I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5382 

To promote the development of the emerging commercial human space flight 

industry, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2004 

Mr. ROHRABACHER (for himself, Mr. BOEHLERT, and Mr. GORDON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 

A BILL 

To promote the development of the emerging commercial 

human space flight industry, 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 Space 

5 Launch Amendments Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 70101 of 

8 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting ‘‘human 

10 space flight,’’ after ‘‘microgravity research,’’; 
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1 (2) in subsection (a)(4)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘satellite’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘services now available 

4 from’’ and inserting ‘‘capabilities of’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (a)(8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; 

7 (4) in subsection (a)(9), by striking the period 

8 and inserting a semicolon; 

9 (5) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the 

10 following new paragraphs: 

11 ‘‘(10) the goal of safely opening space to the 

12 American people and their private commercial, sci13 entific, and cultural enterprises should guide Federal 

14 space investments, policies, and regulations; 

15 ‘‘(11) private industry has begun to develop 

16 commercial launch vehicles capable of carrying 

17 human beings into space and greater private invest18 ment in these efforts will stimulate the Nation’s 

19 commercial space transportation industry as a 

20 whole; 

21 ‘‘(12) space transportation is inherently risky, 

22 and the future of the commercial human space flight 

23 industry will depend on its ability to continually im24 prove its safety performance; 
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1 ‘‘(13) a critical area of responsibility for the 

2 Department of Transportation is to regulate the op3 erations and safety of the emerging commercial 

4 human space flight industry; 

5 ‘‘(14) the public interest is served by creating 

6 a clear legal, regulatory, and safety regime for com7 mercial human space flight; and 

8 ‘‘(15) the regulatory standards governing 

9 human space flight must evolve as the industry ma10 tures so that regulations neither stifle technology de11 velopment nor expose crew or space flight partici12 pants to avoidable risks as the public comes to ex13 pect greater safety for crew and space flight partici14 pants from the industry.’’; 

15 (6) in subsection (b)(2)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub17 paragraph (A); 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon 

19 in subparagraph (B); and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

21 subparagraph: 

22 ‘‘(C) promoting the continuous improve23 ment of the safety of launch vehicles designed 

24 to carry humans, including through the 
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1 issuance of regulations, to the extent permitted 

2 by this chapter;’’; and 

3 (7) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘issue and 

4 transfer’’ and inserting ‘‘issue permits and commer5 cial licenses and transfer’’. 

6 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 70102 of title 49, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

9 (17) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), 

10 (10), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (18), (21), and 

11 (22), respectively; 

12 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol13 lowing new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(2) ‘crew’ means any employee of a licensee or 

15 transferee, or of a contractor or subcontractor of a 

16 licensee or transferee, who performs activities in the 

17 course of that employment directly relating to the 

18 launch, reentry, or other operation of or in a launch 

19 vehicle or reentry vehicle that carries human 

20 beings.’’; 

21 (3) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated by 

22 paragraph (1) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘, 

23 crew, or space flight participant’’ after ‘‘any pay24 load’’; 
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1 (4) in paragraph (6)(A), as so redesignated by 

2 paragraph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘and 

3 payload’’ and inserting ‘‘, payload, crew (including 

4 crew training), or space flight participant’’; 

5 (5) in paragraph (8)(A), as so redesignated by 

6 paragraph (1) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘or 

7 human beings’’ after ‘‘place a payload’’; 

8 (6) by inserting after paragraph (10), as so re9 designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(11) except in section 70104(c), ‘permit’ 

12 means an experimental permit issued under section 

13 70105a.’’; 

14 (7) in paragraph (13), as so redesignated by 

15 paragraph (1) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘crew, 

16 or space flight participants,’’ after ‘‘and its pay17 load,’’; 

18 (8) in paragraph (14)(A), as so redesignated by 

19 paragraph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘and 

20 its payload’’ inserting ‘‘and payload, crew (including 

21 crew training), or space flight participant’’; 

22 (9) by inserting after paragraph (16), as so re23 designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the 

24 following new paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(17) ‘space flight participant’ means an indi2 vidual, who is not crew, carried within a launch vehi3 cle or reentry vehicle.’’; 

4 (10) by inserting after paragraph (18), as so 

5 redesignated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the 

6 following new paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(19) unless and until regulations take effect 

8 under section 70120(c)(2), ‘suborbital rocket’ means 

9 a vehicle, rocket-propelled in whole or in part, in10 tended for flight on a suborbital trajectory, and the 

11 thrust of which is greater than its lift for the major12 ity of the rocket-powered portion of its ascent. 

13 ‘‘(20) ‘suborbital trajectory’ means the inten14 tional flight path of a launch vehicle, reentry vehicle, 

15 or any portion thereof, whose vacuum instantaneous 

16 impact point does not leave the surface of the 

17 Earth.’’; and 

18 (11) in paragraph (21), as so redesignated by 

19 paragraph (1) of this subsection— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara21 graph (C); 

22 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

23 subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

25 subparagraph: 
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1 ‘‘(E) crew or space flight participants.’’. 

2 (c) COMMERCIAL HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT.—(1) Sec3 tion 70103(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is 

4 amended by inserting ‘‘, including those involving space 

5 flight participants’’ after ‘‘private sector’’. 

6 (2) Section 70103 of title 49, United States Code, 

7 is amended by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 

8 (d), and by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 

9 subsection: 

10 ‘‘(c) SAFETY.—In carrying out the responsibilities 

11 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall encourage, facili12 tate, and promote the continuous improvement of the safe13 ty of launch vehicles designed to carry humans, and the 

14 Secretary may, consistent with this chapter, promulgate 

15 regulations to carry out this subsection.’’. 

16 (3) Section 70104(a) of title 49, United States Code, 

17 is amended— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘License Requirement.—A li19 cense issued or transferred under this chapter’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘Requirement.—A license issued or trans21 ferred under this chapter, or a permit,’’; and 

22 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol23 lowing: ‘‘Notwithstanding this subsection, a permit 

24 shall not authorize a person to operate a launch site 

25 or reentry site.’’. 
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1 (4) Section 70104(b) of title 49, United States Code, 

2 is amended by inserting ‘‘or permit’’ after ‘‘holder of a 

3 license’’. 

4 (5) Section 70104 of title 49, United States Code, 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

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

8 of Transportation shall ensure that only 1 license or per9 mit is required from the Department of Transportation 

10 to conduct activities involving crew or space flight partici11 pants, including launch and reentry, for which a license 

12 or permit is required under this chapter. The Secretary 

13 shall ensure that all Department of Transportation regula14 tions relevant to the licensed or permitted activity are sat15 isfied.’’. 

16 (6) Section 70105(a) of title 49, United States Code, 

17 is amended— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a license is 

19 not issued’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary has not 

20 taken action on a license application’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(including 

22 approval procedures for the purpose of protecting 

23 the health and safety of crews and space flight par24 ticipants, to the extent permitted by subsections (b) 

25 and (c))’’ after ‘‘or personnel’’. 
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1 (7) Section 70105(b)(1) of title 49, United States 

2 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or permit’’ after ‘‘for a 

3 license’’. 

4 (8) Section 70105(b)(2)(B) of title 49, United States 

5 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘an additional requirement 

6 necessary to protect’’ and inserting ‘‘any additional re7 quirement necessary to protect’’. 

8 (9) Section 70105(b)(2)(C) of title 49, United States 

9 Code, is amended— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘or permit’’ after ‘‘for a li11 cense’’; and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end thereof. 

13 (10) Section 70105(b)(2) of title 49, United States 

14 Code, is amended by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

15 subparagraph (E) and inserting after subparagraph (C) 

16 the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(D) additional license requirements, for a 

18 launch vehicle carrying a human being for com19 pensation or hire, necessary to protect the 

20 health and safety of crew or space flight partici21 pants, only if such requirements are imposed 

22 pursuant to final regulations issued in accord23 ance with subsection (c); and’’. 

24 (11) Section 70105(b)(2)(E) of title 49, United 

25 States Code, as so redesignated by paragraph (11) of this 
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1 subsection, is amended by inserting ‘‘or permit’’ after ‘‘for 

2 a license’’. 

3 (12) Section 70105(b)(3) of title 49, United States 

4 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 

5 Secretary may not grant a waiver under this paragraph 

6 that would permit the launch or reentry of a launch vehicle 

7 or a reentry vehicle without a license or permit if a human 

8 being will be on board.’’. 

9 (13) Section 70105(b) of title 49, United States 

10 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(4) The holder of a license or a permit under 

13 this chapter may launch or reenter crew only if— 

14 ‘‘(A) the crew has received training and 

15 has satisfied medical or other standards speci16 fied in the license or permit in accordance with 

17 regulations promulgated by the Secretary; 

18 ‘‘(B) the holder of the license or permit 

19 has informed any individual serving as crew in 

20 writing, prior to executing any contract or other 

21 arrangement to employ that individual (or, in 

22 the case of an individual already employed as of 

23 the date of enactment of the Commercial Space 

24 Launch Amendments Act of 2004, as early as 

25 possible, but in any event prior to any launch 
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1 in which the individual will participate as crew), 

2 that the United States Government has not cer3 tified the launch vehicle as safe for carrying 

4 crew or space flight participants; and 

5 ‘‘(C) the holder of the license or permit 

6 and crew have complied with all requirements of 

7 the laws of the United States that apply to 

8 crew. 

9 ‘‘(5) The holder of a license or a permit under 

10 this chapter may launch or reenter a space flight 

11 participant only if— 

12 ‘‘(A) in accordance with regulations pro13 mulgated by the Secretary, the holder of the li14 cense or permit has informed the space flight 

15 participant in writing about the risks of the 

16 launch and reentry, including the safety record 

17 of the launch or reentry vehicle type, and the 

18 Secretary has informed the space flight partici19 pant in writing of any relevant information re20 lated to risk or probable loss during each phase 

21 of flight gathered by the Secretary in making 

22 the determination required by section 

23 70112(a)(2) and (c); 

24 ‘‘(B) the holder of the license or permit 

25 has informed any space flight participant in 
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1 writing, prior to receiving any compensation 

2 from that space flight participant or (in the 

3 case of a space flight participant not providing 

4 compensation) otherwise concluding any agree5 ment to fly that space flight participant, that 

6 the United States Government has not certified 

7 the launch vehicle as safe for carrying crew or 

8 space flight participants; 

9 ‘‘(C) in accordance with regulations pro10 mulgated by the Secretary, the space flight par11 ticipant has provided written informed consent 

12 to participate in the launch and reentry and 

13 written certification of compliance with any reg14 ulations promulgated under paragraph (6)(A); 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(D) the holder of the license or permit 

17 has complied with any regulations promulgated 

18 by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (6). 

19 ‘‘(6)(A) The Secretary may issue regulations re20 quiring space flight participants to undergo an ap21 propriate physical examination prior to a launch or 

22 reentry under this chapter. This subparagraph shall 

23 cease to be in effect three years after the date of en24 actment of the Commercial Space Launch Amend25 ments Act of 2004. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may issue additional regu2 lations setting reasonable requirements for space 

3 flight participants, including medical and training 

4 requirements. Such regulations shall not be effective 

5 before the expiration of 3 years after the date of en6 actment of the Commercial Space Launch Amend7 ments Act of 2004.’’. 

8 (14) Section 70105 of title 49, United States Code, 

9 is amended by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 

10 (d), and by adding after subsection (b) the following new 

11 subsection: 

12 ‘‘(c) SAFETY REGULATIONS.—(1) The Secretary may 

13 issue regulations governing the design or operation of a 

14 launch vehicle to protect the health and safety of crew and 

15 space flight participants. 

16 ‘‘(2) Regulations issued under this subsection shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) describe how such regulations would be 

18 applied when the Secretary is determining whether 

19 to issue a license under this chapter; 

20 ‘‘(B) apply only to launches in which a vehicle 

21 will be carrying a human being for compensation or 

22 hire; 

23 ‘‘(C) be limited to restricting or prohibiting de24 sign features or operating practices that— 
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1 ‘‘(i) have resulted in a serious or fatal in2 jury (as defined in 49 C.F.R. 830, as in effect 

3 on November 10, 2004) to crew or space flight 

4 participants during a licensed or permitted 

5 commercial human space flight; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) contributed to an unplanned event or 

7 series of events during a licensed or permitted 

8 commercial human space flight that posed a 

9 high risk of causing a serious or fatal injury (as 

10 defined in 49 C.F.R. 830, as in effect on No11 vember 10, 2004) to crew or space flight par12 ticipants; and 

13 ‘‘(D) be issued with a description of the in14 stance or instances when the design feature or oper15 ating practice being restricted or prohibited contrib16 uted to a result or event described in subparagraph 

17 (C). 

18 ‘‘(3) Beginning 8 years after the date of enactment 

19 of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 

20 2004, the Secretary may propose regulations under this 

21 subsection without regard to paragraph (2)(C) and (D). 

22 Any such regulations shall take into consideration the 

23 evolving standards of safety in the commercial space flight 

24 industry. 
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1 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

2 limit the authority of the Secretary to issue requirements 

3 or regulations to protect the public health and safety, safe4 ty of property, national security interests, and foreign pol5 icy interests of the United States.’’. 

6 (15) Section 70105(d) of title 49, United States 

7 Code, as so redesignated by paragraph (15) of this sub8 section, is amended by inserting ‘‘or permit’’ after ‘‘of a 

9 license’’. 

10 (16) Chapter 701 of title 49, United States Code, is 

11 amended by inserting after section 70105 the following 

12 new section: 

13 ‘‘§ 70105a. Experimental permits 

14 ‘‘(a) A person may apply to the Secretary of Trans15 portation for an experimental permit under this section 

16 in the form and manner the Secretary prescribes. Con17 sistent with the protection of the public health and safety, 

18 safety of property, and national security and foreign policy 

19 interests of the United States, the Secretary, not later 

20 than 120 days after receiving an application pursuant to 

21 this section, shall issue a permit if the Secretary decides 

22 in writing that the applicant complies, and will continue 

23 to comply, with this chapter and regulations prescribed 

24 under this chapter. The Secretary shall inform the appli25 cant of any pending issue and action required to resolve 
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1 the issue if the Secretary has not made a decision not later 

2 than 90 days after receiving an application. The Secretary 

3 shall transmit to the Committee on Science of the House 

4 of Representatives and Committee on Commerce, Science, 

5 and Transportation of the Senate a written notice not 

6 later than 15 days after any occurrence when the Sec7 retary has failed to act on a permit within the deadline 

8 established by this section. 

9 ‘‘(b) In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary 

10 may establish procedures for safety approvals of launch 

11 vehicles, reentry vehicles, safety systems, processes, serv12 ices, or personnel that may be used in conducting commer13 cial space launch or reentry activities pursuant to a per14 mit. 

15 ‘‘(c) In order to encourage the development of a com16 mercial space flight industry, the Secretary may when 

17 issuing permits use the authority granted under section 

18 70105(b)(2)(C). 

19 ‘‘(d) The Secretary may issue a permit only for reus20 able suborbital rockets that will be launched or reentered 

21 solely for— 

22 ‘‘(1) research and development to test new de23 sign concepts, new equipment, or new operating 

24 techniques; 
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1 ‘‘(2) showing compliance with requirements as 

2 part of the process for obtaining a license under this 

3 chapter; or 

4 ‘‘(3) crew training prior to obtaining a license 

5 for a launch or reentry using the design of the rock6 et for which the permit would be issued. 

7 ‘‘(e) Permits issued under this section shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) authorize an unlimited number of launches 

9 and reentries for a particular suborbital rocket de10 sign for the uses described in subsection (d); and 

11 ‘‘(2) specify the type of modifications that may 

12 be made to the suborbital rocket without changing 

13 the design to an extent that would invalidate the 

14 permit. 

15 ‘‘(f) Permits shall not be transferable. 

16 ‘‘(g) A permit may not be issued for, and a permit 

17 that has already been issued shall cease to be valid for, 

18 a particular design for a reusable suborbital rocket after 

19 a license has been issued for the launch or reentry of a 

20 rocket of that design. 

21 ‘‘(h) No person may operate a reusable suborbital 

22 rocket under a permit for carrying any property or human 

23 being for compensation or hire. 
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1 ‘‘(i) For the purposes of sections 70106, 70107, 

2 70108, 70109, 70110, 70112, 70115, 70116, 70117, and 

3 70121 of this chapter— 

4 ‘‘(1) a permit shall be considered a license; 

5 ‘‘(2) the holder of a permit shall be considered 

6 a licensee; 

7 ‘‘(3) a vehicle operating under a permit shall be 

8 considered to be licensed; and 

9 ‘‘(4) the issuance of a permit shall be consid10 ered licensing. 

11 This subsection shall not be construed to allow the 

12 transfer of a permit.’’. 

13 (17) Section 70106(a) of title 49, United States 

14 Code, is amended— 

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘at a site used for crew or 

16 space flight participant training,’’ after ‘‘assemble a 

17 launch vehicle or reentry vehicle,’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘section 70104(c)’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘sections 70104(c), 70105, and 70105a’’. 

20 (18) Section 70107(b) of title 49, United States 

21 Code, is amended— 

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘On the initia23 tive’’; and 

24 (B) by adding the following new paragraph at 

25 the end: 
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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall modify a license issued 

2 or transferred under this chapter whenever a modi3 fication is needed for the license to be in conformity 

4 with a regulation that was issued pursuant to sec5 tion 70105(c) after the issuance of the license. This 

6 paragraph shall not apply to permits.’’. 

7 (19) Section 70107 of title 49, United States Code, 

8 is amended by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

9 subsections (e) and (f), respectively, and by inserting after 

10 subsection (c) the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL SUSPENSIONS.—(1) The Secretary 

12 may suspend a license when a previous launch or reentry 

13 under the license has resulted in a serious or fatal injury 

14 (as defined in 49 C.F.R. 830, as in effect on November 

15 10, 2004) to crew or space flight participants and the Sec16 retary has determined that continued operations under the 

17 license are likely to cause additional serious or fatal injury 

18 (as defined in 49 C.F.R. 830, as in effect on November 

19 10, 2004) to crew or space flight participants. 

20 ‘‘(2) Any suspension imposed under this subsection 

21 shall be for as brief a period as possible and, in any event, 

22 shall cease when the Secretary— 

23 ‘‘(A) has determined that the licensee has taken 

24 sufficient steps to reduce the likelihood of a recur25 rence of the serious or fatal injury; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) has modified the license pursuant to sub2 section (b) to sufficiently reduce the likelihood of a 

3 recurrence of the serious or fatal injury. 

4 ‘‘(3) This subsection shall not apply to permits.’’. 

5 (20) Section 70110(a)(1) of title 49, United States 

6 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or 70105a’’ after 

7 ‘‘70105(a)’’. 

8 (21) Section 70112(b)(2) of title 49, United States 

9 Code, is amended— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘crew, space flight partici11 pants,’’ after ‘‘transferee, contractors, subcontrac12 tors,’’; and 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘or by space flight partici14 pants,’’ after ‘‘its own employees’’. 

15 (22) Section 70113(a)(1) of title 49, United States 

16 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘but not against a space 

17 flight participant,’’ after ‘‘subcontractor of a customer,’’. 

18 (23) Section 70113(f) of title 49, United States Code, 

19 is amended by inserting at the end the following: ‘‘This 

20 section does not apply to permits.’’. 

21 (24) Section 70115(b)(1)(D)(i) of title 49, United 

22 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘crew or space flight 

23 participant training site,’’ after ‘‘site of a launch vehicle 

24 or reentry vehicle,’’. 
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1 (25) Section 70120 of title 49, United States Code, 

2 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub3 sections: 

4 ‘‘(c) AMENDMENTS.—(1) Not later than 12 months 

5 after the date of enactment of the Commercial Space 

6 Launch Amendments Act of 2004, the Secretary shall 

7 publish proposed regulations to carry out that Act, includ8 ing regulations relating to crew, space flight participants, 

9 and permits for launch or reentry of reusable suborbital 

10 rockets. Not later than 18 months after such date of en11 actment, the Secretary shall issue final regulations. 

12 ‘‘(2)(A) Starting 3 years after the date of enactment 

13 of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 

14 2004, the Secretary may issue final regulations changing 

15 the definition of suborbital rocket under this chapter. No 

16 such regulation may take effect until 180 days after the 

17 Secretary has submitted the regulation to the Congress. 

18 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may issue regulations under this 

19 paragraph only if the Secretary has determined that the 

20 definition in section 70102 does not describe, or will not 

21 continue to describe, all appropriate vehicles and only 

22 those vehicles. In making that determination, the Sec23 retary shall take into account the evolving nature of the 

24 commercial space launch industry. 
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1 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—(1) Licenses for the launch 

2 or reentry of launch vehicles or reentry vehicles with 

3 human beings on board and permits may be issued by the 

4 Secretary prior to the issuance of the regulations de5 scribed in subsection (c). 

6 ‘‘(2) As soon as practicable after the date of enact7 ment of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act 

8 of 2004, the Secretary shall issue guidelines or advisory 

9 circulars to guide the implementation of that Act until 

10 regulations are issued. 

11 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), no li12 censes for the launch or reentry of launch vehicles or re13 entry vehicles with human beings on board or permits may 

14 be issued starting three years after the date of enactment 

15 of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 

16 2004 unless the final regulations described in subsection 

17 (c) have been issued.’’. 

18 (26) The table of sections for chapter 701 of title 49, 

19 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 

20 item relating to 70105 the following new item: 

‘‘70105a. Experimental permits.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. STUDIES. 

22 (a) RISK SHARING.—Not later than 60 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor24 tation shall enter into an arrangement with a nonprofit 

25 entity for the conduct of an independent comprehensive 
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1 study of the liability risk sharing regime in the United 

2 States for commercial space transportation under section 

3 70113 of title 49, United States Code. To ensure that 

4 Congress has a full analysis of the liability risk sharing 

5 regime, the study shall assess methods by which the cur6 rent system could be eliminated, including an estimate of 

7 the time required to implement each of the methods as8 sessed. The study shall assess whether any alternative 

9 steps would be needed to maintain a viable and competi10 tive United States space transportation industry if the 

11 current regime were eliminated. In conducting the assess12 ment under this subsection, input from commercial space 

13 transportation insurance experts shall be sought. The 

14 study also shall examine liability risk sharing in other na15 tions with commercial launch capability and evaluate the 

16 direct and indirect impact that ending this regime would 

17 have on the competitiveness of the United States commer18 cial space launch industry in relation to foreign commer19 cial launch providers and on United States assured access 

20 to space. 

21 (b) SAFETY.—The Secretary of Transportation, in 

22 consultation with the Administrator of the National Aero23 nautics and Space Administration, shall enter into an ar24 rangement with a nonprofit entity for a report analyzing 

25 safety issues related to launching human beings into 
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1 space. In designing the study, the Secretary should take 

2 into account any recommendations from the Commercial 

3 Space Transportation Advisory Committee and the Na4 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Aerospace 

5 Safety Advisory Panel. The report shall be submitted to 

6 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans7 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

8 Science within 4 years of the date of enactment of this 

9 Act. The report shall analyze and make recommendations 

10 about— 

11 (1) the standards of safety and concepts of op12 eration that should guide the regulation of human 

13 space flight and whether the standard of safety 

14 should vary by class or type of vehicle, the purpose 

15 of flight, or other considerations; 

16 (2) the effectiveness of the commercial licensing 

17 and permitting regime under chapter 701 of title 49, 

18 United States Code, particularly in ensuring the 

19 safety of the public and of crew and space flight par20 ticipants during launch, in-space transit, orbit, and 

21 reentry, and whether any changes are needed to that 

22 chapter; 

23 (3) whether there is a need for commercial 

24 ground operations for commercial space flight, in25 cluding provision of launch support, launch and re-
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1 entry control, mission control, range operations, and 

2 communications and telemetry operations through 

3 all phases of flight, and if such operations developed, 

4 whether and how they should be regulated; 

5 (4) whether expendable and reusable launch 

6 and reentry vehicles should be regulated differently 

7 from each other, and whether either of those vehicles 

8 should be regulated differently when carrying human 

9 beings; 

10 (5) whether the Federal Government should 

11 separate the promotion of human space flight from 

12 the regulation of such activity; 

13 (6) how third parties could be used to evaluate 

14 the qualification and acceptance of new human space 

15 flight vehicles prior to their operation; 

16 (7) how nongovernment experts could partici17 pate more fully in setting standards and developing 

18 regulations concerning human space flight safety; 

19 and 

20 (8) whether the Federal Government should 

21 regulate the extent of foreign ownership or control 

22 of human space flight companies operating or incor23 porated in the United States. 
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1 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT. 

2 Section 102(c) of the Commercial Space Act of 1998 

3 is repealed. 

Æ