II
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 2232
To provide special authority for the provision of commercial space launch
support services.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JULY11, 2023
Mr. R
UBIOintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To provide special authority for the provision of commercial
space launch support services.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Spaceport 4
Operations Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. SPECIAL AUTHORITY FOR PROVISION OF COMMER-6
CIAL SPACE LAUNCH SUPPORT SERVICES. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 135 of title 10, United 8
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2276 9
the following new section: 10
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‘‘§ 2276a. Special authority for provision of commer-1
cial space launch support services 2
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary of a military de-3
partment, pursuant to the authority provided by this sec-4
tion and any other provision of law, may support Federal 5
and commercial space launch capacity on any domestic 6
real property under the control of the Secretary through 7
the provision of space launch support services. 8
‘‘(b) P
ROVISION OFLAUNCHEQUIPMENT ANDSERV-9
ICES TOCOMMERCIALENTITIES.— 10
‘‘(1) A
GREEMENT AUTHORITY .— 11
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary con-12
cerned may enter into a contract, or conduct 13
any other transaction, with a commercial entity 14
that intends to conduct space launch activities 15
on a military installation under the jurisdiction 16
of the Secretary, including a contract or other 17
transaction for the provision of supplies, serv-18
ices, equipment, and construction needed for 19
commercial space launch. 20
‘‘(B) N
ONDELEGATION.—The Secretary 21
may not delegate the authority provided in sub-22
paragraph (A). 23
‘‘(2) A
GREEMENT COSTS.— 24
‘‘(A) D
IRECT COSTS.—A contract entered 25
into, or a transaction conducted, under para-26
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graph (1) shall include a provision that requires 1
the commercial entity entering into the contract 2
or conducting the transaction to reimburse the 3
Department of Defense for all direct costs to 4
the United States that are associated with the 5
goods, services, and equipment provided to the 6
commercial entity under the contract or trans-7
action. 8
‘‘(B) I
NDIRECT COSTS.—A contract en-9
tered into, or a transaction conducted, under 10
paragraph (1) may— 11
‘‘(i) include a provision that requires 12
the commercial entity to reimburse the De-13
partment of Defense for such indirect costs 14
as the Secretary concerned considers to be 15
fair and reasonable; and 16
‘‘(ii) provide for the recovery of indi-17
rect costs through establishment of a rate, 18
fixed price, or similar mechanism the Sec-19
retary concerned considers to be fair and 20
reasonable. 21
‘‘(3) R
ETENTION OF FUNDS COLLECTED FROM 22
COMMERCIAL USERS .—Amounts collected from a 23
commercial entity under paragraph (2) shall be cred-24
ited to the appropriation accounts under which the 25
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costs associated with the contract (direct and indi-1
rect) were incurred. 2
‘‘(4) R
EGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro-3
mulgate regulations to carry out this subsection. 4
‘‘(c) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 5
‘‘(1) S
PACE LAUNCH.—The term ‘space launch’ 6
includes all activities, supplies, equipment, facilities, 7
and services supporting launch preparation, launch, 8
reentry, recovery, and other launch-related activities 9
for the payload and the space transportation vehicle. 10
‘‘(2) C
OMMERCIAL ENTITY; COMMERCIAL.—The 11
terms ‘commercial entity’ and ‘commercial’ means a 12
non-Federal entity organized under the laws of the 13
United States or of any jurisdiction within the 14
United States.’’. 15
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 16
for chapter 135 of title 10, United States Code, is amend-17
ed by inserting after the item relating to section 2276 the 18
following: 19
‘‘2276a. Special authority for provision of commercial space launch support serv-
ices.’’.
Æ
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