§18325 Nasa Launch Support and Infrastructure Modernization Program

Summary

The NASA Administrator must run a program to get Kennedy Space Center ready to process and launch the Space Launch System. The work should simplify vehicle hookups and ground processing to cut costs and improve safety. The program must fund upgrades that boost civil and national security operations, cut long-term operations and maintenance costs, support multiple launch vehicles and better payload handling, and include other improvements — such as upgrades at NASA launch sites that send cargo to the ISS under the commercial orbital transportation services program. No later than 120 days after October 11, 2010, the Administrator must give Congress a plan for how the program will be carried out. The plan must describe the ground infrastructure tied to the Space Launch System and possible investments at other NASA centers; explain any planned cooperation with Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or other government sites; and show how authorized funds would be used to improve non-NASA facilities, including a business plan that outlines investments by other parties.