H.R. 7273 · 119th Congress

NASA Reauthorization Act of 2026

Introduced on Jan 30, 2026 by Brian Babin (R-TX-36). 3 cosponsors, 2 of them from another party. Latest action (Feb 4, 2026): Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 37 - 0.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Jan 30, 2026
Cosponsors
3
2 from the other party
Policy area
Science, Technology, Communications
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To reauthorize the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Advanced technology and technological innovations
  • Advisory bodies
  • Agricultural research
  • Air quality
  • Appropriations
  • Atmospheric science and weather
  • Aviation and airports
  • Climate change and greenhouse gases
  • Computers and information technology
  • Congressional oversight
  • Education programs funding
  • Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
  • Environmental technology
  • Geography and mapping
  • Government information and archives
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Higher education
  • International organizations and cooperation
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Public contracts and procurement
  • Public-private cooperation
  • Research and development
  • Science and engineering education
  • Space flight and exploration
  • Spacecraft and satellites
  • Technology assessment
  • Telephone and wireless communication
  • Water quality
  • Water use and supply

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Jan 30, 2026). Public domain.

NASA Reauthorization Act of 2026

This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the programs and activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The bill also directs NASA to continue planning for the eventual deorbit of the International Space Station (ISS) and to continue lunar and Mars exploration missions.

Specifically, the bill requires NASA to submit to Congress a strategy for research and operations in low-Earth orbit. (Low-Earth orbit generally encompasses an altitude of up to 2,000 kilometers.) With respect to the ISS, which sits in low-Earth orbit, NASA must generally maintain a flight cadence necessary to support productive use of the station through its operational lifetime. The bill provides statutory authority for NASA's acquisition of ISS deorbit capabilities from a commercial entity and specifies that NASA must not, to the greatest extent practicable, reduce or deprioritize ISS activities. (In 2024, NASA contracted with SpaceX for the development of an ISS deorbit vehicle.)

Further, NASA must report on the risk to science and technology research posed by lack of access to a low-Earth orbit platform (i.e., after retirement of the ISS). NASA may continue to enter into agreements with U.S. commercial entities for the development of one or more private, low-Earth orbit platforms.

Separately, the bill directs NASA to continue efforts to support crewed lunar landings and Mars explorations, including through partnerships with the private sector (i.e., the Moon to Mars and Artemis programs).

Finally, NASA must continue researching advanced air mobility, unmanned aircraft systems (i.e., drones), and hypersonic technologies.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Brian BabinR-TX-36Sponsor

Democrats · 2

Republicans · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jan 30, 2026Introduced in House
  2. Jan 30, 2026Introduced in House
  3. Jan 30, 2026 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
  4. Feb 4, 2026 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  5. Feb 4, 2026 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 37 - 0.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. BLUE ORIGIN, LLC5 reports
    $1.1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: BLUE ORIGIN, LLC$1.1B in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  2. THE BOEING COMPANY4 reports
    $5.2M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: THE BOEING COMPANY$9B in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  3. AEROVIRONMENT, INC.2 reports
    $320K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.AI match · 100%
  4. AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION2 reports
    $506K reported (all issues)
  5. AMENTUM HOLDINGS, INC.2 reports
    $180K reported (all issues)
  6. ASTROSCALE U.S., INC.2 reports
    $40K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ASTROSCALE US INC$203.5K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  7. Aerospace Industries Association of America, Inc.2 reports
    $1.4M reported (all issues)
  8. Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.2 reports
    $80K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY, INC.$244.6M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  9. CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY2 reports
    $140K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$2B in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  10. IBX, LLC2 reports
    $100K reported (all issues)
  11. IMPULSE SPACE, INC.2 reports
    $1.6M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: IMPULSE SPACE, INC.$17.9M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 96%
  12. INTUITIVE MACHINES, INC.2 reports
    $100K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: INTUITIVE MACHINES, LLC$102.5M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  13. NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION2 reports
    $3.7M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION$1.1B in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  14. Planet Labs PBC2 reports
    $850K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: PLANET LABS INC.AI match · 100%
  15. ROCKET LAB USA, INC.2 reports
    $580K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ROCKET LAB USA INC$20.1M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  16. Southwest Research Institute2 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE$124.1M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  17. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory2 reports
    $200K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC$1.8B in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  18. The Regents of the University of Colorado2 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO$67.1M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  19. VANTOR PARENT INC.2 reports
    $330K reported (all issues)
  20. BWX TECHNOLOGIES, INC1 report
    $210K reported (all issues)
  21. COMMERCIAL SPACE FEDERATION1 report
  22. FDD Action1 report
    $240K reported (all issues)
  23. Interlune Corporation1 report
    $30K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: INTERLUNE CORPORATION$7M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  24. L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.1 report
    $530K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.$115.4M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  25. REDWIRE SPACE, INC.1 report
    $30K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: REDWIRE SPACE INCAI match · 100%
  26. RELATIVITY SPACE1 report
    $470K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: RELATIVITY SPACE, INC.$220.5K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  27. Vanderbilt University1 report
    $290K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY$1.6M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%

Reports filed in 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.