(a) REQUIREMENTS.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a plan to restructure the exploration program in existence prior to fiscal year 2011 in order to develop and demonstrate in an integrated manner and as expeditiously and efficiently as practicable a governmentally owned crew transportation system and heavy lift transportation system that satisfies the following requirements:
(1) The plan shall make maximum practicable use of the design, development, and test work com
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pleted to date on the Orion crew exploration vehicle,
Ares I crew launch vehicle, heavy lift launch vehicle system, and associated ground support and exploration enabling systems and take best advantage of
investments and contracts implemented to date.
(2) The performance capabilities of the crew transportation system shall be phased in a manner that is consistent with available and anticipated resources, with the initial operational goal of having the crew transportation system developed under this section available to assure crewed access to low- Earth orbit and the ISS no later than December 31, 2015, in order to minimize the duration of the United States human space flight gap following the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet. If one or more United States commercial entities are certified to provide ISS crew transportation and rescue services, the crew transportation system developed under this section shall be available as a backup ISS crew transportation and rescue service as needed but shall not be utilized as the primary means of ISS crew transportation and rescue or otherwise compete with the commercial system for ISS crew transportation and rescue services.
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(3) The crewed spacecraft element of the crew transportation system shall be evolvable on a continuous development path to support--
(A) ISS crew transportation and rescue capability;
(B) non-ISS missions to, from, and in low- Earth orbit; and
(C) human missions beyond low-Earth orbit.
(4) The crew transportation system shall be able to serve as a testbed for demonstrating operations concepts for exploration missions beyond low- Earth orbit, as well as for demonstrating technologies and carrying out risk reduction for the heavy lift launch vehicle development program.
(5) The crew transportation system shall have predicted levels of safety during ascent to low-Earth orbit, transit, and descent from low-Earth orbit that are not less than those required of the Ares I/Orion configuration that has completed program preliminary design review.
(6) In order to make the most cost-effective use of the funds available for the restructured exploration program, the Administrator shall pursue the expeditious and cost-efficient development of a heavy
lift launch system that utilizes the systems and flight and ground test activities of the crew transportation system developed under this section to the maximum extent practicable. In developing the heavy
lift launch vehicle--
