Sec. 1608. Sense of Congress on Range of the Future and support to commercial space launch activity
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/bill/117/hr/7900/pcs/section-1608·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress that— section 1610 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 contained a provision requiring the United States Space Force to deliver a report on its Range of the Future initiative; based on the details in that report, that the Nation’s launch service providers, consistent with decades of national policy, now lead the world in space access, that United States leadership in this strategic capability is critical to national security and economic vitality, and that it is critical to the Nation to continue encouraging and enabling United States space access capabilities to flourish and expand; the rapid growth of the commercial launch industry places a growing demand on Department of Defense resources at Federal space launch ranges, and that this demand growth will continue for the foreseeable future; the 1960s-era infrastructure of the two Department of Defense launch ranges primarily responsible for meeting its assured access to space mission under section 2273 of title 10, United States Code, and complying with section 2276 of such title, is under increasing strain, and needs to be replaced with a modern, state of the art launch infrastructure that encourages and enables continued growth and leadership in space access; maintenance of common use critical infrastructure like roads, culverts, bridges, deluge and water treatment facilities, supply lines, and electrical networks, among others, require immediate attention; investments in infrastructure have not kept pace with commercial demand primarily due to existing authorities which limit reimbursement, flexible financial investment facilities, and reinvestment of revenue in spaceport sustainment, modernization, and growth; the burgeoning commercial space industry requires a more holistic, responsive process leveraging public and private investment; the Department of Defense is constrained to provide services to commercial users only when not needed for public use, yet at the same time must promote commercial space launch capabilities as a critical enabler to national security; the United States Space Force has made great use of existing authorities and those provided by other non-Federal entities to leverage other sources of commercial and State investment to keep pace with demand; a similar State business development entity would be useful for supporting commercial space launch capability development in California at Vandenberg Space Force Base and other spaceports, and Congress looks forward to assisting the Department of Defense in improving its ability to plan and support commercial innovation while continuing to provide world class launch and test facilities; and the Secretary and the Department should engage with all stakeholders, including NASA, other relevant Federal agencies, and the associated congressional authorizing committees of jurisdiction, in any reporting, negotiation, policy, and potential legislative proposals on this matter.