WASHINGTON — A NASA authorization bill introduced in the Senate in the final days of the current Congress would have directed NASA to speed up work on commercial space stations and address cost overruns in science programs.
THE NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2024 was formally introduced to the Senate on December 18 by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, as well as Senator Ted Cruz (Republican of Texas), ranking member of the committee. Other co-sponsors include Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), chairman and ranking member of the committee’s space subcommittee, as well as Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Roger Wicker. (R-Miss.).
The bill would have authorized $25.478 billion for NASA in fiscal year 2025, slightly above the $25.434 billion in the Senate version of an appropriations bill for the year and above the $25.384 billion requested by the agency for 2025.
“This bipartisan legislation sets an ambitious course for America’s space program, ensuring NASA’s leadership from Earth’s orbit to the Moon and Mars,” Cantwell said in a Dec. 20 statement about the bill. Along with the bill’s other cosponsors, “we are charting a strong path for American leadership in space exploration.”
The 101-page bill particularly focuses on plans to transition the International Space Station to commercial space stations at the end of the decade. The bill makes clear that it wants NASA to manage this transition without any disruption to the agency’s crew presence in low Earth orbit.
“The Administrator may not deorbit the International Space Station before the date on which a destination commercial space station in low Earth orbit has achieved initial operational capability in low Earth orbit,” the bill states. It grants an exception if the agency concludes that “technical problems” prevent the continued safe operations of the ISS.
The bill calls for an “orderly and managed transition” from the ISS to commercial stations once those stations are ready, “so as to maintain a continuous human presence.” The bill explicitly defines “continuous human presence” as the ability to maintain one or more government or government-sponsored astronauts in low orbit on “a permanent and continuous basis.”
NASA had, as part of the development of a LEO microgravity strategyopened the door to interpreting “continuous human presence” to mean a continued capacity to support humans in LEO, but not necessarily the presence of people permanently. THE final version of the strategyreleased on December 16, endorsed the “continuous heartbeat” concept of keeping people in orbit at all times.
The bill would also require NASA to somewhat accelerate the next phase of its Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program to support the development of commercial stations. It calls for NASA to issue a final request for proposals for the next phase of the CLD program to cover certification of initial stations and services by the end of September 2025, with NASA making selections by the end of March 2026. The The bill adds that NASA should select at least two vendors during this phase, “subject to the availability of meritorious proposals and appropriations.”
This is a slightly faster timeline than NASA currently offers. In an industry briefing earlier this month, NASA presented a theoretical timeline for phase two of the CLD program that would issue the final request for proposals in fall 2025, with selections in summer 2026.
Capping the costs of scientific missions
Another area of focus in the bill was the cost of NASA’s science programs. He cites “immature and unreliable” cost estimates made during the early phases of missions, posing challenges to the overall science mission portfolio as the costs of these missions increase.
“Relying on early cost estimates made prior to preliminary design review of science missions that then experience such cost growth may deter program and cost discipline in the future,” the bill states. . He requested a report from the Government Accountability Office on “establishing and complying” with cost caps set for science missions.
This interest in cost growth extends to Mars Sample Return (MSR), the mission campaign to return samples from Mars that has suffered significant delays and cost overruns, prompting continued review of agency. The bill would have directed NASA to provide, no later than 90 days after enactment, a new MSR implementation plan with “realistic cost and schedule estimates.”
Additionally, the bill would have directed NASA to enter into “firm, fixed-price agreements with one or more U.S. industrial partners” to implement this revised plan no more than one year after the bill’s enactment.
The bill, on the other hand, says little about NASA’s space technology programs. He also approved the continuation of NASA’s ongoing exploration programs, including the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft. One section, for example, is titled “Reaffirmation of the Space Launch System.”
These and other provisions remain moot points for now. The bill, presented in the last days of the current Congress, was not considered by the Senate before being adjourned after the adoption, on December 20, of a new resolution aimed at financing the government until mid-March. Even if it passed, the House showed little interest in the bill, having passed its own NASA authorization bill in September.
The bill, however, could signal areas of focus for the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January. Cruz and Cantwell will remain as chairs of the Senate Commerce Committee next year, with Cruz as chairman and Cantwell as ranking member in the Republican-controlled Senate.
“This bipartisan legislation provides stability and certainty to NASA and the entire U.S. space program, including NASA centers like the Johnson Space Center in Houston,” Cruz said in the statement about the bill. “I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to advance a bold vision for our nation’s science and space exploration efforts.”