determines that—
‘‘(i) the action is necessary to meet 
health or safety needs that are not reason-
ably satisfied by the participating party; 
‘‘(ii) the action is necessary to meet 
requirements for public use specified by 
Federal regulations, and such requirements 
are not reasonably satisfied by the partici-
pating party; or 
‘‘(iii) the action is necessary to comply 
with an agreement containing provisions 
described in section 12(c)(4)(B) of the Ste-
venson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act 
of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(c)(4)(B)). 
‘‘(4) APPEAL
AND
REVIEW
OF
DETERMINA-
TION.—A determination under paragraph (3)(C) is 
subject to administrative appeal and judicial review 
under section 203(b) of title 35, United States 
Code.’’. 
SEC. 804. ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO BUSINESS OPPORTUNI-
TIES. 
Title III of the National Aeronautics and Space Act 
of 1958, as amended by this Act, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 317. ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO BUSINESS OPPORTUNI-
TIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may imple-
ment a pilot program providing for reduction in the wait-
ing period between publication of notice of a proposed con-
tract action and release of the solicitation for procure-
ments conducted by the Administration. 
‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.—The program implemented 
under subsection (a) shall apply to noncommercial acquisi-
tions—
‘‘(1) with a total value in excess of $100,000 
but not more than $5,000,000, including options; 
‘‘(2) that do not involve bundling of contract re-
quirements as defined in section 3(o) of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(o)); and 
‘‘(3) for which a notice is required by section 
8(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)) 
and section 18(a) of the Office of Federal Procure-
ment Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416(a)). 
‘‘(c) NOTICE.—
‘‘(1) ACCESSIBILITY.—Notice of acquisitions 
subject to the program authorized by this section 
shall be made accessible through the single Govern-
ment-wide point of entry designated in the Federal 
Acquisition Regulation, consistent with section
30(c)(4) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
Act (41 U.S.C. 426(c)(4)). 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Providing 
access to notice in accordance with paragraph (1) 
satisfies the publication requirements of section 8(e) 
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)) and 
section 18(a) of the Office of Federal Procurement 
Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416(a)). 
‘‘(d) SOLICITATION.—Solicitations subject to the pro-
gram authorized by this section shall be made accessible 
through the Governmentwide point of entry, consistent 
with requirements set forth in the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation, except for adjustments to the wait periods as 
provided in subsection (e). 
‘‘(e) WAIT PERIOD.—
‘‘(1) REDUCTION.—Whenever a notice required 
by section 8(e)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 637(e)(1)(A)) and section 18(a) of the Office 
of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 
416(a)) is made accessible in accordance with sub-
section (c) of this section, the wait period set forth 
in section 8(e)(3)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 637(e)(3)(A)) and section 18(a)(3)(A) of the 
Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 
416(a)(3)(A)), shall be reduced by 5 days. If the so-
licitation applying to that notice is accessible elec-
tronically in accordance with subsection (d) simulta-
neously with issuance of the notice, the wait period 
set forth in section 8(e)(3)(A) of the Small Business 
Act 
(15 
U.S.C. 
637(e)(3)(A)) 
and 
section 
18(a)(3)(A) of the Office of Federal Procurement 
Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416(a)(3)(A)) shall not apply 
and the period specified in section 8(e)(3)(B) of the 
Small Business Act and section 18(a)(3)(B) of the 
Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act for sub-
mission of bids or proposals shall begin to run from 
the date the solicitation is electronically accessible. 
‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—When a notice and solicita-
tion are made accessible simultaneously and the wait 
period is waived pursuant to paragraph (1), the 
deadline for the submission of bids or proposals shall 
be not less than 5 days greater than the minimum 
deadline set forth in section 8(e)(3)(B) of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)(3)(B)) and section 
18(a)(3)(B) of the Office of Federal Procurement 
Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416(a)(3)(B)). 
‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION.—
‘‘(1) 
MODIFICATION
OF
REQUIREMENTS.—
Nothing in this section shall be construed as modi-
fying regulatory requirements set forth in the Fed-
eral Acquisition Regulation, except with respect to—
‘‘(A) the applicable wait period between 
publication of notice of a proposed contract ac-
tion and release of the solicitation; and 
‘‘(B) the deadline for submission of bids or 
proposals for procurements conducted in ac-
cordance with the terms of this pilot program. 
‘‘(2) NONAPPLICABILITY.—This section shall 
not apply to the extent the President determines it 
is inconsistent with any international agreement to 
which the United States is a party. 
‘‘(g) STUDY.—Not later than 18 months after the ef-
fective date of the program, the Administration, in coordi-
nation with the Small Business Administration, the Gen-
eral Services Administration, and the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget, shall evaluate the impact of the pilot 
program and submit to Congress a report that—
‘‘(1) sets forth in detail the results of the test, 
including the impact on competition and small busi-
ness participation; and 
‘‘(2) addresses whether the pilot program 
should be made permanent, continued as a test pro-
gram, or allowed to expire.
‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall pub-
lish proposed revisions to the NASA Federal Acquisition 
Regulation Supplement necessary to implement this sec-
tion in the Federal Register not later than 120 days after 
the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005. The Ad-
ministrator shall—
‘‘(1) make the proposed regulations available 
for public comment for a period of not less than 60 
days; and 
‘‘(2) publish final regulations in the Federal 
Register not later than 240 days after the date of 
enactment of that Act. 
‘‘(i) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program author-
ized by this section shall take effect on the date 
specified in the final regulations promulgated pursu-
ant to subsection (h)(2). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The date so specified shall 
be not less than 30 days after the date on which the 
final regulation is published. 
‘‘(j) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority to 
conduct the pilot program under subsection (a) and to 
award contracts under such program shall expire 2 years 
after the effective date established in the final regulations
published in the Federal Register under subsection 
(h)(2).’’. 
SEC. 805. REQUIREMENT FOR INDEPENDENT COST ANAL-
YSIS. 
Section 301 of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration Authorization Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 
2459g) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Phase B’’ in subsection (a) and 
inserting ‘‘implementation’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘$150,000,000’’ in subsection 
(a) and inserting ‘‘$250,000,000’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘Chief Financial Officer’’ each 
place it appears in subsection (a) and inserting ‘‘Ad-
ministrator’’; 
(4) by inserting ‘‘and consider’’ in subsection 
(a) after ‘‘shall conduct’’; and 
(5) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘implementation’ means all activity in the life 
cycle of a project after preliminary design, independent as-
sessment of the preliminary design, and approval to pro-
ceed into implementation, including critical design, devel-
opment, certification, launch, operations, disposal of as-
sets, and, for technology programs, development, testing, 
analysis and communication of the results.’’. 
SEC. 806. LIMITATIONS ON OFF-SHORE PERFORMANCE OF 
CONTRACTS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF 
GOODS AND SERVICES. 
(a) CONVERSIONS TO CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE 
OF ADMINISTRATION ACTIVITIES.—Except as provided in 
subsection (c), an activity or function of the Administra-
tion that is converted to contractor performance under Of-
fice of Management and Budget Circular A–76 may not 
be performed by the contractor or any subcontractor at 
a location outside the United States. 
(b) CONTRACTS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF SERV-
ICES.—(1) Except as provided in subsection (c), a contract 
for the procurement of goods or services that is entered 
into by the Administrator may not be performed outside 
the United States unless it is to meet a requirement of 
the Administration for goods or services specifically at a 
location outside the United States. 
(2) The President may waive the prohibition in para-
graph (1) in the case of any contract for which the Presi-
dent determines in writing that it is necessary in the na-
tional security interests of the United States for goods or 
services under the contract to be performed outside the 
United States.
(3) The Administrator may waive the prohibition in 
paragraph (1) in the case of any contract for which the 
Administrator determines in writing that essential goods 
or services under the contract are only available from a 
source outside the United States. 
(c) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (a) and (b)(1) shall 
not apply to the extent that the activity or function under 
the contract was previously performed by Federal Govern-
ment employees outside the United States. 
TITLE IX—INDEPENDENT 
COMMISSIONS 
SEC. 901. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this title—
(1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means a Commis-
sion established under this title; 
(2) the term ‘‘incident’’ means either an acci-
dent or a deliberate act; and 
(3) the term ‘‘NTSB’’ means the National 
Transportation Safety Board. 
Subtitle 
A—International 
Space 
Station 
Independent 
Safety 
Commission 
SEC. 911. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 
an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the exec-
utive branch to discover and assess any vulnerabilities of 
the International Space Station that could lead to its de-
struction, compromise the health of its crew, or necessitate 
its premature abandonment. 
(b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Presi-
dent shall issue an executive order establishing a Commis-
sion within 30 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 912. TASKS OF THE COMMISSION. 
The Commission established under section 911 shall, 
to the extent possible, undertake the following tasks: 
(1) Catalog threats to and vulnerabilities of the 
ISS, including design flaws, natural phenomena, 
computer software or hardware flaws, sabotage or 
terrorist attack, number of crewmembers, and inabil-
ity to adequately deliver replacement parts and sup-
plies, and management or procedural deficiencies. 
(2) Make recommendations for corrective ac-
tions. 
(3) Provide any additional findings or rec-
ommendations considered by the Commission to be 
important, whether or not they are related to ISS 
safety. 
(4) Prepare a report to Congress, the Presi-
dent, and the public.
Subtitle B—Human Space Flight 
Independent Investigation Com-
mission 
SEC. 921. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 
an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the exec-
utive branch to investigate any incident that results in the 
loss of—
(1) a Space Shuttle; 
(2) the International Space Station or its oper-
ational viability; 
(3) any other United States space vehicle car-
rying humans; 
(4) any space vehicle carrying United States 
citizens; or 
(5) a crew member or passenger of any space 
vehicle described in this subsection. 
(b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Presi-
dent shall issue an executive order establishing a Commis-
sion within 7 days after an incident specified in subsection 
(a). 
SEC. 922. TASKS OF THE COMMISSION. 
A Commission established pursuant to this subtitle 
shall, to the extent possible, undertake the following tasks: 
(1) Investigate the incident.
(2) Determine the cause of the incident. 
(3) Identify all contributing factors to the cause 
of the incident. 
(4) Make recommendations for corrective ac-
tions. 
(5) Provide any additional findings or rec-
ommendations deemed by the Commission to be im-
portant, whether or not they are related to the spe-
cific incident under investigation. 
(6) Prepare a report to Congress, the Presi-
dent, and the public. 
SEC. 923. ROLE OF NTSB. 
The NTSB shall assume responsibility for the inves-
tigation of any incident described in section 921(a) imme-
diately upon the occurrence of that incident. The NTSB 
shall transfer responsibility for the investigation to a Com-
mission established pursuant to this subtitle as soon as 
the Commission holds its initial meeting under section 
931(d). 
Subtitle C—Organization and 
Operation of Commissions 
SEC. 931. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSIONS. 
(a) NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS.—A Commission 
established pursuant to this title shall consist of 15 mem-
bers.