Sec. 302. Transportation to ISS

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Congress finds that reliance on foreign carriers for United States crew transfer is unacceptable, and the Nation’s human space flight program must acquire the capability to launch United States government astronauts on vehicles using United States rockets from United States soil as soon as is safe, reliable, and affordable to do so. It is the sense of Congress that— once developed and certified to meet the Administration’s safety and reliability requirements, United States commercially provided crew transportation systems can serve as the primary means of transporting United States government astronauts and international partner astronauts to and from the ISS and serving as ISS crew rescue vehicles; previous budgetary assumptions used by the Administration in its planning for the Commercial Crew Program assumed significantly higher funding levels than were authorized and appropriated by Congress; credibility in the Administration’s budgetary estimates for the Commercial Crew Program can be enhanced by an independently developed cost estimate; such credibility in budgetary estimates is an important factor in understanding program risk;

United States access to low-Earth orbit is paramount to the continued success of the ISS and ISS National Laboratory; a stable and successful Commercial Resupply Services Program and Commercial Crew Program are critical to ensuring timely provisioning of the ISS and to reestablishing the capability to launch United States government astronauts from United States soil into orbit, ending reliance upon Russian transport of United States government astronauts to the ISS which has not been possible since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011;

NASA should build upon the success of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program and Commercial Resupply Services Program that have allowed private sector companies to partner with NASA to deliver cargo and scientific experiments to the ISS since 2012; the 21st Century Launch Complex Program has enabled significant modernization and infrastructure improvements at launch sites across the United States to support NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Program and other civil and commercial space flight missions; and the 21st Century Launch Complex Program should be continued in a manner that leverages State and private investments to achieve the goals of that program.

Congress reaffirms— its commitment to the use of a commercially developed, private sector launch and delivery system to the ISS for crew missions as expressed in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 ( Public Law 109–155 ; 119 Stat. 2895), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008 ( Public Law 110–422 ; 122 Stat. 4779), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 ( 42 U.S.C. 18301 et seq.); and the requirement under section 50111(b)(1)(A) of title 51, United States Code, that the Administration shall make use of United States commercially provided ISS crew transfer and crew rescue services to the maximum extent practicable.

Section 201(a) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 ( 42 U.S.C. 18311(a) ) is amended to read as follows: The Federal Government may not acquire human space flight transportation services from a foreign entity unless— no United States Government-operated human space flight capability is available; no United States commercial provider is available; and it is a qualified foreign entity. In this subsection: The term commercial provider means any person providing human space flight transportation services, primary control of which is held by persons other than the Federal Government, a State or local government, or a foreign government.

The term qualified foreign entity means a foreign entity that is in compliance with all applicable safety standards and is not prohibited from providing space transportation services under other law. The term United States commercial provider means a commercial provider, organized under the laws of the United States or of a State, that is more than 50 percent owned by United States nationals. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the Administrator from negotiating or entering into human space flight transportation arrangements with foreign entities to ensure safety of flight and continued ISS operations. .

The objective of the Commercial Crew Program shall be to assist in the development and certification of commercially provided transportation that— can carry United States government astronauts safely, reliably, and affordably to and from the ISS; can serve as a crew rescue vehicle; and can accomplish subparagraphs

(A)and

(B)as soon as practicable. The objective described in paragraph

(1)shall be the primary consideration in the acquisition strategy for the Commercial Crew Program. The Administrator shall protect the safety of government astronauts by ensuring that each commercially provided transportation system under this subsection meets all applicable human rating requirements in accordance with section 403(b)(1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 ( 42 U.S.C. 18342(b)(1) ). Consistent with the findings and recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, the Administration shall ensure that safety and the minimization of the probability of loss of crew are the critical priorities of the Commercial Crew Program. The Administrator shall strive through the competitive selection process to minimize the life cycle cost to the Administration through the planned period of commercially provided crew transportation services. Section 401 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 ( 42 U.S.C. 18341 ) is amended by striking Commercial Orbital Transportation Services and inserting Commercial Resupply Services . It is the policy of the United States that, to foster the competitive development, operation, improvement, and commercial availability of space transportation services, and to minimize the life cycle cost to the Administration, the Administrator shall procure services for Federal Government access to and return from the ISS, whenever practicable, via fair and open competition for well-defined, milestone-based, Federal Acquisition Regulation-based contracts under section 201(a) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 ( 42 U.S.C. 18311(a) ). It is the sense of Congress that cost transparency and schedule transparency aid in effective program management and risk assessment. The Administrator shall, to the greatest extent practicable and in a manner that does not add costs or schedule delays to the program, ensure all Commercial Crew Program and Commercial Resupply Services Program providers provide evidence-based support for their costs and schedules. Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that— identifies the lessons learned to date from previous and existing Commercial Resupply Services contracts; indicates whether changes are needed to the manner in which the Administration procures and manages similar services prior to the issuance of future Commercial Resupply Services procurement opportunities; and identifies any lessons learned from the Commercial Resupply Services contracts that should be applied to the procurement and management of commercially provided crew transfer services to and from the ISS or to other future procurements.

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