Sec. 502. Space Technology Program

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Section 70507 of title 51, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: The Administrator shall establish a Space Technology Program to pursue the research and development of advanced space technologies that have the potential of delivering innovative solutions and to support human exploration of the solar system or advanced space science. The program established by the Administrator shall take into consideration the recommendations of the National Academies’ review of the Administration’s Space Technology roadmaps and priorities, as well as applicable enabling aspects of the Human Exploration Roadmap specified in section 70504.

In conducting the space technology program established under this section, the Administrator shall— to the maximum extent practicable, use a competitive process to select projects to be supported as part of the program; make use of small satellites and the Administration’s suborbital and ground-based platforms, to the extent practicable and appropriate, to demonstrate space technology concepts and developments; and undertake partnerships with other Federal agencies, universities, private industry, and other spacefaring nations, as appropriate.

The Administrator shall organize and manage the Administration’s Small Business Innovation Research program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program within the Space Technology Program. The Administrator shall include in the budget for each fiscal year, as transmitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, a certification that no project, program, or mission undertaken by the Space Technology Program is duplicative of any other project, program, or mission conducted by another office or directorate of the Administration. .

The Administrator shall ensure that the Administration’s projects, programs, and activities in support of technology research and development of advanced space technologies are fully coordinated and aligned and that results from such work are shared and leveraged within the Administration. Projects, programs, and activities being conducted by the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate in support of research and development of advanced space technologies and systems focusing on human space exploration should continue in that Directorate.

The Administrator shall ensure that organizational responsibility for research and development activities in support of human space exploration not initiated as of the date of enactment of this Act is established on the basis of a sound rationale. The Administrator shall provide the rationale in the report specified in subsection (d). Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report comparing the Administration’s space technology investments with the high-priority technology areas identified by the National Academies in the National Research Council’s report on the Administration’s Space Technology Roadmaps.

The Administrator shall identify how the Administration will address any gaps between the agency’s investments and the recommended technology areas, including a projection of funding requirements. The Administrator shall include in the Administration’s annual budget request for each fiscal year the rationale for assigning organizational responsibility for, in the year prior to the budget fiscal year, each initiated project, program, and mission focused on research and development of advanced technologies for human space exploration.

The item relating to section 70507 in the table of sections for chapter 705 of title 51, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 70507. Space Technology Program authorized. .