Space Leadership Preservation Act reintroduced; hearing today

Yesterday, five members of Congress formally introduced HR 823, the new version of the Space Leadership Preservation Act that they originally introduced last September. The text of the legislation, provided by SpacePolicyOnline, indicates a few changes from the original version, most notably that the NASA administrator would serve a six-year term, instead of a ten-year term as proposed last year.

“The Space Leadership Preservation Act is our effort to start a national conversation on this very necessary reform effort,” said Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), one of the bill’s sponsors, in a statement yesterday. “Our bill gets America back on the road to being a leading competitor in the next space race by outlining a leadership structure to develop a bold, strategic, and long-term direction for the future of NASA and US space exploration.”

Wolf and Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), another bill sponsor, will testify about the bill before the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee at 10 am today. Also appearing before the committee are former Lockheed Martin executive Thomas Young, a frequent participant in studies of the space industry as well as hearings like this; and Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham. The Foundation published its own report nearly three months ago on making NASA a “pioneering” organization, including recommendations to give the NASA administrator a five-year term and the creation of a commission similar to the board of directors in the Space Leadership Preservation Act.