The bill makes clear that it wants NASA to handle that transition without any gap in the agency’s crewed presence in low Earth orbit.
“The Administrator may not de-orbit the International Space Station until the date on which a commercial low-Earth orbit destination space station has reached initial operational capability in low-Earth orbit,” the bill states. It does grant an exception if the agency concludes that “technical issues” prevent continued safe operations of the ISS.
Let’s hope Vast and Axiom can deliver in a timely manner, then.
It also endorsed continuation of NASA’s ongoing exploration programs, including the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. One section, for example, is titled “Reaffirmation of the Space Launch System.”
So Congress still wants SLS. No surprises there :)
Reaffirmation of pork
So they’re complaining about cost overruns and delays on science missions but making sure SLS and Orion are top priority. Cool.
Good. NASA was getting mealy mouthed about their LEO station plan and starting to talk about a gap being fine if we still had the “capability” to go. Shutting that waffling down and setting actual priorities is important if the current leadership won’t.
