Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Close the Space Gap, Keep America First in Space

Washington, Mar 10 – Rep. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) has joined with Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-New Smyrna Beach) to introduce the Human Space Flight Capability Assurance and Enhancement Act of 2010, bipartisan legislation to minimize the human space flight gap by extending the use of the Space Shuttle, moving forward with a new domestic vehicle and speeding up the development of a “heavy lift vehicle” (HLV) to go beyond low earth orbit. The bill mirrors legislation introduced last week by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas.

“We need a plan to close the space gap that actually maintains America’s ability to send American Astronauts into space,” said Posey. “By continuing to fly the Shuttle until the next generation space vehicle is ready to launch, we can continue to operate our space program without interruption, the loss of highly skilled American jobs or ceding ground to Russia or China. Shuttle extension is the only way to close the gap in the near-term and with certainty.”

Specifically, the Human Space Flight Capability Assurance and Enhancement Act of 2010 would continue the Space Shuttle program to ensure the delivery of hardware that is essential to extending the life of the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. It also directs NASA to accelerate a government-developed HLV, which is essential to exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.

Additionally, legislation encourages the development of commercial crew capabilities by directing NASA to establish requirements that will enable the procurement of crew transportation services for the ISS, including the establishment of commercial human rating requirements. Furthermore, the bill directs an independent Flight Certification Review of the Space Shuttle fleet to better ensure the safety of the vehicles.

Last year Posey, who as a young man worked as an inspector on the Apollo program, introduced H.R. 1962, the American Space Access Act with Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz. H.R. 1962 would extend Shuttle flights until either Constellation was online or a domestic supplier is certified by NASA as capable of taking humans into space and docking with the ISS.