I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2522
To authorize appropriations for the design and construction of a hypersonic
research airplane as part of the National Aerospace Plane Program,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 24, 1993
Mr. BROWN of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
A BILL
To authorize appropriations for the design and construction
of a hypersonic research airplane as part of the National
Aerospace Plane Program, 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 ‘‘Hypersonic Research
Airplane Authorization Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The timely development in the United
States of a single-stage-to-orbit, air-breathing aero-
space plane is expected to result in a major reduc-
tion of the cost of payload delivery into space, and
could therefore provide the United States aerospace
industry with a major competitive boost in inter-
national markets in the twenty-first century.
(2) There are significant strategic advantages
associated with having access to a hypersonic aero-
space plane.
(3) The recently restructured National Aero-
space Plane Program, under which the decision to
design and construct an X–30 aircraft has been in-
definitely deferred, has lost sight of the initial goal
of the Program, which was the timely development
of a single-stage-to-orbit hypersonic research air-
plane with an air-breathing engine and the capability
to take off and land from a runway.
(4) To provide the proper focus for the Na-
tional Aerospace Plane Program and to obtain suffi-
cient data for the timely development of a single-
stage-to-orbit hypersonic aircraft, the Program must
include the development, in the near future, of a
hypersonic research airplane which will push the lim-
its of the flight envelope using existing technology.
(5) The timely deployment of a hypersonic re-
search airplane will decrease the overall technical
uncertainty, size, and cost of eventually building a
single-stage-to-orbit airplane.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘National Aerospace Plane’’
means an airplane which—
(A) utilizes single-stage-to-orbit technology;
(B) relies on air-breathing propulsion to
achieve orbital speeds;
(C) utilizes technology with the potential to
reduce substantially the cost of delivery of pay-
loads to orbit; and
(D) can take off and land on a runway.
(2) The term ‘‘hypersonic research airplane’’
means an airplane which—
(A) utilizes air-breathing propulsion and
carries no payload except for a pilot and nec-
essary instrumentation;
(B) is a precursor of the National Aero-
space Plane and is instrumented to collect
hypersonic aerodynamic and combustion data in
the speed regime beyond Mach 8; and
(C) extends flight envelope boundaries by
flying at speeds that push the limits of tech-
nology developed as of the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(3) The term ‘‘single-stage-to-orbit’’ means a
technology which enables an aircraft to fly into orbit
from a runway without expendable booster rockets.
(4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Defense.
(5) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(6) The term ‘‘development’’ means design, con-
struction, and initial testing.
SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF A HYPERSONIC RESEARCH AIR-
PLANE.
(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Within 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary and
the Administrator shall jointly submit to the Congress a
plan for the National Aerospace Plane Program. In devel-
oping the plan, the Secretary and the Administrator shall
consider existing independent proposals which meet the
purposes of the plan. The plan shall—
(1) contain specific plans for the development of
a hypersonic research airplane that costs not more
than $5,000,000,000, and the first flight of which is
within 5 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act; and
(2) have the objective of achieving single-stage-
to-orbit with the airplane referred to in paragraph
(1) or with a research aircraft that is the follow-on
to such an airplane.
(b) PARTICIPATION BY OTHER ENTITIES.—The Sec-
retary and the Administrator may enter into arrange-
ments with Federal agencies, States, universities, non-
profit entities, industry, international sources, or other
persons, or with consortia thereof, for participation in the
research, development, design, construction, and operation
of the hypersonic research airplane referred to in sub-
section (a)(1) and the National Aerospace Plane, except
that any such arrangement may not jeopardize the strate-
gic advantage to the United States to be gained from the
National Aerospace Plane Program.
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary and
the Administrator a total of $5,000,000,000 for fiscal
years 1995 through 2000 to carry out the plan referred
to in subsection (a). No funds appropriated pursuant to
this subsection may be obligated until 60 days after the
submission of the plan under subsection (a)(1).
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