I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 477
To advance scientific research and technology development of hypersonic
vehicles, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY16, 2025
Mr. F
ONG(for himself and Mr. MULLIN) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
A BILL
To advance scientific research and technology development
of hypersonic vehicles, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Making Advancements 4
in Commercial Hypersonics Act’’ or the ‘‘MACH Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. MAKING ADVANCEMENTS IN COMMERCIAL 6
HYPERSONICS PROGRAM. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—In conducting hypersonics re-8
search pursuant to section 40112(d) of title 51, United 9
States Code, the Administrator of the National Aero-10
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•HR 477 IH
nautics and Space Administration (in this section referred 1
to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) may establish the Making Ad-2
vancements in Commercial Hypersonics Program (in this 3
section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’) to facilitate oppor-4
tunities for testing of high-speed aircraft and other tech-5
nologies that advance scientific research and technology 6
development related to hypersonic aircraft. 7
(b) L
IMITATION.—The Program may not fund the 8
development of technologies that are supported by the 9
testing described in subsection (a). 10
(c) S
TRATEGICPLAN.—Not later than 60 days after 11
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, 12
acting through the Aeronautics Research Mission Direc-13
torate, shall develop a strategic plan for activities under 14
subsection (a) that aligns with the hypersonic research 15
roadmap required under section 603 of the National Aero-16
nautics and Space Administration Transition Authoriza-17
tion Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–10; 51 U.S.C. 20302 18
note). 19
(d) C
OORDINATION, CONSULTATION, ANDCOLLABO-20
RATION.— 21
(1) C
OORDINATION.—The Administrator shall 22
ensure coordination between the Aeronautics Re-23
search Mission Directorate and other Mission Direc-24
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•HR 477 IH
torates, as appropriate, to identify technologies eligi-1
ble for testing opportunities under the Program. 2
(2) C
ONSULTATION; COLLABORATION.—The 3
Administrator shall consult and seek to collaborate, 4
as appropriate, with the Secretary of Defense and 5
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis-6
tration on activities related to the Program, includ-7
ing development, testing, and evaluation of high- 8
speed aircraft and related technologies. 9
(e) R
EPORT.—The Administrator shall submit to the 10
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the 11
Committee on Armed Services of the House of Represent-12
atives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 13
Transportation and the Committee on Armed Services of 14
the Senate— 15
(1) not later than 90 days after the date of the 16
enactment of this Act, a report that— 17
(A) describes activities of the Program; 18
and 19
(B) includes the strategic plan required 20
under subsection (c); and 21
(2) not later than one year after the date of the 22
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, a re-23
port describing progress in carrying out the Pro-24
gram, including regarding the number and type of 25
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testing opportunities carried out in the previous fis-1
cal year and planned for the upcoming fiscal year. 2
(f) R
ESEARCHSECURITY.—Nothing in this section 3
authorizes the Administrator to develop, implement, or 4
execute an agreement related to technologies under this 5
section with any entity of concern, a foreign business enti-6
ty, or a foreign country of concern. 7
(g) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8
(1) E
NTITY OF CONCERN.—The term ‘‘entity of 9
concern’’ has the meaning given such term in section 10
10114 of the Research and Development, Competi-11
tion, and Innovation Act (Public Law 117–167; 42 12
U.S.C. 18912). 13
(2) F
OREIGN BUSINESS ENTITY .—The term 14
‘‘foreign business entity’’ means an entity that is 15
majority-owned or majority-controlled (as such term 16
is defined in section 800.208 of title 31, Code of 17
Federal Regulations, or a successor regulation), or 18
minority owned greater than 25 percent by— 19
(A) any governmental organization of a 20
foreign country of concern; or 21
(B) any other entity that is— 22
(i) known to be owned or controlled 23
by any governmental organization of a for-24
eign country of concern; or 25
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(ii) organized under, or otherwise sub-1
ject to, the laws of a foreign country of 2
concern. 3
(3) F
OREIGN COUNTRY OF CONCERN .—The 4
term ‘‘foreign country of concern’’ has the meaning 5
given such term in section 9901 of title XCIX of di-6
vision H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry Na-7
tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 8
2021 (15 U.S.C. 4651). 9
(4) H
IGH-SPEED AIRCRAFT.—The term ‘‘high- 10
speed aircraft’’ has the meaning given such term in 11
section 1009 of the Federal Aviation Reauthoriza-12
tion Act of 2024 (Public Law 118–63; 49 U.S.C. 13
44701 note). 14
Æ
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