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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 258

To establish a non-Federal, for-profit Launch Services Corporation for providing space launch services to the Federal Government and other domestic

and foreign customers, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. HEFLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Science

A BILL

To establish a non-Federal, for-profit Launch Services Corporation for providing space launch services to the Federal Government and other domestic and foreign customers, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Launch Services Cor5 poration Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘Corporation’’ means the Launch

2 Services Corporation created under section 4 of this

3 Act; and

4 (2) the terms ‘‘launch’’, ‘‘launch property’’,

5 ‘‘launch services’’, ‘‘launch site’’, and ‘‘launch vehi6 cle’’ have the meaning given such terms under sec7 tion 70102 of title 49, United States Code, except

8 that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to ac9 tivities relating to suborbital trajectories.

10 SEC. 3. FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.

11 (a) PRESIDENT.—The President shall—

12 (1) coordinate the activities of Federal agencies

13 with space launch responsibilities, so as to ensure

14 that there is full and effective compliance at all

15 times with this Act;

16 (2) ensure that timely treaties, trade agree17 ments, and other appropriate arrangements are

18 made, and appropriate regulations are issued, to en19 able foreign customers to obtain launch services

20 from the Corporation and to otherwise participate in

21 the launch services system established pursuant to

22 this Act; and

23 (3) after consultation with appropriate Federal

24 agencies, issue a statement of the technical require-
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1 ments of the Federal Government for the system re2 ferred to in paragraph (2).

3 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—The National

4 Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Depart5 ment of Defense shall cooperate with the Corporation on

6 research and development related to the purposes of the

7 Corporation.

8 (c) FEDERAL AGENCIES IN GENERAL.—The Federal

9 Government shall—

10 (1) procure, to the maximum extent feasible,

11 needed launch services from the Corporation;

12 (2) pay fair market value for services provided

13 to the Federal Government by the Corporation;

14 (3) extend to the Corporation first priority for

15 access to launch property and launch sites in a mu16 tually agreeable manner;

17 (4) furnish range safety for launches from Gov18 ernment-owned facilities; and

19 (5) to the extent feasible, furnish other services

20 to the Corporation as may be required in connection

21 with the establishment and operation of the Cor22 poration.

23 SEC. 4. LAUNCH SERVICES CORPORATION.

24 (a) CREATION.—There is authorized to be created a

25 Launch Services Corporation, a for-profit corporation
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1 which shall not be an agency or establishment of the

2 United States Government and which shall be incor3 porated under the laws of a State of the United States.

4 (b) PURPOSES.—(1) The purposes of the Corporation

5 shall be—

6 (A) to broaden and speed the economic use of

7 space;

8 (B) to enhance the economic competitiveness of

9 the United States launch services industry and all

10 industrial, commercial, and financial businesses re11 lated thereto;

12 (C) to enhance national security;

13 (D) to serve the launch needs of—

14 (i) the Federal Government;

15 (ii) private sector customers in the United

16 States; and

17 (iii) appropriate foreign customers; and

18 (E) to remain a viable and competitive corpora19 tion.

20 (2) It shall not be a purpose of the Corporation to

21 construct launch vehicles.

22 (c) PROCESS OF ORGANIZATION.—The President

23 shall, as expeditiously as possible, appoint incorporators,

24 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who

25 shall serve as the initial board of directors of the Corpora-
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1 tion until the first annual meeting of stockholders or until

2 their successors are elected and appointed under sub3 section (d) and qualified. Such incorporators shall arrange

4 for an initial stock offering and shall take whatever other

5 actions are necessary to establish the Corporation, includ6 ing the filing of articles of incorporation, subject to the

7 approval of the President.

8 (d) DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.—

9 (1) DIRECTORS.—The Corporation shall have a

10 board of directors consisting of 15 individuals who

11 are citizens of the United States, of whom one shall

12 be elected annually by the board to serve as chair13 man. Three members of the board shall be appointed

14 by the President, by and with the advice and consent

15 of the Senate, for terms of three years or until their

16 successors have been appointed and qualified, except

17 that one of the members first appointed under this

18 sentence shall be appointed to a term of one year,

19 and one of such members shall be appointed to a

20 term of two years. Any member appointed to fill a

21 vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired

22 term of the director being replaced. The remaining

23 12 members of the board shall be elected annually

24 by the stockholders.
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1 (2) OFFICERS.—The Corporation shall have

2 such officers as may be named and appointed by the

3 board, at rates of compensation fixed by the board,

4 and serving at the pleasure of the board. No individ5 ual other than a citizen of the United States may be

6 an officer of the Corporation. No officer of the Cor7 poration shall receive any salary from any source

8 other than the Corporation while employed by the

9 Corporation.

10 (e) FINANCING.—

11 (1) STOCK.—The Corporation may issue and

12 have outstanding, in such amounts as it shall deter13 mine, shares of capital stock, without par value,

14 which shall carry voting rights and be eligible for

15 dividends. The stock shall be sold in a manner to en16 courage the widest distribution to the public. No

17 company, including any company controlling, con18 trolled by, or under common control with such com19 pany, may hold more than 15 percent of the capital

20 stock of the Corporation.

21 (2) ADDITIONAL INSTRUMENTS.—The Corpora22 tion may issue, in addition to the stock authorized

23 by paragraph (1), nonvoting securities, bonds, de24 bentures, and other certificates of indebtedness.
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1 (f) POWERS.—In order to achieve its purposes, the

2 Corporation may—

3 (1) plan, initiate, own, manage, and operate it4 self, or in conjunction with other business entities,

5 a commercial launch services system;

6 (2) furnish, for hire, launch services to public

7 and private entities of the United States and, except

8 as otherwise prohibited by law, to foreign customers;

9 (3) own and operate launch property, launch

10 sites, and one or more types of launch vehicle, pro11 vide or contract for range safety operations at those

12 launch sites, and provide or contract for any other

13 such services as may be required to carry out its

14 purposes; and

15 (4) conduct appropriate research and develop16 ment.

17 (g) RECOUPMENT.—Not later than 180 days after

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall es19 tablish procedures for the repayment by the Corporation

20 to the Federal Government of an amount equal to the

21 amount of Federal funding that has been provided to the

22 Corporation.

23 SEC. 5. FOREIGN BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS.

24 Whenever the Corporation shall enter into business

25 negotiations with respect to launch property, operations,
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1 or services authorized by this Act with any international

2 or foreign entity, it shall notify the Department of State

3 of the negotiations, and the Department of State shall ad4 vise the Corporation of relevant foreign policy consider5 ations. Throughout such negotiations the Corporation

6 shall keep the Department of State informed with respect

7 to such considerations. The Corporation may request the

8 Department of State to assist in the negotiations, and that

9 Department shall render such assistance as may be appro10 priate.

11 SEC. 6. REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.

12 (a) PRESIDENT’S REPORT.—The President shall

13 transmit to the Congress in January of each year a report

14 which shall include a comprehensive description of the ac15 tivities and accomplishments of the Federal Government

16 and the Corporation during the preceding calendar year

17 under this Act, together with an evaluation of such activi18 ties and accomplishments in terms of the purposes of the

19 Corporation and any recommendations for additional leg20 islative or other action which the President may consider

21 necessary for such purposes.

22 (b) CORPORATION’S REPORT.—The Corporation shall

23 transmit to the President and Congress, annually and at

24 such other times as it considers appropriate, a comprehen-
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1 sive and detailed report of its operations, activities, and

2 accomplishments under this Act.

3 SEC. 7. SUNSET.

4 No Federal funding shall be provided to the Corpora5 tion after December 31, 2001, except as payment for serv6 ices provided to the Federal Government by the

7 Corporation.

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