II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3158 

To establish a committee to advise space licensing authorities, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2021 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a committee to advise space licensing 

authorities, 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 ‘‘Space Technology Ad5 visory Committee Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

10 Aviation Administration. 


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1 (2) APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘application’’ 

2 means an application, petition, or other request for 

3 a license, including an application, petition, or other 

4 request to transfer a license that has already been 

5 issued. 

6 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

8 (4) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

9 means the committee established by section 3(a). 

10 (5) COMMITTEE ADVISOR.—The term ‘‘Com11 mittee advisor’’ means an individual described in 

12 section 3(b)(2). 

13 (6) COMMITTEE MEMBER.—The term ‘‘Com14 mittee member’’ means an individual described in 

15 section 3(b)(1). 

16 (7) LEAD MEMBER.—The term ‘‘lead member’’ 

17 means a Committee member designated under sec18 tion 3(d) to carry out a specific duty of the Com19 mittee. 

20 (8) LICENSE.—The term ‘‘license’’ means a li21 cense for— 

22 (A) a launch site; 

23 (B) a launch and reentry vehicle; 

24 (C) a commercial spaceport; 


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1 (D) a commercial Earth remote sensing 

2 satellite; or 

3 (E) commercial satellite communications. 

4 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Commerce. 

6 SEC. 3. COMMITTEE TO ADVISE SPACE LICENSING AU7 THORITIES. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com9 mittee to assist the Administrator, the Secretary, and the 

10 Commission in conducting reviews of applications and li11 censes for the purpose of determining whether granting 

12 the applications or maintaining the licenses poses a risk 

13 to the national security or law enforcement or public safe14 ty interests of the United States. 

15 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be 

17 comprised of the following Committee members: 

18 (A) The head, or a senior executive-level 

19 designee of the head, of each of the following: 

20 (i) The Department of Defense. 

21 (ii) The Department of Homeland Se22 curity. 

23 (iii) The Department of Justice. 

24 (iv) The Office of the Director of Na25 tional Intelligence. 


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1 (v) The Federal Aviation Administra2 tion. 

3 (vi) The National Space Council. 

4 (vii) The Department of Commerce. 

5 (B) The head of any other executive de6 partment or agency, or any Assistant to the 

7 President, as the President considers appro8 priate. 

9 (2) ADVISORY MEMBERS.—In addition to the 

10 Committee members, the following individuals shall 

11 serve as Committee advisors: 

12 (A) The head, or a senior executive-level 

13 designee of the head, of each of the following: 

14 (i) The Department of State. 

15 (ii) The Office of the United States 

16 Trade Representative. 

17 (iii) The Department of the Treasury. 

18 (iv) The Securities and Exchange 

19 Commission. 

20 (v) The Federal Communications 

21 Commission. 

22 (vi) The Environmental Protection 

23 Agency. 

24 (vii) The Department of the Interior. 


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1 (viii) The Office of Science and Tech2 nology Policy. 

3 (ix) The Federal Bureau of Investiga4 tion. 

5 (B) The Assistant to the President for Na6 tional Security Affairs. 

7 (c) CHAIRPERSON.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

9 shall serve as the chairperson of the Committee. 

10 (2) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY.—The chairperson 

11 shall have the exclusive authority to act, or to au12 thorize any other Committee member to act, on be13 half of the Committee, including by communicating 

14 with the Administrator, the Secretary, the Commis15 sion, and applicants and licensees. 

16 (d) LEAD MEMBERS.—The chairperson shall des17 ignate one or more Committee members to serve as a lead 

18 member for carrying out a Committee duty, consistent 

19 with the Committee member’s statutory authority. 

20 (e) ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SPACE REVIEW.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chairperson shall estab22 lish within the Office of the Under Secretary of De23 fense for Acquisition and Sustainment the position 

24 of Assistant Secretary for Space Review, which posiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Nov 04, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3158.IS S3158

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1 tion shall be principally related to the Committee, as 

2 delegated by the Secretary of Defense. 

3 (2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Assistant Sec4 retary for Space Review shall be— 

5 (A) to prioritize the organization and man6 agement of Committee meetings; and 

7 (B) to produce written archival records of 

8 Committee actions. 

9 (f) INFORMATION SHARING AND CONSULTATION.— 

10 The chairperson and each lead member shall— 

11 (1) keep the Committee fully informed of their 

12 respective activities on behalf of the Committee; and 

13 (2) consult the Committee before taking any 

14 material action under this Act. 

15 (g) DUTIES.— 

16 (1) RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS AND LI17 CENSES.—The Administrator, the Secretary, and the 

18 Commission shall refer all applications and licenses 

19 to the Committee, and the Committee shall receive 

20 such applications and licenses, for review and deter21 mination. 

22 (2) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS AND LI23 CENSES.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall— 


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1 (i) conduct a review and assessment 

2 of each application and license received; 

3 and 

4 (ii) with respect to each such applica5 tion and license— 

6 (I) submit questions or requests 

7 for information to the applicant, li8 censee, or any other entity for pur9 poses of the assessment under sub10 clause (II); 

11 (II) assess whether granting the 

12 application or maintaining the license 

13 would pose a risk to the national secu14 rity or law enforcement or public safe15 ty interests of the United States; 

16 (III) in the case of an application 

17 or a license with respect to which the 

18 Committee determines such a risk ex19 ists, determine whether, as applica20 ble— 

21 (aa) the application should 

22 be granted or denied; or 

23 (bb) the license should be 

24 maintained or revoked; and 


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1 (IV) in the case of an application 

2 or license determined to pose such a 

3 risk that may be addressed through 

4 approval with conditions— 

5 (aa) not later than 30 days 

6 after the date on which the Com7 mittee receives such application 

8 or license for review, propose to 

9 the Administrator, the Secretary, 

10 or the Commission, as applicable, 

11 the measures necessary to ad12 dress the risk, and recommend 

13 that the application only be 

14 granted, or the license only main15 tained, on the condition of com16 pliance by the applicant or li17 censee with such measures; 

18 (bb) if the Administrator, 

19 the Secretary, or the Commission 

20 approves the measures proposed 

21 under item (aa) and grants the 

22 application, or maintains the li23 cense, communicate with the ap24 plicant or licensee with respect to 

25 such measures; and 


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1 (cc) monitor compliance with 

2 such measures. 

3 (B) TIMELINE.—Not later than 30 days 

4 after the date on which the chairperson deter5 mines under paragraph (4) that the response of 

6 the applicant or licensee to any question or in7 formation request is complete, the Committee 

8 shall complete the review under this paragraph. 

9 (C) NOTIFICATION.—The chairperson shall 

10 notify the Administrator, the Secretary, or the 

11 Commission, as applicable, of any application or 

12 license determined by the Committee to warrant 

13 a secondary assessment. 

14 (3) SECONDARY ASSESSMENT OF APPLICATIONS

15 AND LICENSES.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall— 

17 (i) conduct a secondary assessment of 

18 any application or license determined by 

19 the Committee to pose a risk to the na20 tional security or law enforcement or pub21 lic safety interests of the United States 

22 that cannot be addressed through standard 

23 mitigation measures; and 

24 (ii) with respect to each such applica25 tion or license— 


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1 (I) submit additional questions or 

2 requests for information to the appli3 cant, licensee, or any other entity to 

4 determine whether there are unre5 solved concerns; and 

6 (II) make a recommendation to 

7 the Administrator, the Secretary, or 

8 the Commission, as applicable, on 

9 whether the application should be de10 nied or the license should be revoked. 

11 (B) TIMELINE.—Not later than 90 days 

12 after the date on which the Committee deter13 mines that a secondary assessment under this 

14 paragraph is warranted, the Committee shall 

15 complete the assessment. 

16 (C) NOTIFICATION.—The chairperson, in 

17 coordination with the Administrator, the Sec18 retary, or the Commission, as applicable, shall 

19 notify the National Security Council and the 

20 President of any application or license with re21 spect to which the Committee recommends a 

22 denial or revocation. 

23 (4) REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMA24 TION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days 

2 after receiving a response to questions or re3 quests for additional information submitted to 

4 an applicant, licensee, or any other entity pur5 suant to an review under paragraph (2) or a 

6 secondary assessment under paragraph (3), the 

7 Committee shall— 

8 (i) make a determination as to wheth9 er such response is complete; and 

10 (ii) notify the Administrator, the Sec11 retary, or the Commission, as applicable, 

12 of such determination. 

13 (B) FAILURE TO RESPOND.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

15 applicant, licensee, or other entity that 

16 fails to respond to such questions or re17 quests for additional information, the Com18 mittee may make a recommendation to the 

19 Administrator, the Secretary, or the Com20 mission, as applicable— 

21 (I) to deny the application con22 cerned without prejudice; or 

23 (II) to rescind the license con24 cerned. 

25 (ii) NOTIFICATION.— 


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1 (I) EXTENSION.—The chair2 person shall notify the Administrator, 

3 the Secretary, or the Commission, as 

4 applicable, of any extension of the re5 view or secondary assessment period. 

6 (II) DENIAL.—The chairperson, 

7 in coordination with the Adminis8 trator, the Secretary, or the Commis9 sion, as applicable, shall notify the 

10 National Security Council and the 

11 President of any recommendation by 

12 the Committee to deny an application 

13 or rescind a license. 

14 (C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Information sub15 mitted to the Committee shall not be disclosed 

16 to any individual or entity outside the depart17 ments or agencies of Committee members and 

18 Committee advisors, except as appropriate and 

19 consistent with procedures governing the han20 dling of classified or otherwise privileged infor21 mation. 

22 (5) NOTIFICATION OF NO OBJECTIONS.—If the 

23 Committee does not have a recommendation or an 

24 objection to granting an application or maintaining 

25 a license, the Committee shall so notify the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Nov 05, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3158.IS S3158

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1 trator, the Secretary, or the Commission, as applica2 ble. 

3 (6) OTHER DUTIES.—The Committees shall 

4 conduct other related duties, as the chairperson con5 siders appropriate. 

6 SEC. 4. THREAT ANALYSIS. 

7 With respect to each application and license reviewed 

8 by the Committee, the Director of National Intelligence, 

9 in coordination with the intelligence community (as de10 fined in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 

11 (50 U.S.C. 3003)), shall issue a written assessment of any 

12 threat to the national security interests of the United 

13 States posed by granting the application or maintaining 

14 the license. 

Æ 


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