PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 853.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Apr 13, 2018
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2018
This bill reauthorizes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through FY2019.
The bill authorizes NASA programs, activities, and reports, including those regarding the International Space Station (ISS); launch, crew, and cargo vehicle critical path redundancy; space suits; earth observation; land remote sensing data collection; Landsat systems; the Goddard Institute for Space Studies; in-space nuclear fission power; civil supersonic transportation research; unmanned aircraft systems research; commercially provided space products and services; commercial in-space infrastructure; and NASA-funded institutes.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
NASA shall:
continue the operation of the ISS;
establish a research office at the Johnson Space Center to build upon its expertise in human space flight missions for future challenges;
partner with private sector and philanthropic organizations to search for technosignatures, such as radio transmissions, in the search for life's origin and future in the universe;
establish the 21st Century Aeronautics Research Capabilities Initiative;
more effectively and efficiently share its electromagnetic spectrum with U.S. nongovernmental entities operating or proposing to operate space objects; and
restrict contracting with contractors who have a history of poor performance on space contracts.
The bill extends NASA's authority to lease nonexcess properties through 2020.
The National Space Council shall publish a report that relates the strategic national importance of space to the inherent risk of exploring and using it.
People & committees
Rep. Babin, Brian [R-TX-36] · R–TX
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 853.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. H. Rept. 115-1102.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. H. Rept. 115-1102.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 26 - 7.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Apr 7, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.5503 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.5503 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.5503 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.5503 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.