United States deorbit capabilities

(a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the ISS is aging and eventually will need to be deorbited safely and disposed of in a controlled manner; and (2) to protect the safety of the public, and to avoid interfering with other space operators or objects, NASA plans to deorbit and disposition the ISS through a controlled atmospheric reentry over an uninhabited region. (b) Acquisition of ISS deorbit capabilities (1) In general The Administrator shall acquire ISS deorbit capabilities from one or more United States commercial providers. (2) Implementation In carrying out paragraph (1), the Administrator shall, to the greatest extent practicable, not reduce or deprioritize NASA activities conducted on and in support of the ISS to support the acquisition of United States deorbit capabilities. (c) Costs (1) Independent cost estimate For the deorbit capabilities described in subsection (b), the Administrator shall obtain, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of the Act, an independent life-cycle cost estimate for such deorbit capabilities and shall report the results of such estimate and a five-year budget profile to the appropriate committees of Congress. (2) Report (A) In general Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report detailing the Administration’s plan for the financial, logistical, and operational responsibilities associated with the deorbit capability. (B) Further reports The Administrator shall annually submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report, to accompany the President’s budget request, containing a description of the annual and cumulative lifecycle expenditures for the preceding year on activities related to the deorbit of the ISS and how such costs are shared among the ISS partners.