INDEPENDENT STUDY ON SPACE LAUNCH LOCATIONS.

SEC. 1618. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON SPACE LAUNCH LOCATIONS. (a) Independent Study.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall seek to enter into a contract with a federally funded research and development center to conduct a study on space launch locations, including with respect to the development and capacity of existing and new locations. The study shall, at a minimum— (1) identify how additional locations affect the capability of the Department of Defense to rapidly reconstitute and improve resilience for defense satellite system launches; (2) identify the capacities of current and new space launch locations, in light of the rapid increase in using commercial space services to support national security space missions and military requirements; (3) identify partnerships within State government-owned and operated spaceports that should be developed to increase launch capacities and enhance the space resiliency of the United States; (4) provide recommendations on strategic placement for future space launch sites; and (5) identify costs associated with additional locations and whether such costs should be borne by the Department of Defense, State governments, or private entities. (b) Submission to DOD.—Not later than 240 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the federally funded research and development center shall submit to the Secretary a report containing the study conducted under subsection (a). (c) Submission to Congress.—Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees the report under subsection (a), without change. (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.—In this section, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means the following: (1) The congressional defense committees. (2) The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. (3) The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.