Sec. 2. Space weather
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Subtitle VI of title 51, United States Code, is amended by adding after chapter 605 the following: Sec. 60701. Space weather. 60702. Observations and forecasting. 60703. Research and technology. 60704. Space weather data. Congress makes the following findings: Space weather events pose a significant threat to ground-based and space-based critical infrastructure, modern technological systems, and humans working in space. The effects of severe space weather events on the electric power grid, satellites and satellite communications and information, aviation operations, astronauts living and working in space, and space-based position, navigation, and timing systems could have significant societal, economic, national security, and health impacts.
Earth and space observations provide crucial data necessary to predict and warn about space weather events. Clear roles and accountability of Federal departments and agencies are critical for an efficient and effective response to threats posed by space weather. Space weather observation and forecasting are essential for the success of space exploration. In October 2015, the National Science and Technology Council published a National Space Weather Strategy and a National Space Weather Action Plan seeking to integrate national space weather efforts and add new capabilities to meet increasing demand for space weather information.
Congress makes the following findings: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration— provides operational space weather forecasting and monitoring for civil applications; maintains ground and space-based assets to provide observations needed for forecasting, prediction, and warnings; provides research to support operation responsibilities; and develops requirements for space weather forecasting technologies and science. The Department of Defense provides operational space weather forecasting, monitoring, and research for the department's unique missions and applications.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides increased understanding of the fundamental physics of the Sun-Earth system through space-based observations and modeling, develops new space-based technologies and missions, and monitors space weather for NASA's space missions. The National Science Foundation provides increased understanding of the Sun-Earth system through ground-based measurements, technologies, and modeling. The Department of the Interior collects, distributes, and archives operational ground-based magnetometer data in the United States and its territories, works with the international community to improve global geophysical monitoring, and develops crustal conductivity models to assess and mitigate risk from space weather induced electric ground currents.
The Federal Aviation Administration provides operational requirements for space weather services in support of aviation and for coordination of these requirements with the International Civil Aviation Organization, integrates space weather data and products into the Next Generation Air Transportation System. The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall— coordinate the development and implementation of Federal Government activities to improve the ability of the United States to prepare, avoid, mitigate, respond to, and recover from potentially devastating impacts of space weather events; and coordinate the activities of the space weather interagency working group established under subsection (c).
The National Science and Technology Council shall establish an interagency working group on space weather (referred to in this section as the interagency working group ) to continue coordination of executive branch efforts to understand, prepare, coordinate, and plan for space weather. In order to understand and respond to the adverse effects of space weather, the interagency working group shall leverage capabilities across participating Federal agencies, including— the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the National Science Foundation; the Department of Defense; the Department of the Interior; the Department of Homeland Security; the Department of Energy; the Department of Transportation, including the Federal Aviation Administration; and the Department of State.
It is the sense of Congress that the interagency collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on terrestrial weather observations provides— an effective mechanism for improving weather and climate data collection while avoiding unnecessary duplication of capabilities across Federal agencies; and an agency collaboration model that could benefit space weather observations. The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall enter into one or more interagency agreements providing for cooperation and collaboration in the development of space weather spacecraft, instruments, and technologies in accordance with this chapter.
The interagency working group shall establish a space weather advisory group (in this chapter referred to as the advisory group ) to facilitate communication and knowledge transfer among Federal Government agencies, the academic community, the commercial sector, and space weather end users. The advisory group shall be composed of not more than 15 members appointed by the interagency working group, of whom— 5 members shall be representatives of the academic community; 5 members shall be representatives of the commercial sector; and 5 members shall be nongovernmental representatives of the space weather end user community.
Not later than 30 days after the date on which the last member of the advisory group is appointed under paragraph (2), the interagency working group shall appoint 1 member as the Chair of the advisory group. The length of the term of each member of the advisory group shall be 3 years beginning on the date on which the member is appointed. A member of the advisory group may not serve on the advisory group for more than 2 consecutive terms. A member of the advisory group may not serve as the Chair of the advisory group for more than 2 terms, regardless of whether the terms are consecutive.
The duties of the advisory group shall be as follows: To facilitate advances in the space weather enterprise of the United States. To improve the ability of the United States to prepare for, avoid, mitigate, respond to, and recover from space weather events. To enable the coordination of research to operations and operations to research, as described in section 60703(d). To advise the interagency working group with respect to the development and implementation of the integrated strategy developed under section 60702(b) and subsequent updates and reevaluations.
It is the policy of the United States to establish and sustain a baseline capability for space weather observations. The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in coordination with the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Secretary of Defense, and in consultation with the academic community, the commercial sector, and the advisory group shall develop an integrated strategy for solar, solar wind, and geospace observations beyond the lifetime of current assets that considers the provision of solar, solar wind, and geospace measurements and other space weather measurements— essential to space weather forecasting; and important for scientific purposes.
In developing the strategy under paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall— consider small satellite options, hosted payloads, commercial options, international options, and prize authority; and leverage and build on work conducted before the date of the enactment of this chapter by the National Science and Technology Council with respect to space weather. In order to sustain current space-based observational capabilities, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall— in cooperation with the European Space Agency and other international and interagency partners, maintain operations of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (referred to in this section as SOHO/LASCO ) for as long as the satellite continues to deliver quality observations; and prioritize the reception of LASCO data.
The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall secure reliable secondary capability for near real-time coronal mass ejection imagery. The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall develop options to build and deploy one or more instruments for near real-time coronal mass ejection imagery. In developing options under paragraph (2), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall consider commercial solutions, prize authority, academic and international partnerships, microsatellites, ground-based instruments, and opportunities to deploy the instrument or instruments as a secondary payload on an upcoming planned launch.
In implementing paragraph (1), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall prioritize a cost-effective solution. The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall develop an operational contingency plan to provide continuous space weather forecasting in the event of a SOHO/LASCO failure. Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act , the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall provide a briefing to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives on the options for building and deploying the instrument or instruments described in paragraph
(2)and the operational contingency plan developed under paragraph (5). The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall develop requirements and a plan for follow-on space-based observations for operational purposes, in accordance with the integrated strategy developed under subsection (b). Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act , the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 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 integrated strategy under subsection (b), including the plans for follow-on space-based observations under subsection (e). The National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey, the Air Force, and where practicable in support of the Air Force, the Navy shall each— maintain and improve, as necessary and advisable, ground-based observations of the Sun to help meet the priorities identified in section 60703(a); and provide space weather data by means of its set of ground-based facilities, including radars, lidars, magnetometers, radio receivers, aurora and airglow imagers, spectrometers, interferometers, and solar observatories. The National Science Foundation shall— make available to the public key data streams from the platforms described in subsection
(g)for research and to support space weather model development; develop experimental models for scientific purposes; and support the transition of the experimental models to operations where appropriate. The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of the Air Force, and where practicable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, in conjunction with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall conduct a comprehensive survey to identify and prioritize the needs of space weather forecast users, including space weather data and space weather forecast data needed to improve services and inform research priorities and technology needs. In conducting the comprehensive survey under paragraph (1), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of the Air Force, and where practicable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, at a minimum, shall— consider the goals for forecast lead time, accuracy, coverage, timeliness, data rate, and data quality for space weather observations; identify opportunities to address the needs identified under paragraph
(1)through collaborations with academia, the private sector, and the international community; identify opportunities for new technologies and instrumentation to address the needs identified under paragraph (1); and publish a report on the findings under subparagraphs
(A)through (C). Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act , and every 3 years thereafter, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of the Air Force, and where practicable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, shall— make the results of the comprehensive survey publicly available; and notify the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives of the publication under subparagraph (A). The Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Secretary of Defense shall continue to carry out basic research activities on heliophysics, geospace science, and space weather and support competitive, merit-based, peer-reviewed proposals for research, modeling, and monitoring of space weather and its impacts, including science goals outlined in Solar and Space Physics Decadal surveys conducted by the National Academy of Sciences. Congress finds that the multidisciplinary nature of solar and space physics creates funding challenges that require coordination across scientific disciplines and Federal agencies. The Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall pursue multidisciplinary research in subjects that further our understanding of solar physics, space physics, and space weather. It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Director of the National Science Foundation should support competitively awarded Heliophysics Science Centers. The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall seek to implement missions that meet the science objectives identified in Solar and Space Physics Decadal surveys conducted by the National Academy of Sciences. The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of the Air Force, and where practicable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, shall— develop a formal mechanism to transition National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, United States Geological Survey, Air Force, and Navy research findings, models, and capabilities, as appropriate, to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Department of Defense space weather operational forecasting centers; and enhance coordination between research modeling centers and forecasting centers. The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Director of the National Science Foundation, shall develop a formal mechanism to communicate the operational needs of space weather forecasters to the research community. Congress finds that observations and measurements closer to the Sun or at the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L5 point with advanced instrumentation would provide for more advanced warning of space weather disturbances (as defined in section 3(a) of the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act ). The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Director of the National Science Foundation shall support the development of technologies and instrumentation to improve space weather forecasting lead-time and accuracy to meet the needs identified by the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Director of the National Science Foundation shall— make space weather related data obtained for scientific research purposes available to space weather forecasters and operations centers; and support model development and model applications to space weather forecasting. The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall make space weather related data obtained from operational forecasting available for scientific research. . Section 809 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 ( 42 U.S.C. 18388 ) and the item relating to that section in the table of contents under section 1(b) of that Act (124 Stat. 2806) are repealed. The table of chapters of title 51, United States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to chapter 605 the following: 607. Space weather 60701 .
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- 124 Stat. 2806
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