Commercial SPACE Leadership Act

Section 50905 of title 51, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:

(7) The Secretary shall not issue any regulation or other binding guidance regarding human occupant safety until the date on which all of the following have occurred:

(A) The Secretary has approved or denied all applications submitted under this section during the 2 calendar years ending before the date of the enactment of this paragraph within the timelines set forth in this section, including any period during the processing of such applications that is tolled.

(B) The date specified in subsection (c)(9) has passed.

(1) ; and

(2) in subsection (c)—

(A) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:

The Secretary, in collaboration with the commercial human space flight industry, shall meaningfully participate in the development of voluntary industry consensus standards that facilitate the safety of crew, government astronauts, and space flight participants.

The participation of the Secretary under clause (i) shall include the contribution of technical expertise and feedback during the standards development process.

The technical expertise and feedback referred to in subclause (I) shall be limited to such expertise and feedback provided by technical experts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the commercial human space flight industry who have experience in reviewing human space flight missions and implementing regulations.

The Secretary shall promote the adoption of, but shall not require the commercial space sector to implement, the standards developed through the collaboration under subparagraph (A).

In promoting the adoption of such standards, the Secretary shall engage with the commercial space sector to collect feedback on the practical application of such standards.

(B) in paragraph (5)—

(i) in subparagraph (A)—

(I) by striking December 31, 2016, and every 30 months thereafter until December 31, 2021, and inserting 90 days after the date of the enactment of the Commercial SPACE Leadership Act, and biannually thereafter until the date that is 5 years after such date of enactment,;

(II) by striking a report and inserting, and publish in the Federal Register, a report; and

(III) by striking that promote best practices and inserting to facilitate the safety of crew, government astronauts, and space flight participants and; and

(ii) in subparagraph (B)—

(I) by amending clause (v) to read as follows:

(v) any lessons learned associated with—

(I) the development, potential application, and acceptance of voluntary industry consensus standards; and

(II) commercial space launch operations; and

(II) by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (xi);

(III) by inserting after clause (v) the following:

(vi) any lessons learned with respect to the need for new standards applicable to emerging human space flight technologies and approaches for future standards development to ensure safety and innovation;

(vii) recommendations on areas in which updates to existing industry consensus standards may be appropriate;

(viii) a description of the participation of the Secretary in the development of the voluntary industry consensus standards under paragraph (3)(A);

(ix) a description of the efforts of the Secretary to promote the adoption of such standards under paragraph (3)(B)(i);

(x) a description of the activities conducted by the Secretary to engage with the commercial space sector to collect feedback on the practical application of such standards under paragraph (3)(B)(ii); and

(III) ; and

(IV) in clause (xi), as redesignated, by striking standards that promote and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “standards—

(I) to facilitate the safety of crew, government astronauts, and space flight participants; and

(II) to improve industry safety.

(C) in paragraph (6)—

(i) by striking Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the SPACE Act of 2015, and inserting the following:

Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of the Commercial SPACE Leadership Act,

(i) ; and

(ii) by adding at the end the following:

The report required by subparagraph (A) shall include the following:

(i) An assessment of the experience of the Office of Commercial Space Transportation in evaluating novel public safety frameworks.

(ii) An assessment as to whether the timeframe in which the Office of Commercial Space Transportation reviews, processes, and completes applications is consistent with the pace of development of the commercial human space flight industry.

(iii) An assessment of the continued implementation, review, and improvement of part 450 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations.

(iv) An identification of any additional resources necessary for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation to fulfill its responsibilities.

(D) in paragraph (8), in the first sentence of the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking December 31, 2022 and inserting December 31, 2030;

(E) by amending paragraph (9) to read as follows:

Not earlier than 5 years after the date of the enactment of the Commercial SPACE Leadership Act, the Secretary may propose regulations under this subsection without regard to subparagraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (2).

Not earlier than 3 years after the date of the enactment of the Commercial SPACE Leadership Act, and before commencing the development of proposed regulations under this paragraph, the Secretary of Transportation shall, consistent with section 106(p)(5) of title 49, United States Code, establish an aerospace rulemaking committee, to be known as the Aerospace Rulemaking Committee for Commercial Human Occupant Safety (referred to in this paragraph as SpARC).

The purposes of SpARC shall be—

(i) to gather input from the commercial space flight industry on the development of proposed regulations under this paragraph;

(ii) to survey and assess existing voluntary performance-based industry consensus standards for commercial human space flight;

(iii) to determine which published standards, or subcomponents of published standards, may contribute to commercial human space flight regulations;

(iv) to provide a forum for Federal Aviation Administration technical experts with regulatory implementation experience to meaningfully engage with industry with respect to the regulation of commercial human space flight; and

(v) to make recommendations with respect to the scope and substance of commercial human space flight regulations in a report to the Secretary.

SpARC shall be composed only of representatives of the commercial human space flight industry with relevant expertise, including—

(I) current and prospective commercial space launch license and permit holders; and

(II) any other individual or entity involved in commercial human space flight services.

The Secretary of Transportation shall appoint as co-chairpersons of SpARC—

(I) an official of the Federal Aviation Administration; and

(II) a representative of the commercial human space flight industry described in clause (i).

The co-chairpersons of SpARC may invite to serve as a SpARC observer any individual with relevant expertise who is an employee of the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or any other Federal agency.

In developing recommendations under this paragraph, SpARC shall take into consideration—

(i) the evolving standards of the commercial space flight industry as identified in the reports published under paragraphs (5), (6), and (7); and

(ii) the input of the commercial space flight industry.

Not later than 90 days after the date on which SpARC is established under subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Transportation 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 composition, charter, work plan, and as applicable, work progress of SpARC.

Not later than 1 year after the date on which the initial briefing required by clause (i) is conducted, and biannually thereafter until the date on which SpARC terminates, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee of the Federal Aviation Administration a report on the efforts of the Secretary and SpARC with respect to the development of voluntary consensus human space flight standards.

Each report required by subclause (I) shall include the following:

(aa) A list of voluntary consensus human space flight standards that have been adopted or are in development as of the date of the report.

(bb) A prioritized list of any additional standard the development of which the Secretary of Transportation considers necessary in promoting the safety of commercial human space flight.

(cc) An estimate of the technical, personnel, and capital resources required for the Federal Government to efficiently and effectively develop and implement commercial human space flight regulations.

(dd) A description of the contribution that technical experts of the Federal Government with regulatory implementation experience are making to the development of voluntary consensus human space flight standards and to the efforts of SpARC.

(ee) An assessment of the efforts and progress of SpARC.

Not later than 90 days after the date on which the report referred to in subparagraph (C)(v) is submitted by SpARC, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to Congress a report that includes the following:

(I) The report submitted by SpARC.

(II) The response of the Secretary of Transportation to such report, including substantive reasoning for any disagreement with the recommendations of SpARC.

(III) A plan for drafting rules, including the extent to which such rules will or will not reflect the input of SpARC.

(IV) A plan for meaningfully engaging industry during the rulemaking process through SpARC, the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, and the conduct of public forums.

(F) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11); and

(G) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:

With respect to a commercial human space flight operator that meets safety requirements, the Secretary shall accept an application described in subsection (a) from the operator that has, using the same or substantially similar hardware and operations as the hardware and operations proposed to be used under the application—

(A) previously launched government astronauts or space flight participants employed by a Federal agency on a launch vehicle or launch system under a contract with any other Federal agency; or

(i) entered into a contract with any other Federal agency to launch government astronauts or space flight participants employed by a Federal agency on a launch vehicle or launch system; and

(ii) has satisfactorily demonstrated compliance with the safety requirements or qualifications of such other Federal agency.

Section 50914 of title 51, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking September 30, 2025 and inserting September 30, 2033; and

(2) in subsection (b)(1)(C), by striking September 30, 2025 and inserting September 30, 2033.

Section 50915 of title 51, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by striking September 30, 2025 and inserting September 30, 2033; and

(2) in subsection (f), in the first sentence, by striking September 30, 2025 and inserting September 30, 2033.