---
type: "LegalText"
title: "51 U.S.C. § 70505"
description: "Lunar outpost"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 51
title_name: "NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS"
chapter_number: "705"
chapter_name: "EXPLORATION INITIATIVES"
section: "70505"
citation: "51 U.S.C. § 70505"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc51@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t51/s70505"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-51/usc51.xml"
source_hash: "cbf18ab7681c3ab53398ab36db709d025439ea4bc59e034bbd4e099d7460ec22"
raw_snapshot_hash: "247760e048bc0c854023cd923eddd6011c857ad6958b62a813e0392121390bd5"
text_hash: "d6034eb2351d3b08698a4d1d0cdd4d0624eabbfa6f10034e5f1d1c72fa18a790"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 51 U.S.C. § 70505 - Lunar outpost

## Text

(a) Establishment.— As the Administration works toward the establishment of a lunar outpost, the Administration shall make no plans that would require a lunar outpost to be occupied to maintain its viability. Any such outpost shall be operable as a human-tended facility capable of remote or autonomous operation for extended periods.

(b) Designation.— The United States portion of the first human-tended outpost established on the surface of the Moon shall be designated the “Neil A. Armstrong Lunar Outpost”.

(Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3431.)

## Notes

Historical and Revision Notes RevisedSectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 70505(a)42 U.S.C. 17732(a).Pub. L. 110–422, title IV, § 404(a), (b), Oct. 15, 2008, 122 Stat. 4789. 70505(b)42 U.S.C. 17732(b).