Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation have introduced the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025, which aims to prioritize the space agency’s programs and advance U.S. leadership in deep space exploration.
Sponsored by Democratic and Republican senators, the bill intends to support NASA’s science and exploration missions that would lead to new space discoveries, the Senate panel said Tuesday. The proposal also seeks to prevent a gap in low Earth orbit leadership and uphold scientific ingenuity in the United States.
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Refocusing NASA’s Core Priorities
According to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the committee chairman, the bipartisan bill will allow the space industry to flourish, establish a U.S.-led LEO economy and ensure the country will return to the Moon and land first on Mars. “I am committed to refocusing NASA’s efforts on its core priorities—championing space exploration and ensuring American leadership in the final frontier,” he stressed.
The measure would provide programmatic continuity to NASA, protect its independence and deliver the needed funding to ensure the space agency’s mission success, according to Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. “The brilliant minds at NASA deserve our continued, bipartisan support as they work to maintain America’s global leadership in space exploration,” she added.
Strengthening Human Space Exploration
If enacted into law, the Act would advance the development of the next generation of spacesuits, promote private partnerships to strengthen human space exploration, fund physical science research to ensure that humans can safely explore deep space and protect Earth from asteroids and other near-Earth objects through NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
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