I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7448 
To require a study on the resiliency of space access infrastructure for national 
security requirements, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 7, 2022 
Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself and Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a 
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To require a study on the resiliency of space access infra-
structure for national security requirements, 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 ‘‘Spaceport Tiering for 
Access Resiliency Act’’ or the ‘‘STAR Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. STUDY ON SPACE ACCESS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR 
NATIONAL SECURITY RESILIENCY. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, 
in coordination with the Secretary of Transportation, shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-
port on the resiliency of space access infrastructure to 
meet national security requirements. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 
shall include the following: 
(1) An identification of the current and pro-
jected launch requirements for national security mis-
sions, including with respect to payload, orbit type, 
orbit longitude, and orbit inclination. 
(2) A categorization of each spaceport and 
other launch site by the capability of the spaceport 
and site— 
(A) to meet the launch requirements of all 
national security missions; 
(B) to meet the launch requirements of a 
portion of national security missions; 
(C) with respect to spaceports and sites 
not identified under subparagraph (A), to meet 
the launch requirements of all national security 
missions if the spaceport received improve-
ments; and 
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(D) with respect to spaceports and sites 
not identified under subparagraph (A), (B), or 
(C), to meet the launch requirements of a por-
tion of national security missions if the space-
port or site received improvements. 
(3) An assessment of the operational risks to 
each spaceport and site identified under paragraph 
(2). 
(4) An aggregation of the operational risks to 
the spaceports and sites identified under paragraph 
(2). 
(5) An assessment of the vulnerabilities and the 
overall resiliency of space access for national secu-
rity missions. 
(6) A strategy for spaceport infrastructure by 
the Federal Government, State or local government, 
or the private sector to ensure space access resil-
iency for national security missions. 
(7) Recommendations for prioritization of Fed-
eral 
investment 
in 
spaceports 
to 
mitigate 
vulnerabilities to space access and improve resil-
iency. 
(8) Any other information as determined by the 
Secretaries specified in subsection (a). 
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(c) FORM.—The report under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in an unclassified form, but may include a clas-
sified annex if necessary. The Secretary shall make the 
unclassified portions of such report publicly available pur-
suant to section 122a of title 10, United States Code. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the following: 
(A) The congressional defense committees. 
(B) The Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, the Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology, and the Permanent Se-
lect Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
Representatives. 
(C) The Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation and the Select Committee 
on Intelligence of the Senate. 
(2) The term ‘‘congressional defense commit-
tees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 
(3) The term ‘‘operational risk’’ includes— 
(A) a cyber attack; 
(B) a conventional military or terrorist at-
tack; 
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(C) an extreme weather event that could 
occur during the fifteen-year period beginning 
on the date of the enactment of this Act; 
(D) an action by an adversary to deny 
space access, including intentional creation of 
orbital debris; 
(E) a limitation due to launch vehicle de-
sign constraint; 
(F) a disruption to critical infrastructure 
necessary for launch activity; and 
(G) any other threat to space access as de-
termined by the Secretaries specified in sub-
section (a). 
(4) The term ‘‘other launch site’’ means a non- 
governmental launch and re-entry site used exclu-
sively by a private entity. 
(5) The term ‘‘spaceport’’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 80101 of title 51, United 
States Code, as added by section 3. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF SPACEPORT POLICY AND 
PLANNING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 51, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by adding at the end the following new sub-
title: 
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‘‘Subtitle VIII—Spaceports 
‘‘CHAPTER 801—SPACEPORTS 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘80101. Definition. 
‘‘80102. Policy. 
‘‘80103. Establishment of Office of Spaceports. 
‘‘80104. Tiering. 
‘‘80105. National plan for spaceports. 
‘‘§ 80101. Definition 
‘‘In this subtitle, the term ‘spaceport’ means a launch 
or reentry site that is— 
‘‘(1) operated by an entity licensed by the Sec-
retary of Transportation; or 
‘‘(2) owned or operated by the Secretary of De-
fense. 
‘‘§ 80102. Policy 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It is the policy of the United 
States— 
‘‘(1) to encourage the development of space-
ports to serve efficiently and effectively private sec-
tor and United States Government access to space; 
‘‘(2) that redundant and resilient access to 
space is foundational to promoting economic devel-
opment and national security; 
‘‘(3) that access to space must be efficiently 
and fully integrated with the national airspace sys-
tem; and 
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‘‘(4) that safety and environmental consider-
ations are critical components of access to space. 
‘‘(b) PRIORITY POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States to give special emphasis to developing 
spaceports capable of satisfying national security launch 
requirements. 
‘‘§ 80104. Tiering 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 
shall establish a tiering system for spaceports that cat-
egorizes their operation for purposes of planning, develop-
ment, and expenditure of funds. 
‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the tiering 
system for spaceports under subsection (a), the Secretary 
of Transportation shall consider the following: 
‘‘(1) The type of orbit which may be reached 
from the spaceport at issue, including if such space-
port is limited to suborbital launches. 
‘‘(2) The maximum payload capacity of such 
spaceport. 
‘‘(3) The annual launch capacity of such space-
port. 
‘‘(4) National security requirements. 
‘‘§ 80105. National plan for spaceports 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall 
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develop a plan, to be known as the ‘national plan for 
spaceports’ (in this section referred to as the ‘plan’), for 
developing spaceports in the United States. 
‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The plan shall include the 
types and estimated cost of eligible spaceport development 
the Secretary of Transportation considers necessary to 
provide redundant and resilient access to space necessary 
to carry out the policies specified in section 80102. 
‘‘(c) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The plan shall in-
clude a categorization of spaceports pursuant to the tiers 
established under section 80104. 
‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan, the 
Secretary of Transportation shall, to the extent possible 
and as appropriate, consult with— 
‘‘(1) departments, agencies, and instrumental-
ities of the United States Government; 
‘‘(2) public agencies; and 
‘‘(3) the space community. 
‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF DOMESTIC MILITARY SPACE-
PORT AND SPACEPORT FACILITIES.—To the extent pos-
sible, the Secretary of Defense shall make domestic mili-
tary spaceports and spaceport facilities available for civil 
use. In consulting with the Secretary of Transportation 
under subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall indi-
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cate the extent to which domestic military spaceports and 
spaceport facilities are available for civil use. 
‘‘(f) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall publish the plan every two years.’’; 
(2) by— 
(A) transferring section 51501 to subtitle 
VIII, as added by paragraph (1); 
(B) inserting such section 51501 after sec-
tion 80102, as so added by such paragraph; 
and 
(C) redesignating such section 51501, as 
so transferred and inserted, as section 80103; 
and 
(3) in such section 80103, as so transferred 
and redesignated— 
(A) in subsection (c)— 
(i) in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1), by striking ‘‘host’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (1), by inserting 
‘‘host’’ before ‘‘launches’’; and 
(B) by striking subsection (e). 
(b) CLERICAL
AMENDMENTS.—Title 51, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in the table of subtitles— 
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(A) by adding at the end the following new 
items: 
‘‘Subtitle VIII—Spaceports 
‘‘801. Spaceports ...................................................................................... 80101’’; 
and 
(B) by striking the item relating to chapter 
515; and 
(2) in subtitle V, by striking the heading relat-
ing to chapter 515. 
SEC. 4. STUDY ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SPACEPORT 
IMPROVEMENT PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans-
portation, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense 
and the Secretary of Commerce, after providing an oppor-
tunity for public comment, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the implementation 
of a spaceport improvement program. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 
shall include the following: 
(1) An assessment of the feasibility of estab-
lishing a spaceport trust fund for the improvement 
of spaceports. 
(2) Recommendations for a fee structure to 
fund such a trust fund. 
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(3) Recommendations for establishing a space-
port improvement program, including a grant pro-
gram through which to distribute funds from such a 
trust fund. 
(4) Recommendations for the tiers of space-
ports under section 80104 of title 51, United States 
Code, as added by section 3, to be eligible to receive 
a grant under such spaceport improvement program. 
(5) Recommendations for the apportionment of 
funds to spaceports, including minimums, maxi-
mums, and prioritization of the distribution of such 
funds. 
(6) Recommended modifications to the national 
plan for spaceports under section 80105 of title 51, 
United States Code, as added by section 3, to incor-
porate such spaceport improvement program. 
(c) FORM.—The report under subsection (a) shall 
be— 
(1) submitted in an unclassified form; and 
(2) posted on a publicly available website of the 
Department of Transportation. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the following: 
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(A) The Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. 
(B) The Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate. 
(C) The Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives. 
(D) The congressional defense committees. 
(2) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 
The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 101(a)(16) 
of title 10, United States Code. 
Æ 
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