Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the U.S. Senate would set clear priorities for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) programs.
The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025 would support spaceflight and exploration efforts to return American astronauts to the Moon, prepare for trips to Mars, and develop the next generation of spacesuits. It would harmonize research and development across the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense of hypersonic technology, unmanned aircraft systems, and advanced air mobility.
The bill also would direct NASA to enable the growth of a low-Earth orbit destination and commercial space economy. It would leverage private sector investment and partnerships to boost human space exploration, establish a lunar time zone and continued to procure lunar payload services, and support life and physical science research necessary to ensure that humans can safely explore deep space.
Finally, the bill would fund NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office to protect Earth from asteroids and other near-Earth objects and would evaluate cost-caps associated with mission proposals.
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Commerce Committee chairman, and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), committee ranking member, introduced the bill along with Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO).