OPERATIONALLY RESPONSIVE NATIONAL SECURITY SATELLITES.

SEC. 913. OPERATIONALLY RESPONSIVE NATIONAL SECURITY SATELLITES.(a) Planning, Programming, and Management.—(1) Chapter 135 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2273 the following new section:“§ 2273a. Operationally responsive national security payloads and buses: separate program element required“(a) Requirement for Program Element.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, within budget program elements for space programs of the Department of Defense, there is a separate, dedicated program element for operationally responsive national security payloads and buses of the Department of Defense for space satellites and that programs and activities for such payloads and buses are planned, programmed, and budgeted for through that program element.“(b) Management Authority.—The Secretary of Defense shall assign management authority for the program element required under subsection (a) to the Director of the Office of Force Transformation of the Department of Defense.“(c) Definition of Operationally Responsive.—In this section, the term ‘operationally responsive’, with respect to a national security payload and bus for a space satellite, means an experimental or operational payload and bus with a weight not in excess of 5,000 pounds that—“(1) can be developed and acquired within 18 months after authority to proceed with development is granted; and“(2) is responsive to requirements for capabilities at the operational and tactical levels of warfare.” .(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2273 the following new item: “2273a. Operationally responsive national security payloads and buses: separate program element required.”. (b) Time for Implementation.—Subsection (a) of section 2273a of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to fiscal years after fiscal year 2005.118 STAT. 2029