Space News

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 25-2 following three days of closed hearings, the committee announced June 11.

The markup authorizes $740.5 billion for national defense spending. SASC Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) hailed the bill as a show of strong bipartisan support.

A summary of the bill released by the committee includes several items related to the U.S. Space Force and space programs. Notably absent from the bill are provisions on Space Force acquisition reforms that the committee in the 2020 NDAA asked Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett to submit.

“The acquisition piece was never formally transmitted to the Congress,” a committee aide told reporters on a conference call. “There was a draft version but it was never formally transmitted. So we didn’t act on that at this time.”

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