republic-os/legal/us/code/title-42/chapter-159/section-18312.md

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LegalText	42 U.S.C. § 18312	Goals and objectives	us	united_states_code	code_section	42	THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE	159	SPACE EXPLORATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND SCIENCE	18312	42 U.S.C. § 18312	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc42@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t42/s18312	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-42/usc42.xml	98fdb2415d5ff919cbfc59fbf48d1952b9850c1b56b6f3558c2bb54e6d1982aa	644321055a08eb1f260a6a3e31ac157fa024756abf612a9fd6857e7e400cf24e	5319c23ae94366428f0371db612247091f60649d04eb1e40ab84798ccaee0154	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

42 U.S.C. § 18312 - Goals and objectives

Text

(a) Long-term goals The long-term goals of the human space flight and exploration efforts of NASA shall be—

(1) to expand permanent human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and to do so, where practical, in a manner involving international, academic, and industry partners;

(2) crewed missions and progress toward achieving the goal in paragraph (1) to enable the potential for subsequent human exploration and the extension of human presence throughout the solar system; and

(3) to enable a capability to extend human presence, including potential human habitation on another celestial body and a thriving space economy in the 21st Century.11 So in original. Probably should be “century.”

(b) Key objectives The key objectives of the United States for human expansion into space shall be—

(1) to sustain the capability for long-duration presence in low-Earth orbit, initially through continuation of the ISS and full utilization of the United States segment of the ISS as a National Laboratory, and through assisting and enabling an expanded commercial presence in, and access to, low-Earth orbit, as elements of a low-Earth orbit infrastructure;

(2) to determine if humans can live in an extended manner in space with decreasing reliance on Earth, starting with utilization of low-Earth orbit infrastructure, to identify potential roles that space resources such as energy and materials may play, to meet national and global needs and challenges, such as potential cataclysmic threats, and to explore the viability of and lay the foundation for sustainable economic activities in space;

(3) to maximize the role that human exploration of space can play in advancing overall knowledge of the universe, supporting United States national and economic security and the United States global competitive posture, and inspiring young people in their educational pursuits;

(4) to build upon the cooperative and mutually beneficial framework established by the ISS partnership agreements and experience in developing and undertaking programs and meeting objectives designed to realize the goal of human space flight set forth in subsection (a); and

(5) to achieve human exploration of Mars and beyond through the prioritization of those technologies and capabilities best suited for such a mission in accordance with the stepping stone approach to exploration under section 70504 of title 51.

(Pub. L. 111–267, title II, § 202, Oct. 11, 2010, 124 Stat. 2812; Pub. L. 115–10, title IV, §§ 411, 412, Mar. 21, 2017, 131 Stat. 33.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments2017—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–10, § 411, amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The long term goal of the human space flight and exploration efforts of NASA shall be to expand permanent human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and to do so, where practical, in a manner involving international partners.” Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 115–10, § 412, added par. (5).