ronmental Satellites (referred to in this section as 
‘GOES’) system, and the Deep Space Climate Ob-
servatory (referred to in this section as ‘DSCOVR’). 
‘‘(c) BACK-UP SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONAL CAPA-
BILITY.—The Administrators of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration, in coordination with the Sec-
retary of Defense, shall work with Federal and inter-
national partners in order to secure reliable backup capa-
bility for near real-time coronal mass ejection imagery, 
solar wind, solar imaging, coronal imagery, and other rel-
evant observations required to provide space weather fore-
casts. 
‘‘(d) SUSTAINING GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONAL 
CAPABILITY.—The Director of the National Science 
Foundation, the Director of the United States Geological 
Survey, the Secretary of the Air Force, and, where prac-
ticable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of the 
Navy shall each— 
‘‘(1) maintain and improve ground-based obser-
vations of the Sun to help meet the needs identified 
in the User Survey from section 60601(e)(3); and 
‘‘(2) continue to provide space weather data 
through ground-based facilities, including radars, 
lidars, magnetometers, radio receivers, aurora and 
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airglow imagers, spectrometers, interferometers, and 
solar observatories. 
‘‘(e) 
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
implementing 
sub-
sections (b), (c), and (d), the Administrators of the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Di-
rectors of the National Science Foundation and United 
States Geological Survey, and the Secretaries of the Air 
Force and the Navy shall prioritize cost-effective and reli-
able solutions. 
‘‘(f) GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONAL DATA.—The 
Director of the National Science Foundation shall— 
‘‘(1) make available to the public key data 
streams from the platforms facilities described in 
subsection (e) for research and to the support of 
space weather model development; 
‘‘(2) develop experimental models for scientific 
purposes; and 
‘‘(3) support the transition of the experimental 
models to operations where appropriate. 
‘‘(g) ENHANCED SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONS.— 
The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, in coordination with the Secretary 
of Defense, should develop options to build and deploy 
space-based observational capabilities that may improve 
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space weather measurements and observations. These sup-
plemental observational capabilities could include commer-
cial solutions, prize authority, academic partnerships, 
microsatellites, ground-based instruments, and opportuni-
ties to deploy the instrument or instruments as a sec-
ondary payload on an upcoming planned launch. 
‘‘§ 60604. Research activities 
‘‘(a) BASIC RESEARCH.—The Director of the Na-
tional Science Foundation, the Administrator of the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Sec-
retary of Defense, shall— 
‘‘(1) continue to carry out basic research on 
heliophysics, geospace science, and space weather; 
and 
‘‘(2) support competitive, peer-reviewed pro-
posals for conducting research, advancing modeling, 
and monitoring of space weather and its impacts, in-
cluding the science goals outlined in decadal surveys 
in solar and space physics conducted by the National 
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 
‘‘(b) MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.— 
‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the multi-
disciplinary nature of solar and space physics creates 
funding challenges that require coordination across 
scientific disciplines and Federal agencies. 
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‘‘(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that science centers could coordinate mul-
tidisciplinary solar and space physics research. The 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration and Director of the National 
Science Foundation should support competitively 
awarded grants for multidisciplinary science centers 
that advance solar and space physics research in-
cluding research to operations and operations to re-
search processes. 
‘‘(3) MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.—The Di-
rector of the National Science Foundation, the Ad-
ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, and the Administrator of the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
shall each pursue multidisciplinary research in sub-
jects that further the understanding of solar physics, 
space physics, and space weather. 
‘‘(c) SCIENCE MISSIONS.—The Administrator of the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration should 
implement missions that meet the science objectives identi-
fied in solar and space physics decadal surveys conducted 
by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 
Medicine. 
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‘‘(d) RESEARCH TO-OPERATIONS; OPERATIONS TO- 
RESEARCH.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The interagency working 
group shall, upon consideration of the advice of the 
advisory group, develop formal mechanisms to— 
‘‘(A) transition National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, National Science Foun-
dation, United States Geological Survey, and 
other relevant Federal agencies space weather 
research findings, models, and capabilities, as 
appropriate, to the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration and the Department 
of Defense; 
‘‘(B) enhance coordination between re-
search modeling centers and forecasting cen-
ters; and 
‘‘(C) communicate National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration and Department of 
Defense operational needs of space weather 
forecasters, as appropriate, to the National Aer-
onautics and Space Administration, the Na-
tional Science Foundation and United States 
Geological Survey. 
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‘‘§ 60605. Space weather data 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Di-
rector of the National Science Foundation shall continue 
to— 
‘‘(1) make space weather related data obtained 
for scientific research purposes available to space 
weather forecasters and operations centers; and 
‘‘(2) support model development and model ap-
plications to space weather forecasting. 
‘‘(b) RESEARCH.—The Administrator of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall make space 
weather related data obtained from operational forecasting 
available for research. 
‘‘§ 60606. Space weather knowledge transfer and in-
formation exchange 
‘‘The Administrator of the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration, in collaboration with the Ad-
ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration and the Director of the National Science Founda-
tion, shall enter into an arrangement with the National 
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to es-
tablish a Space Weather Government-Academic-Commer-
cial Roundtable to facilitate communication and knowl-
edge transfer among Government participants in the space 
weather interagency working group established under sec-
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tion 60601(d), the academic community, and the commer-
cial space weather sector to— 
‘‘(1) facilitate advances in space weather pre-
diction and forecasting; 
‘‘(2) increase coordination of space weather re-
search-to-operations and operations-to-research; and 
‘‘(3) improve preparedness for potential space 
weather events. 
‘‘§ 60607. Space weather benchmarks 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The space weather interagency 
working group established under section 60601(d) shall 
periodically review and update the benchmarks described 
in the report of the National Science and Technology 
Council entitled, ‘Space Weather Phase 1 Benchmarks’ 
and dated June 2018, as necessary, based on— 
‘‘(1) any significant new data or advances in 
scientific understanding that become available; or 
‘‘(2) the evolving needs of entities impacted by 
space weather disturbances. 
‘‘(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
Section 809 of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18388) 
and the item relating to that section in the table of con-
tents under section 1(b) of that Act (124 Stat. 2806) are 
repealed.’’. 
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(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of chapters of title 51, United States Code, is 
amended by adding after the item relating to chapter 605 
the following: 
‘‘606. Space Weather’’. 
Æ 
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