Commercial Space Transportation Cooperative Research and Development Centers of Excellence Act of 2009

Commercial Space Transportation Cooperative Research and Development Centers of Excellence Act of 2009 - Directs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to make grants to consortia of two or more institutions of higher education to establish and operate Commercial Space Transportation Cooperative Research and Development Centers of Excellence to enhance the development of commercial space transportation.

[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3853 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3853

  To provide for the establishment of Commercial Space Transportation 
  Cooperative Research and Development Centers of Excellence, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 20, 2009

 Ms. Kosmas (for herself and Mr. Posey) introduced the following bill; 
     which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the establishment of Commercial Space Transportation 
  Cooperative Research and Development Centers of Excellence, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Commercial Space Transportation 
Cooperative Research and Development Centers of Excellence Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration.
            (2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).

SEC. 3. CENTERS.

    The Administrator shall make grants to consortia of 2 or more 
institutions of higher education, at least 1 of which shall be located 
within 100 miles of an active commercial spaceport, to establish and 
operate Commercial Space Transportation Cooperative Research and 
Development Centers of Excellence.

SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS.

    (a) Enhanced Development.--The Centers established under section 3 
shall leverage the resources of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, academia, and industry through public-private 
partnerships to enhance the development of commercial space 
transportation through research and development activities in the 
following areas:
            (1) Space transportation policy analysis.
            (2) Spaceport safety, including range system development, 
        testing, simulation, and qualification, and spaceport 
        instrumentation, technologies, and processes.
            (3) Spaceflight passenger and crew training and 
        qualification.
            (4) Spaceflight biomedical countermeasures.
            (5) Aerospace workforce technical training and 
        certification.
            (6) Space vehicle design, including materials and 
        engineering research and development, launch vehicle flight 
        safety analysis, and design of passenger-carrying spaceflight 
        vehicles to maximize safety and functionality.
            (7) Space weather interactions with space transportation 
        systems.
            (8) Aviation and space transportation system convergence 
        planning and analysis.
    (b) Assistance.--The Centers established under section 3 shall 
provide educational, technical, and analytical assistance to the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other Federal 
agencies with research and development and operational responsibilities 
that have applicability to commercial space transportation.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) Application.--Any institution of higher education interested in 
receiving a grant under this Act shall submit to the Administrator an 
application in such form and containing such information as the 
Administrator may require.
    (b) Selection Criteria.--The Administrator shall select recipients 
of grants under this Act on the basis of the following criteria:
            (1) Demonstrated research and development capabilities 
        necessary for carrying out the program.
            (2) The extent to which the members of the consortium 
        seeking a grant have established space transportation or 
        aerospace research and development programs.
            (3) The demonstrated ability of the applicant to 
        disseminate results of commercial space transportation research 
        and development widely to appropriate stakeholders.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2010 
through 2012 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 
carry out this Act. No more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated 
under this section for a fiscal year may be used by the Administrator 
to cover administrative costs associated with the implementation and 
maintenance of the program established under this Act.
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