II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4064 

To amend section 50905 of title 51, United States Code, to extend and 

modify provisions relating to license applications and requirements for 

commercial space launch activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2024 

Mr. SCHMITT (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend section 50905 of title 51, United States Code, 

to extend and modify provisions relating to license applications and requirements for commercial space launch 

activities, 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 ‘‘Commercial Standards 

5 Paramount to Accelerating Cosmic Exploration Leader6 ship Act’’ or ‘‘Commercial SPACE Leadership Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXTENSIONS AND MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO 

2 HUMAN OCCUPANT SAFETY. 

3 (a) LICENSE APPLICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

4 FOR COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH ACTIVITIES.— Section 

5 50905 of title 51, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(7) The Secretary shall not issue any regulation or 

9 other binding guidance regarding human occupant safety 

10 until the date on which all of the following have occurred: 

11 ‘‘(A) The Secretary has approved or denied all 

12 applications submitted under this section during the 

13 2 calendar years ending before the date of the enact14 ment of this paragraph within the timelines set forth 

15 in this section, including any period during the proc16 essing of such applications that is tolled. 

17 ‘‘(B) The date specified in subsection (c)(9) has 

18 passed.’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (c)— 

20 (A) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(3) COLLABORATION ON DEVELOPMENT OF

23 CONSENSUS STANDARDS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) PARTICIPATION OF SECRETARY.— 

25 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in 

26 collaboration with the commercial human 


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1 space flight industry, shall meaningfully 

2 participate in the development of voluntary 

3 industry consensus standards that facili4 tate the safety of crew, government astro5 nauts, and space flight participants. 

6 ‘‘(ii) TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND

7 FEEDBACK.— 

8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The partici9 pation of the Secretary under clause 

10 (i) shall include the contribution of 

11 technical expertise and feedback dur12 ing the standards development proc13 ess. 

14 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—The tech15 nical expertise and feedback referred 

16 to in subclause (I) shall be limited to 

17 such expertise and feedback provided 

18 by technical experts from the National 

19 Aeronautics and Space Administra20 tion, the Federal Aviation Administra21 tion, and the commercial human space 

22 flight industry who have experience in 

23 reviewing human space flight missions 

24 and implementing regulations. 

25 ‘‘(B) PROMOTION OF STANDARDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

2 shall promote the adoption of, but shall not 

3 require the commercial space sector to im4 plement, the standards developed through 

5 the collaboration under subparagraph (A). 

6 ‘‘(ii) ENGAGEMENT WITH COMMER7 CIAL SPACE SECTOR.—In promoting the 

8 adoption of such standards, the Secretary 

9 shall engage with the commercial space 

10 sector to collect feedback on the practical 

11 application of such standards.’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (5)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘December 31, 

15 2016, and every 30 months thereafter 

16 until December 31, 2021,’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘90 days after the date of the en18 actment of the Commercial SPACE 

19 Leadership Act, and biannually there20 after until the date that is 5 years 

21 after such date of enactment,’’; 

22 (II) by striking ‘‘a report’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘, and publish in the Fed24 eral Register, a report’’; and 


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1 (III) by striking ‘‘that promote 

2 best practices’’ and inserting ‘‘to fa3 cilitate the safety of crew, government 

4 astronauts, and space flight partici5 pants and’’; and 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

7 (I) by amending clause (v) to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(v) any lessons learned associated 

10 with— 

11 ‘‘(I) the development, potential 

12 application, and acceptance of vol13 untary industry consensus standards; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(II) commercial space launch 

16 operations; and’’; 

17 (II) by redesignating clause (vi) 

18 as clause (xi); 

19 (III) by inserting after clause (v) 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(vi) any lessons learned with respect 

22 to the need for new standards applicable to 

23 emerging human space flight technologies 

24 and approaches for future standards devel25 opment to ensure safety and innovation; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) recommendations on areas in 

2 which updates to existing industry con3 sensus standards may be appropriate; 

4 ‘‘(viii) a description of the participa5 tion of the Secretary in the development of 

6 the voluntary industry consensus standards 

7 under paragraph (3)(A); 

8 ‘‘(ix) a description of the efforts of 

9 the Secretary to promote the adoption of 

10 such standards under paragraph (3)(B)(i); 

11 ‘‘(x) a description of the activities 

12 conducted by the Secretary to engage with 

13 the commercial space sector to collect feed14 back on the practical application of such 

15 standards under paragraph (3)(B)(ii); 

16 and’’; and 

17 (IV) in clause (xi), as redesig18 nated, by striking ‘‘standards that 

19 promote’’ and all that follows through 

20 the period at the end and inserting 

21 ‘‘standards— 

22 ‘‘(I) to facilitate the safety of 

23 crew, government astronauts, and 

24 space flight participants; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) to improve industry safe2 ty.’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (6)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘Not later than 270 

5 days after the date of enactment of the 

6 SPACE Act of 2015,’’ and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

9 days after the date of the enactment of the 

10 Commercial SPACE Leadership Act,’’; and 

11 (ii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 

14 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) An assessment of the experience 

16 of the Office of Commercial Space Trans17 portation in evaluating novel public safety 

18 frameworks. 

19 ‘‘(ii) An assessment as to whether the 

20 timeframe in which the Office of Commer21 cial Space Transportation reviews, proc22 esses, and completes applications is con23 sistent with the pace of development of the 

24 commercial human space flight industry. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) An assessment of the continued 

2 implementation, review, and improvement 

3 of part 450 of title 14, Code of Federal 

4 Regulations. 

5 ‘‘(iv) An identification of any addi6 tional resources necessary for the Office of 

7 Commercial Space Transportation to fulfill 

8 its responsibilities.’’; 

9 (D) in paragraph (8), in the first sentence 

10 of the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 

11 striking ‘‘December 31, 2022’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘December 31, 2030’’; 

13 (E) by amending paragraph (9) to read as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(9) LEARNING PERIOD.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 5 

17 years after the date of the enactment of the 

18 Commercial SPACE Leadership Act, the Sec19 retary may propose regulations under this sub20 section without regard to subparagraphs (C) 

21 and (D) of paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(B) AEROSPACE RULEMAKING COM23 MITTEE FOR COMMERCIAL HUMAN OCCUPANT

24 SAFETY.—Not earlier than 3 years after the 

25 date of the enactment of the Commercial 


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1 SPACE Leadership Act, and before com2 mencing the development of proposed regula3 tions under this paragraph, the Secretary of 

4 Transportation shall, consistent with section 

5 106(p)(5) of title 49, United States Code, es6 tablish an aerospace rulemaking committee, to 

7 be known as the ‘Aerospace Rulemaking Com8 mittee for Commercial Human Occupant Safe9 ty’ (referred to in this paragraph as ‘SpARC’). 

10 ‘‘(C) PURPOSES.—The purposes of SpARC 

11 shall be— 

12 ‘‘(i) to gather input from the commer13 cial space flight industry on the develop14 ment of proposed regulations under this 

15 paragraph; 

16 ‘‘(ii) to survey and assess existing vol17 untary performance-based industry con18 sensus standards for commercial human 

19 space flight; 

20 ‘‘(iii) to determine which published 

21 standards, or subcomponents of published 

22 standards, may contribute to commercial 

23 human space flight regulations; 

24 ‘‘(iv) to provide a forum for Federal 

25 Aviation Administration technical experts 


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1 with regulatory implementation experience 

2 to meaningfully engage with industry with 

3 respect to the regulation of commercial 

4 human space flight; and 

5 ‘‘(v) to make recommendations with 

6 respect to the scope and substance of com7 mercial human space flight regulations in 

8 a report to the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(D) COMPOSITION.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—SpARC shall be 

11 composed only of representatives of the 

12 commercial human space flight industry 

13 with relevant expertise, including— 

14 ‘‘(I) current and prospective com15 mercial space launch license and per16 mit holders; and 

17 ‘‘(II) any other individual or enti18 ty involved in commercial human 

19 space flight services. 

20 ‘‘(ii) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—The Sec21 retary of Transportation shall appoint as 

22 co-chairpersons of SpARC— 

23 ‘‘(I) an official of the Federal 

24 Aviation Administration; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) a representative of the com2 mercial human space flight industry 

3 described in clause (i). 

4 ‘‘(iii) OBSERVERS.—The co-chair5 persons of SpARC may invite to serve as 

6 a SpARC observer any individual with rel7 evant expertise who is an employee of the 

8 Department of Commerce, the Department 

9 of Defense, the Department of Transpor10 tation, the National Aeronautics and Space 

11 Administration, or any other Federal agen12 cy. 

13 ‘‘(E) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing 

14 recommendations under this paragraph, SpARC 

15 shall take into consideration— 

16 ‘‘(i) the evolving standards of the 

17 commercial space flight industry as identi18 fied in the reports published under para19 graphs (5), (6), and (7); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the input of the commercial 

21 space flight industry. 

22 ‘‘(F) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 

24 days after the date on which SpARC is es25 tablished under subparagraph (B), the 


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1 Secretary of Transportation shall provide a 

2 briefing to the Committee on Commerce, 

3 Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

4 and the Committee on Science, Space, and 

5 Technology of the House of Representa6 tives on the composition, charter, work 

7 plan, and as applicable, work progress of 

8 SpARC. 

9 ‘‘(ii) BIANNUAL REPORT.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

11 than 1 year after the date on which 

12 the initial briefing required by clause 

13 (i) is conducted, and biannually there14 after until the date on which SpARC 

15 terminates, the Secretary of Trans16 portation shall submit to the Com17 mittee on Commerce, Science, and 

18 Transportation of the Senate, the 

19 Committee on Science, Space, and 

20 Technology of the House of Rep21 resentatives, and the Commercial 

22 Space Transportation Advisory Com23 mittee of the Federal Aviation Admin24 istration a report on the efforts of the 

25 Secretary and SpARC with respect to 


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1 the development of voluntary con2 sensus human space flight standards. 

3 ‘‘(II) ELEMENTS.—Each report 

4 required by subclause (I) shall include 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(aa) A list of voluntary 

7 consensus human space flight 

8 standards that have been adopted 

9 or are in development as of the 

10 date of the report. 

11 ‘‘(bb) A prioritized list of 

12 any additional standard the de13 velopment of which the Secretary 

14 of Transportation considers nec15 essary in promoting the safety of 

16 commercial human space flight. 

17 ‘‘(cc) An estimate of the 

18 technical, personnel, and capital 

19 resources required for the Fed20 eral Government to efficiently 

21 and effectively develop and imple22 ment commercial human space 

23 flight regulations. 

24 ‘‘(dd) A description of the 

25 contribution that technical exVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Apr 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064

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1 perts of the Federal Government 

2 with regulatory implementation 

3 experience are making to the de4 velopment of voluntary consensus 

5 human space flight standards 

6 and to the efforts of SpARC. 

7 ‘‘(ee) An assessment of the 

8 efforts and progress of SpARC. 

9 ‘‘(iii) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 

10 90 days after the date on which the report 

11 referred to in subparagraph (C)(v) is sub12 mitted by SpARC, the Secretary of Trans13 portation shall submit to Congress a report 

14 that includes the following: 

15 ‘‘(I) The report submitted by 

16 SpARC. 

17 ‘‘(II) The response of the Sec18 retary of Transportation to such re19 port, including substantive reasoning 

20 for any disagreement with the rec21 ommendations of SpARC. 

22 ‘‘(III) A plan for drafting rules, 

23 including the extent to which such 

24 rules will or will not reflect the input 

25 of SpARC. 


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1 ‘‘(IV) A plan for meaningfully 

2 engaging industry during the rule3 making process through SpARC, the 

4 Commercial Space Transportation Ad5 visory Committee, and the conduct of 

6 public forums.’’; 

7 (F) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 

8 paragraph (11); and 

9 (G) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(10) OTHER AGENCIES.—With respect to a 

12 commercial human space flight operator that meets 

13 safety requirements, the Secretary shall accept an 

14 application described in subsection (a) from the op15 erator that has, using the same or substantially 

16 similar hardware and operations as the hardware 

17 and operations proposed to be used under the appli18 cation— 

19 ‘‘(A) previously launched government as20 tronauts or space flight participants employed 

21 by a Federal agency on a launch vehicle or 

22 launch system under a contract with any other 

23 Federal agency; or 

24 ‘‘(B)(i) entered into a contract with any 

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1 tronauts or space flight participants employed 

2 by a Federal agency on a launch vehicle or 

3 launch system; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) has satisfactorily demonstrated com5 pliance with the safety requirements or quali6 fications of such other Federal agency.’’. 

7 (b) EXTENSION OF LIABILITY INSURANCE AND FI8 NANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

9 50914 of title 51, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ‘‘September 

11 30, 2025’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2033’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(C), by striking ‘‘Sep13 tember 30, 2025’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 

14 2033’’. 

15 (c) EXTENSION OF PAYMENT OF CLAIMS EXCEEDING

16 LIABILITY INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

17 REQUIREMENTS.—Section 50915 of title 51, United 

18 States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by striking ‘‘Sep20 tember 30, 2025’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 

21 2033’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (f), in the first sentence, by 

23 striking ‘‘September 30, 2025’’ and inserting ‘‘Sep24 tember 30, 2033’’. 

Æ 


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