WASHINGTON — The House Armed Services Committee in a late-night vote June 21 approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal 12 months 2024 by a vote of 58-1 after a marathon markup session.
Only Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) voted against the bill.
Greater than 800 amendments were negotiated throughout the 17-hour markup. The annual defense policy bill now heads to the House floor.
The committee approved the proposed bill from the HASC strategic forces subcommittee that features several space policy provisions, akin to requiring DoD to share threat intelligence with industrial satellite operators. It also approved language to ascertain a Space National Guard.
Fight over U.S. Space Command relocation
The contentious battle over the proposed relocation of U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama surfaced throughout the markup.
One in all the provisions within the proposed bill from HASC Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), generally known as the chairman’s mark, was challenged by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.). Lamborn sought to strip Rogers’ language that stops U.S. Space Command from spending money on recent or improved facilities at its current headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, until the Secretary of the Air Force delivers a report on the number of a everlasting location.
Facing pushback from Rogers and other Alabama lawmakers, Lamborn withdrew his amendment.
Other amendments adopted by HASC on space policy and programs
Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) introduced a bill allowing the Space Force to charge industrial space firms for indirect costs related to launch activities at government ranges.
The availability allows the Space Force to charge industrial launch firms for indirect costs related to launch operations akin to infrastructure upgrades.
The controversy over find out how to fund spaceport improvements has gathered steam in recent times as industrial activities have ramped up at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Space Force officials have called on Congress to authorize the ranges to be operated like airports. Under current law, DoD is answerable for operating and maintaining the ranges and can’t accept private funding for infrastructure upgrades.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) directed the Space Force to supply a report on the “technical maturity, cost, advantages, and risks related to fielding a high-power megawatt nuclear-electric power and propulsion asset in space.”
Wilson’s amendment highlights the “need for satellite power systems which have significant maneuver capability … and that nuclear power is a technology that adversary nations are pursuing to deal with this.”
“Recognizing that nuclear-electric power designs offer far greater propellent efficiency and electrical power than nuclear-thermal processes, the committee is worried the Department has historically underinvested on this segment,” the amendment says.