Sec. 306. Commercial low-earth orbit development
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Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the National Space Council, shall transmit to the appropriate committees of Congress a strategy for a robust and resilient architecture to advance NASA and other relevant Federal government civil research, development, and operational requirements in low-Earth orbit. The architecture should— include a mix of crewed and uncrewed platforms; consider an incremental approach to achieving the full suite of capabilities necessary to meet NASA research, development, and operational requirements in low-Earth orbit; consider the requirements described in subsection (b); and sustain and promote United States leadership and international partnerships in carrying out low-Earth orbit activities.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit to the appropriate committees of Congress and make available to relevant United States commercial industry entities, a detailed account of the research, development, and operational requirements for NASA activities in low-Earth orbit, including any requirements that could affect the design, development, instrumentation, and long-term operations of future United States commercial low-Earth orbit platforms and supporting capabilities.
In preparing the detailed account of research, development, and operational requirements, the Administrator may consider the requirements of other relevant Federal agencies. The Administrator is authorized to enter into agreements with one or more United States commercial providers to enable the development and certification of, and procure capabilities related to, a United States private, low-Earth orbit platform or platforms, and to use such platforms or platforms and related capabilities to achieve the goals set forth in the strategy under subsection (a), to sustain the priorities described in section 10816 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2022 ( Public Law 117–167 ; 51 U.S.C. 70901 note) and the activities under the Human Exploration Roadmap pursuant to section 432(b)(2)(J) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 ( Public Law 115–10 ), and to meet the requirements described in subsection (b).
No later than November 15, 2025, the Administrator shall provide to the appropriate committees of Congress the following: The results of a survey and assessment of the market for capabilities and services that may be provided through future United States commercial low-Earth orbit platforms that shall be prepared by an independent entity with appropriate expertise; A detailed justification of compliance with section 30301 of title 51, United States Code. A detailed certification and justification of compliance with section 50503 of title 51, United States Code.
As a term of an agreement entered into under to subsection (c), the Administrator shall include a requirement for the use of United States commercially-provided launch and reentry services to support all Administration activities under the agreement, in accordance with section 50131 of title 51, United States Code, as applicable. When an agreement under subsection
(c)involves a government astronauts (as such term is defined in section 50902(4) of title 51, United States Code), the Administrator shall protect the safety of the government astronaut by ensuring that each platform under the agreement meets all applicable human rating processes, certification, and safety requirements.
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Sec. 306
Commercial low-earth orbit development
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