§60602 — Title 51 National and Commercial Space Programs | U.S. Code

Summary

The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy must create a single, coordinated plan for how federal agencies watch and measure space weather. The plan must say which current measurements need to keep going after existing satellites and ground tools stop working, what new kinds of measurements could make forecasting better, and how to follow up with new space-based observations. While making the plan, the Director must think about commercial options, prizes, university and international partners, small satellites and hosted instruments, past work by the National Science and Technology Council, the survey under section 60601(d), and any relevant National Academies decadal recommendations. NASA and NOAA must hire the National Academies to review the plan, including whether private companies can help. The Director, NASA, and NOAA must send the plan and the review to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee within 1 year after the survey at section 60601(d)(3) finishes, and post them online within 30 days. Within 180 days after that review, the interagency working group must make and send an implementation plan with cost and schedule to the House and Senate Science and Armed Services Committees, and post it within 30 days. The Director must update the plan within 1 year after the user survey reevaluation at section 60601(d)(3)(F), following the same steps.

Title 51, §60602

National and Commercial Space Programs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in collaboration with the interagency working group and upon the advice of the advisory group, shall develop a strategy for coordinated observation of space weather among members of the interagency working group (in this chapter, referred to as the “integrated strategy”). The integrated strategy shall identify—

(1)observations and measurements that must be sustained beyond the lifetime of current ground-based and space-based assets, as described under section 60603, that are essential for space weather research, models, forecasting, and prediction;

(2)new observations and measurements that may significantly improve space weather forecasting and prediction; and

(3)plans for follow-on space-based observations under section 60603.

(b)In developing the integrated strategy in subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall consider, as appropriate, the following:

(1)Potential contributions of commercial solutions, prize authority, academic and international partnerships, microsatellites, small satellite options, ground-based instruments, and hosted payloads for observations identified in section 60602(a)(2).

(2)Work conducted before the date of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act by the National Science and Technology Council with respect to space weather.

(3)The survey under section 60601(d).

(4)Any relevant recommendations from the most recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics).

(c)(1)The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with Federal agencies participating in the interagency working group, shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the integrated strategy developed in this section.

(2)The review from paragraph (1) shall also consider the current state, capability, and feasibility of the commercial space weather sector to provide new and supplemental observations and measurements that may significantly improve space weather forecasting and prediction.

(3)The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall transmit the integrated strategy and the results of the review required under paragraph (1) to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year after the date of the completion of the survey under section 60601(d)(3). The integrated strategy and its review shall be made publicly available within 30 days of submittal to Congress.

(d)Not later than 180 days after delivery of the review of the integrated strategy in subsection (c)(3), the interagency working group shall develop a plan to implement the integrated strategy, including an estimate of the cost and schedule required for implementation. Upon completion, the interagency working group shall submit the implementation plan to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Armed Services of the Senate. The implementation plan shall be made publicly available within 30 days of submittal to Congress.

(e)The Director, in collaboration with the interagency working group, shall update the integrated strategy not later than 1 year after the reevaluation of the user survey from section 60601(d)(3)(F) in accordance with the requirements of subsections (a) through (d).

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–181, which was approved Oct. 21, 2020.

§60602 Integrated strategy

Summary

Title 51, §60602

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

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