I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3038 

To streamline the process of commercial space launch licensing and to establish demonstration projects involving the use of experimental aircraft 

in direct and indirect support of commercial space launch activities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mr. MCCARTHY of California (for himself and Mr. POSEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology 

A BILL 

To streamline the process of commercial space launch licensing and to establish demonstration projects involving the 

use of experimental aircraft in direct and indirect support of commercial space launch activities. 

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 ‘‘Suborbital and Orbital 

5 Advancement and Regulatory Streamlining Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SOARS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH LICENSING. 

2 Chapter 509 of title 51, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by amending section 50902(6)(A) to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) activities involved in the preparation 

7 of a launch vehicle or element thereof, payload, 

8 crew (including crew training), or space flight 

9 participant (including space flight participant 

10 training) for launch; and’’; 

11 (2) by amending section 50904(d) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(d) SINGLE LICENSE OR PERMIT.—The Secretary 

14 of Transportation— 

15 ‘‘(1) shall ensure that only 1 license or permit 

16 is required from the Department of Transportation 

17 to conduct activities involving crew or space flight 

18 participants, including launch and reentry; 

19 ‘‘(2) may authorize by license or permit flight 

20 of a launch or reentry vehicle, or element thereof, in 

21 support of a launch or reentry, even when the vehi22 cle or element is not being launched or reentered; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(3) shall ensure that all Department of Trans25 portation regulations relevant to the licensed or perVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:51 Aug 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3038.IH H3038

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1 mitted activity are satisfied under a single license or 

2 permit.’’; and 

3 (3) in section 50906— 

4 (A) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘sub5 orbital rocket design’’ and inserting ‘‘suborbital 

6 rocket or rocket design’’; and 

7 (B) by amending subsection (g) to read as 

8 follows: 

9 ‘‘(g) A permit may be issued, and a permit that has 

10 already been issued shall remain valid for the uses de11 scribed in subsection (d), for a particular reusable sub12 orbital rocket or rocket design after a license has been 

13 issued for the launch or reentry of a rocket of that de14 sign.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor17 tation shall establish and implement, under the Office of 

18 Commercial Space Transportation, a demonstration 

19 project under chapter 509 of title 51, United States Code, 

20 to evaluate the benefits of using experimental aircraft for 

21 both the direct and indirect support of commercial space 

22 launch and reentry activities. 

23 (b) DURATION AND SCOPE.— 

24 (1) DURATION.—Beginning not later than 90 

25 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 


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1 Secretary of Transportation shall conduct the dem2 onstration project for a period of not less than 3 

3 years. 

4 (2) SCOPE.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

6 Transportation shall enroll not less than 8 com7 mercial businesses involved in direct and indi8 rect support of commercial space launch activi9 ties, with at least 1 business designated for 

10 each Department of Transportation-licensed 

11 commercial space launch facility. 

12 (B) TYPES OF ACTIVITIES.—Such commer13 cial space launch support activities may include 

14 revenue-producing activities and the use of 

15 former military aircraft or vehicles designated 

16 as experimental by the Department of Trans17 portation. 

18 (C) REDEPLOYMENT.—After a period of 6 

19 months from the beginning of the demonstra20 tion program, the Secretary of Transportation 

21 shall determine if there are any Department of 

22 Transportation-licensed launch facilities that do 

23 not have a commercial company participating 

24 with them in the demonstration project and 

25 shall redeploy that demonstration allocation to 


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1 any other licensed launch facilities that are in2 terested in expanding their participation to a 

3 second (or more) demonstration project com4 pany. 

5 (3) LIABILITY COVERAGE.—During the period 

6 of the demonstration program, liability of partici7 pating commercial businesses for damages resulting 

8 from participation in the demonstration program 

9 shall be limited to actual losses incurred. 

10 (4) PAYMENT.—There will be no fees charged 

11 by the Department of Transportation to either li12 censed launch facilities or commercial businesses 

13 participating in this demonstration project. 

14 (5) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

15 Transportation may waive such requirements or lim16 itations of chapter 509 of title 51, United States 

17 Code, as may be necessary to carry out the dem18 onstration project. 

19 (6) STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

20 (A) INTERIM EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 

21 No sooner than 1 year and not later than 2 

22 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

23 the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to 

24 Congress a report that contains an interim eval25 uation of the positive and negative impact of 


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1 the demonstration project on the United States 

2 commercial space transportation industry, any 

3 planned changes to the demonstration project, 

4 and an initial assessment of whether the dura5 tion of the demonstration project should be ex6 tended. 

7 (B) FURTHER EVALUATION AND RE8 PORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

9 of completion of the demonstration project or 2 

10 years after the most recent prior report, the 

11 Secretary of Transportation shall submit to 

12 Congress a report that contains the following: 

13 (i) An updated evaluation of the im14 pact of the demonstration project on the 

15 United States commercial space transpor16 tation industry. 

17 (ii) An analysis of the benefits and 

18 costs of continuing, restarting, expanding, 

19 or making permanent the demonstration 

20 project, including any proposed changes to 

21 the project. 

22 (iii) The Secretary’s recommendation 

23 regarding continuing, restarting, expand24 ing, or making permanent the demonstraVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:51 Aug 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3038.IH H3038

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1 tion project, based on the analysis under 

2 clause (ii). 

3 (iv) Options for Congress to provide 

4 any additional legislative or regulatory au5 thority which may be required to imple6 ment clause (iii). 

7 (7) TEMPORARY EXTENSIONS.—If, at any time 

8 after the first two years of the demonstration 

9 project, the Secretary’s most recent report to Con10 gress has stated that the demonstration project is 

11 succeeding in advancing the purposes of chapter 509 

12 of title 51, United States Code, and that the dura13 tion of the demonstration project should be ex14 tended, then the Secretary is authorized to extend 

15 the project for a period of up to two years per exten16 sion, without restriction, effective 30 days after writ17 ten notification to the Congress of the extension. 

18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 

20 ‘‘demonstration project’’ means the demonstration 

21 project conducted under this section. 

22 (2) INDIRECT SUPPORT OF COMMERCIAL SPACE

23 LAUNCH ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘indirect support of 

24 commercial space launch activities’’ shall include 

25 pilot, crew, and passenger evaluation, preparation, 


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1 and training, payload testing and preparation, and 

2 any other activities deemed necessary by the com3 mercial space launch company participating in the 

4 demonstration project to prepare for, or execute, a 

5 commercial suborbital or orbital launch. 

Æ 


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