Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§18361 Sense of Congress on the Space Shuttle program

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 159— - SPACE EXPLORATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND SCIENCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER V— - SPACE SHUTTLE RETIREMENT AND TRANSITION › § 18361

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress finds the Space Shuttle is a national asset with special skills to lift big payloads into space and bring them back. It has flown more than 355 people from 16 nations and inspired many around the world. Congress says retiring the Shuttle must build on that legacy. The U.S. must keep the skills and industry to build a Space Launch System for missions beyond near‑Earth space, while still meeting some low‑Earth‑orbit needs like the ISS if necessary.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §18361

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Congress makes the following findings:

(1)The Space Shuttle program represents a national asset consisting of critical skills and capabilities, including the ability to lift large payloads into space and return them to Earth.

(2)The Space Shuttle has carried more than 355 people from 16 nations into space.

(3)The Space Shuttle has projected the best of American values around the world, and Space Shuttle crews have sparked the imagination and dreams of the world’s youth and young at heart.

(b)It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)it is essential that the retirement of the Space Shuttle and the transition to new human space flight capabilities be done in a manner that builds upon the legacy of this national asset; and

(2)it is imperative for the United States to retain the skills and the industrial capability to provide a follow-on Space Launch System that is primarily designed for missions beyond near-Earth space, while offering some potential for supplanting shuttle delivery capabilities to low-Earth orbit, particularly in support of ISS requirements, if necessary.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 18361

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73