II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2ND SESSION S. 3966 

To streamline the application of regulations relating to commercial space 

launch and reentry requirements and licensing of private remote sensing 

space systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 19, 2024 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. KELLY, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. SINEMA, 

and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To streamline the application of regulations relating to commercial space launch and reentry requirements and licensing of private remote sensing space systems, 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 ‘‘Licensing Aerospace 

5 Units to New Commercial Heights Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘LAUNCH Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STREAMLINING REGULATIONS RELATING TO COM2 MERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH AND REENTRY RE3 QUIREMENTS. 

4 (a) EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF PART

5 450.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary of Transportation (referred to in this Act as 

9 the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall evaluate the implementation 

10 of part 450 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations 

11 (in this section referred to as ‘‘part 450’’) and the 

12 impacts of part 450 on the commercial spaceflight 

13 industry. 

14 (2) ELEMENTS.—The evaluation required by 

15 paragraph (1) shall include an assessment of— 

16 (A) whether increased uncertainty in the 

17 commercial spaceflight industry has resulted 

18 from the implementation of part 450; 

19 (B) whether part 450 has resulted in oper20 ational delays to emerging launch programs; 

21 and 

22 (C) whether timelines for reviews have 

23 changed, including an assessment of the impact 

24 of the incremental review process on those 

25 timelines and the root cause for multiple re26 views, if applicable. 


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1 (3) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 

2 days after completing the review required by para3 graph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Com4 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

5 the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 

6 and Technology of the House of Representatives a 

7 report that includes— 

8 (A) the findings of the review; 

9 (B) recommendations for reducing delays 

10 and inefficiencies resulting from part 450 that 

11 do not rely solely on additional personnel or 

12 funding; and 

13 (C) an estimate for a timeline and funding 

14 for implementing the recommendations de15 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

16 (b) RULEMAKING COMMITTEE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall consider 

18 establishing a Space Transportation Rulemaking 

19 Committee, comprised of established and emerging 

20 United States commercial space launch and reentry 

21 services providers (including providers that hold, and 

22 providers that have applied for but not yet received, 

23 licenses issued under chapter 509 of title 51, United 

24 States Code)— 


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1 (A) to facilitate industry participation in 

2 developing recommendations for amendments to 

3 part 450 to address the challenges identified in 

4 conducting the review required by subsection 

5 (a) or under paragraph (2) of section 50905(d) 

6 of title 51, United States Code (as added by 

7 subsection (d)(3)); and 

8 (B) to provide a long-term forum for the 

9 United States commercial spaceflight industry 

10 to share perspectives relating to regulations af11 fecting the industry. 

12 (2) PREVENTION OF DUPLICATIVE EFFORTS.— 

13 The Secretary shall ensure that a Space Transpor14 tation Rulemaking Committee established under this 

15 subsection does not provide services or make efforts 

16 that are duplicative of the services provided and ef17 forts made by the Commercial Space Transportation 

18 Advisory Committee. 

19 (c) ENCOURAGEMENT OF INNOVATION.—The Sec20 retary shall, on an ongoing basis, determine whether any 

21 requirements for a license issued under chapter 509 of 

22 title 51, United States Code, can be modified or eliminated 

23 to encourage innovative new technologies and operations. 

24 (d) MODIFICATIONS TO REQUIREMENTS AND PROCE25 DURES FOR LICENSE APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) CONSIDERATION OF SAFETY RATIONALES

2 OF LICENSE APPLICANTS.—Section 50905(a)(2) of 

3 title 51, United States Code, is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary may’’ inserting 

5 the following: ‘‘Secretary— 

6 ‘‘(A) may’’; 

7 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

8 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(B) shall accept a reasonable safety rationale 

11 proposed by an applicant for a license under this 

12 chapter, including new approaches, consistent with 

13 paragraph (1).’’. 

14 (2) FACILITATION OF LICENSE APPLICATIONS

15 AND ASSISTANCE TO APPLICANTS.—Section 

16 50905(a) of title 51, United States Code, is amend17 ed by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Sec19 retary shall assign a licensing team lead to each ap20 plicant for a license under this chapter to assist the 

21 applicant in streamlining the process for reviewing 

22 and approving the license application.’’. 

23 (3) STREAMLINING OF REVIEW PROCESSES.— 

24 Section 50905(d) of title 51, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by striking the end period and inserting 

2 the following: ‘‘, including by— 

3 ‘‘(1) adjudicating determinations with respect 

4 to such applications and revisions to such determina5 tions in a timely manner as part of the incremental 

6 review process under section 450.33 of title 14, Code 

7 of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation); 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(2) eliminating and streamlining duplicative 

10 review processes with other agencies, particularly re11 lating to the use of Federal ranges or requirements 

12 to use the assets of Federal ranges.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. STREAMLINING LICENSING OF PRIVATE REMOTE 

14 SENSING SPACE SYSTEMS. 

15 (a) CLARIFICATION OF REMOTE SENSING REGU16 LATORY AUTHORITY OVER CERTAIN IMAGING SYS17 TEMS.—Section 60121(a)(2) of title 51, United States 

18 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In19 struments used primarily for mission assurance or other 

20 technical purposes shall not be considered to be con21 ducting remote sensing. Instruments used primarily for 

22 mission assurance or other technical purposes are instru23 ments used to support the health of the launch vehicle or 

24 spacecraft of the operator or the safety of the space oper25 ations of the operator, including instruments used to supVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Apr 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3966.IS S3966

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1 port on-board self-monitoring for technical assurance, 

2 flight reliability, spaceflight safety, navigation, attitude 

3 control, separation events, payload deployments, or instru4 ments collecting self-images.’’. 

5 (b) FACILITATION OF LICENSE APPLICATIONS AND

6 ASSISTANCE TO APPLICANTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 60121 of title 51, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 

9 (A) by redesignating subsections (d) and 

10 (e) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

11 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(d) ASSIGNMENT OF DEDICATED LICENSING OFFI14 CER.—The Secretary shall assign a licensing officer to 

15 oversee the application of the applicant for a license under 

16 subsection (a). The licensing officer shall assist the appli17 cant by facilitating the application process, minimizing li18 cense conditions, and expediting the review and approval 

19 of the application, to the extent authorized by law.’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

21 60122(b)(3) of title 51, United States Code, is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘section 60121(e)’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘section 60121(f)’’. 

24 (c) TRANSPARENCY AND EXPEDITIOUS REVIEW OF

25 LICENSES.—In carrying out the authorities under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Apr 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3966.IS S3966

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1 chapter III of chapter 601 of title 51, United States Code, 

2 the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) provide transparency to and engagement 

4 with applicants throughout the licensing process, in5 cluding by stating with specificity to the applicant or 

6 licensee what basis caused the tiering determination 

7 of the license; 

8 (2) minimize the timelines for review of com9 mercial remote sensing licensing applications; and 

10 (3) not less frequently than annually, reevaluate 

11 the criteria for the tiering of satellite systems, with 

12 a goal of expeditiously recategorizing Tier 3 systems 

13 to a lower tier without temporary license conditions. 

14 SEC. 4. GAO REPORT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

17 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

18 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

19 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

20 House of Representatives a report on the policies, regula21 tions, and practices of the Department of Commerce (re22 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Department’’) with respect 

23 to the private remote sensing space industry. 

24 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

25 (a) shall include the following: 


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1 (1) An assessment of the extent to which such 

2 licensing policies, regulations, and practices of the 

3 Department promote or inhibit a robust domestic 

4 private remote sensing industry, including any re5 strictions that impede innovative remote sensing ca6 pabilities. 

7 (2) Recommendations on changes to policies, 

8 regulations, and practices for consideration by the 

9 Secretary of Commerce to promote United States in10 dustry leadership in private remote sensing capabili11 ties, including recommendations for— 

12 (A) determining whether the costs to in13 dustry outweigh the benefits of conducting on14 site ground station visits, and possible alter15 natives to ensuring compliance; 

16 (B) assessing the information in a license 

17 application that should be treated as a material 

18 fact and the justification for such treatment; 

19 (C) incorporating industry feedback into 

20 Department policies, regulations, and practices; 

21 and 

22 (D) increasing Department transparency 

23 by— 

24 (i) ensuring the wide dissemination of 

25 Department guidance; 


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1 (ii) providing clear application instruc2 tions; and 

3 (iii) establishing written precedent of 

4 Department actions. 

Æ 


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