Summary#
This bill creates a temporary pilot program run by the Secretary of Transportation to give grants to operators of launch and reentry sites (spaceports). Grants pay for building, repairing, maintaining, or improving transportation infrastructure and facilities at or next to those sites. Projects must directly support transportation safety or the movement of people or property to, from, or within a launch or reentry site. Grant recipients must apply, show the project is an allowed use, and keep records for review.
What it means for you#
- If you operate a licensed launch or reentry site, you can apply for grant money for local roads, vehicle or vessel access, rail, airport connections, pipelines, or similar transportation work that supports launches and reentries.
- Grants are tied to the number of launches or reentries from the site (or from an adjacent Federal launch range) in the previous fiscal year.
- State, local, tribal, or private entities can provide matching funds to increase future supplemental grant amounts.
- The program ends on October 1, 2030, unless extended.
Expenses#
- Basic grant formula (beginning the fiscal year after fiscal year 2026): $250,000 for each launch or reentry under a license and $100,000 for each launch or reentry under a permit, counted for the previous fiscal year.
- A single operator’s grant under the basic formula is capped at $2,500,000 per fiscal year (supplemental grants are not subject to that cap).
- Supplemental grants: if a qualified entity provides a dollar-for-dollar match in the same fiscal year, the Secretary may award a supplemental grant equal to 25% of the original grant in the following fiscal year; if a qualified entity provides at least 2 times the grant amount as a match, the supplemental may be 50% in the following fiscal year.
- Total program funding for all grants is limited to $20,000,000 per fiscal year and grants are paid from funds available under 49 U.S.C. 106(k). The Secretary may proportionally reduce supplemental or basic grants if needed to meet the $20,000,000 cap.
Proponents' View#
No publicly available information.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.