[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 584 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 584
To extend the commitment of the United States to the International
Space Station, to develop advanced space suits, and to enable human
space settlement, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 27, 2019
Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend the commitment of the United States to the International
Space Station, to develop advanced space suits, and to enable human
space settlement, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Advancing Human Spaceflight Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Apollo 11 landing on July 20, 1969, marked the
first steps of a human being on the surface of another world,
representing a giant leap for all humanity and a significant
demonstration of the spaceflight capabilities of the United
States.
(2) Section 202(a) of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18312(a))
establishes for the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration the long-term goals of expanding human presence
in space and establishing a thriving space economy in low-Earth
orbit and beyond.
(3) The 2017 National Security Strategy designates the
human exploration of the solar system as a strategic priority
for the United States.
(4) Establishing and ensuring the sustainability of human
space exploration of the solar system, as called for in the
Space Policy Directive-1 entitled ``Reinvigorating America's
Human Space Exploration Program'' (82 Fed. Reg. 239 (December
11, 2017)) and the National Space Exploration Campaign Report
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued in
September 2018, will require carrying out human exploration and
related extravehicular activities on the surface of other
celestial bodies in a safe and cost-effective manner.
(5) The Johnson Space Center has decades of experience
working with international partners, other Federal agencies,
and partners in industry and academia to study, develop, and
carry out the human spaceflight priorities of the United
States.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(3) Johnson space center.--The term ``Johnson Space
Center'' means the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston,
Texas.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF HUMAN
PRESENCE CAPABILITY IN LOW-EARTH ORBIT.
It is the policy of the United States to permanently establish a
human presence capability in low-Earth orbit and that such capability
shall--
(1) maintain the global leadership of the United States and
relationships with partners and allies;
(2) contribute to the general welfare of the United States;
and
(3) be affordable so as not to preclude a robust portfolio
of other human space exploration activities.
SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
(a) Continuation of International Space Station.--Section 501(a) of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of
2010 (42 U.S.C. 18351(a)) is amended by striking ``2024'' and inserting
``2030''.
(b) Continued Operations and Maintenance of United States Segment
of International Space Station.--Section 503(a) of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42
U.S.C. 18353(a)) is amended by striking ``2024'' and inserting
``2030''.
(c) Research Capacity Allocation and Integration of Research
Payloads.--Section 504(d) of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18354(d)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by striking
``2024'' and inserting ``2030''; and
(2) in paragraph (2), in the third sentence, by striking
``2024'' and inserting ``2030''.
(d) Maintaining Use Through at Least 2030.--Section 70907 of title
51, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by striking ``2024'' and
inserting ``2030'';
(2) in subsection (a), by striking ``2024'' and inserting
``2030''; and
(3) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ``2024'' and
inserting ``2030''.
(e) Transition Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives a strategy that--
(1) describes the manner in which the Administration will
ensure a stepwise transition to an eventual successor platform
consistent with the ISS Transition Principles specified in the
International Space Station Transition Report issued pursuant
to section 50111(c)(2) of title 51, United States Code, on
March 30, 2018;
(2) includes capability-driven milestones and timelines
leading to such a transition;
(3) takes into account the importance of maintaining
workforce expertise, core capabilities, and continuity at the
centers of the Administration, including such centers that are
primarily focused on human spaceflight;
(4) considers how any transition described in paragraph (1)
affects international and commercial partnerships;
(5) presents opportunities for future engagement with--
(A) international partners;
(B) countries with growing spaceflight
capabilities, if such engagement is not precluded by
other provisions of law;
(C) the scientific community, including the
microgravity research community;
(D) the private sector; and
(E) other United States Government users; and
(6) promotes the continued economic development of low-
Earth orbit.
SEC. 6. ADVANCED SPACE SUITS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Space suits and associated extravehicular activity
technologies (in this section referred to as ``EVA
technologies'') are critical space exploration technologies.
(2) The civil service workforce of the Administration at
the Johnson Space Center has unique capabilities to integrate,
design, and validate space suits and associated EVA
technologies.
(3) Maintaining a strong core competency in the design,
development, manufacture, and operation of space suits and
related technologies allows the Administration to be an
informed purchaser of competitively awarded commercial space
suits and associated EVA technologies.
(4) The Administration should fully use the International
Space Station by 2025 to test future space suits and associated
EVA technologies to reduce risk and improve safety.
(b) Space Suits.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish a
program to develop space suits and associated EVA technologies.
(2) Support for program.--The Director of the Johnson Space
Center shall support the program established under paragraph
(1).
(3) Agreements with private entities.--In carrying out this
subsection, the Administrator may enter into one or more
agreements with one or more private entities, as the
Administrator considers appropriate.
SEC. 7. HUMAN SPACE FACILITIES IN AND BEYOND LOW-EARTH ORBIT.
(a) Human Space Facility Defined.--In this section, the term
``human space facility'' means a structure for use in or beyond low-
Earth orbit that supports, or has the potential to support, human life.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that human
space facilities play a significant role in the long-term pursuit by
the Administration of the exploration goals under section 202(a) of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010
(42 U.S.C. 18312(a)).
(c) Report on Crewed and Uncrewed Human Space Facilities.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives a report on the potential
development of one or more human space facilities.
(2) Contents.--With respect to the potential development of
each human space facility referred to in paragraph (1), the
report required under such paragraph shall include a
description of the following:
(A) The capacity of the human space facility to
advance, enable, or complement human exploration of the
solar system, including human exploration of the
atmosphere and the surface of celestial bodies.
(B) The role of the human space facility as a
staging, logistics, and operations hub in exploration
architecture.
(C) The capacity of the human space facility to
support the research, development, testing, validation,
operation, and launch of space exploration systems and
technologies.
(D) Opportunities and strategies for commercial
operation or public-private partnerships with respect
to the human space facility that protect taxpayer
interests and foster competition.
(E) The role of the human space facility in
encouraging further crewed and uncrewed exploration
investments.
(F) The manner in which the development and
maintenance of the International Space Station would
reduce the cost of, and time necessary for, the
development of the human space facility.
SEC. 8. ENABLING SPACE SETTLEMENT AS A NATIONAL GOAL.
(a) Declaration of Policy and Purpose.--Section 20102 of title 51,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (d) through (h) as
subsections (e) through (i), respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
``(d) Exploration, Development, and Settlement of Space.--Congress
declares that the expansion of permanent human presence beyond Earth in
a manner that enables human space settlement and a thriving space
economy will enhance the general welfare of the United States.'';
(3) in subsection (e), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by
inserting after paragraph (10) the following:
``(11) The expansion of permanent human presence beyond
Earth in a way that enables human space settlement and a
thriving space economy.''; and
(4) in subsection (i), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by
striking ``to (g)'' and inserting ``through (h)''.
(b) Definition of Human Space Settlement.--Section 20103 of title
51, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(D), by inserting ``and development''
after ``exploration''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Human space settlement.--The term `human space
settlement' means a community in space or on a celestial body
in which humans live on a permanent basis and engage in
personal and commercial activity that enables growth over time,
with the goal of becoming economically and biologically self-
sustaining as a part of a larger network of human space
settlements.''.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 808(a) of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18387(a))
is amended by striking ``section 102(g) of the National
Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451(g))'' and
inserting ``section 20102(h) of title 51, United States Code''.
(2) Title 51, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in section 20116, by striking ``section
20102(d)'' each place it appears and inserting
``section 20102(e)''; and
(B) in section 71101, by striking ``section
20102(g)'' and inserting ``section 20102(h)''.
SEC. 9. REPORT ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT RELATING TO LIFE-SUSTAINING
TECHNICAL SYSTEMS.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report on the
research and development of the Administration relating to technical
systems for the self-sufficient sustainment of life in and beyond low-
Earth orbit.
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