I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3936
To encourage the development of a commercial space industry in the United
States, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 1, 1996
Mr. WALKER
(for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. LARGENT, Mr.
WELDON of Florida, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. STOCK-
MAN, Mr. DAVIS, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. BAKER
of California, Mrs.
SEASTRAND, and Mr. TIAHRT) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committee
on Government Reform and Oversight, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To encourage the development of a commercial space
industry in the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Space Commercialization Promotion Act of 1996’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I—PROMOTION OF COMMERCIAL SPACE OPPORTUNITIES
Sec. 101. Commercialization of space station.
Sec. 102. Commercial space launch amendments.
Sec. 103. Exceptions to employment restrictions.
Sec. 104. Benefits for certain employees transferring from NASA.
Sec. 105. Promotion of United States Global Positioning System standards.
Sec. 106. Purchase of space science data.
TITLE II—REMOTE SENSING
Sec. 201. Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 amendments.
Sec. 202. Acquisition of earth remote sensing data.
TITLE III—FEDERAL ACQUISITION OF SPACE TRANSPORTATION
SERVICES
Sec. 301. Requirement to procure commercial space transportation services.
Sec. 302. Acquisition of space transportation services.
Sec. 303. Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990 amendments.
Sec. 304. Use of excess intercontinental ballistic missiles.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration;
(2) the term ‘‘commercial provider’’ means any
person providing space transportation services or
other space-related activities, primary control of
which is held by persons other than Federal, State,
local, and foreign governments;
(3) the term ‘‘payload’’ means anything that a
person undertakes to transport to, from, or within
outer space, or in suborbital trajectory, by means of
a space transportation vehicle, but does not include
the space transportation vehicle itself except for its
components which are specifically designed or adapt-
ed for that payload;
(4) the term ‘‘space-related activities’’ includes
research and development, manufacturing, process-
ing, service, and other associated and support activi-
ties;
(5) the term ‘‘space transportation services’’
means the preparation of a space transportation ve-
hicle and its payloads for transportation to, from, or
within outer space, or in suborbital trajectory, and
the conduct of transporting a payload to, from, or
within outer space, or in suborbital trajectory;
(6) the term ‘‘space transportation vehicle’’
means any vehicle constructed for the purpose of op-
erating in, or transporting a payload to, from, or
within, outer space, or in suborbital trajectory, and
includes any component of such vehicle not specifi-
cally designed or adapted for a payload;
(7) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several
States of the Union, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and any other common-
wealth, territory, or possession of the United States;
(8) the term ‘‘streamlining activities’’ means
management reforms which are designed to increase
efficiencies in operations and personnel, principally
through consolidation of agency activities and migra-
tion of such efforts to the private sector; and
(9) the term ‘‘United States commercial pro-
vider’’ means a commercial provider, organized
under the laws of the United States or of a State,
which is—
(A) more than 50 percent owned by United
States nationals; or
(B) a subsidiary of a foreign company and
the Secretary of Transportation finds that—
(i) such subsidiary has in the past evi-
denced a substantial commitment to the
United States market through—
(I) investments in the United
States in long-term research, develop-
ment, and manufacturing (including
the manufacture of major components
and subassemblies); and
(II) significant contributions to
employment in the United States; and
(ii) the country or countries in which
such foreign company is incorporated or
organized, and, if appropriate, in which it
principally conducts its business, affords
reciprocal treatment to companies de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) comparable to
that afforded to such foreign company’s
subsidiary in the United States, as evi-
denced by—
(I) providing comparable oppor-
tunities for companies described in
subparagraph (A) to participate in
Government sponsored research and
development similar to that authorized
under this Act;
(II) providing no barriers to com-
panies described in subparagraph (A)
with respect to local investment op-
portunities that are not provided to
foreign companies in the United
States; and
(III) providing adequate and ef-
fective protection for the intellectual
property rights of companies de-
scribed in subparagraph (A).
TITLE I—PROMOTION OF COM-
MERCIAL SPACE OPPORTUNI-
TIES
SEC. 101. COMMERCIALIZATION OF SPACE STATION.
(a) POLICY.—The Congress declares that a priority
goal of constructing the International Space Station is the
economic development of Earth orbital space. The Con-
gress further declares that the use of free market prin-
ciples in operating, allocating the use of, and adding capa-
bilities to the Space Station, and the resulting fullest pos-
sible engagement of commercial providers and participa-
tion of commercial users, will reduce Space Station oper-
ational costs for all partners and the Federal Govern-
ment’s share of the United States burden to fund oper-
ations.
(b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall deliver to the
Congress, within 60 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, a market study that examines the role of com-
mercial ventures which could supply, use, service, or aug-
ment the International Space Station, the specific policies
and initiatives the Administrator is advancing to encour-
age these commercial opportunities, the cost savings to be
realized by the international partnership from applying
commercial approaches to cost-shared operations, and the
cost reimbursements to the United States Government
from commercial users of the Space Station.
SEC. 102. COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH AMENDMENTS.
(a) AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 701 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) in the table of sections—
(A) by amending the item relating to sec-
tion 70104 to read as follows:
‘‘70104. Restrictions on launches, operations, and reentries.’’;
(B) by amending the item relating to sec-
tion 70108 to read as follows:
‘‘70108. Prohibition, suspension, and end of launches, operation of launch sites
and reentry sites, and reentries.’’;
(C) by amending the item relating to sec-
tion 70109 to read as follows:
‘‘70109. Preemption of scheduled launches or reentries.’’;
and
(D) by adding at the end the following new
items:
‘‘70120. Regulations.
‘‘70121. Report to Congress.
‘‘70122. State authority to license commercial spaceports.’’.
(2) in section 70101—
(A) by inserting ‘‘microgravity research,’’
after ‘‘information services,’’ in subsection
(a)(3);
(B) by inserting ‘‘, reentry,’’ after ‘‘launch-
ing’’ both places it appears in subsection (a)(4);
(C) by inserting ‘‘, reentry vehicles,’’ after
‘‘launch vehicles’’ in subsection (a)(5);
(D) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’
after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(6);
(E) by inserting ‘‘, reentries,’’ after
‘‘launches’’ both places it appears in subsection
(a)(7);
(F) by inserting ‘‘, reentry sites,’’ after
‘‘launch sites’’ in subsection (a)(8);
(G) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’
after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(8);
(H) by inserting ‘‘reentry sites,’’ after
‘‘launch sites,’’ in subsection (a)(9);
(I) by inserting ‘‘and reentry site’’ after
‘‘launch site’’ in subsection (a)(9);
(J) by inserting ‘‘, reentry vehicles,’’ after
‘‘launch vehicles’’ in subsection (b)(2);
(K) by striking ‘‘launch’’ in subsection
(b)(2)(A);
(L) by inserting ‘‘and reentry’’ after ‘‘con-
duct of commercial launch’’ in subsection
(b)(3);
(M) by striking ‘‘launch’’ after ‘‘and trans-
fer commercial’’ in subsection (b)(3); and
(N) by inserting ‘‘and development of re-
entry sites,’’ after ‘‘launch-site support facili-
ties,’’ in subsection (b)(4);
(3) in section 70102—
(A) by striking ‘‘and any payload’’ and in-
serting in lieu thereof ‘‘or reentry vehicle and
any payload from Earth’’ in paragraph (3);
(B) in paragraph (5)—
(i) by redesignating subparagraphs
(A) and (B) as subparagraphs (B) and
(C), respectively; and
(ii) by inserting before subparagraph
(B), as so redesignated by clause (i) of this
subparagraph, the following new subpara-
graph:
‘‘(A) activities directly related to the prep-
aration of a launch site or payload facility for
one or more launches;’’;
(C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after
‘‘means of a launch vehicle’’ in paragraph (8);
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (10)
through (12) as paragraphs (14) through (16),
respectively;
(E) by inserting after paragraph (9) the
following new paragraphs:
‘‘(10) ‘reenter’ and ‘reentry’ mean to return or
attempt to return, purposefully, a reentry vehicle
and its payload, if any, from Earth orbit or from
outer space to Earth.
‘‘(11) ‘reentry services’ means—
‘‘(A) activities involved in the preparation
of a reentry vehicle and its payload, if any, for
reentry; and
‘‘(B) the conduct of a reentry.
‘‘(12) ‘reentry site’ means the location on Earth
to which a reentry vehicle is intended to return (as
defined in a license the Secretary issues or transfers
under this chapter).
‘‘(13) ‘reentry vehicle’ means a vehicle designed
to return from Earth orbit or outer space to Earth,
or a reusable launch vehicle designed to return from
outer space to Earth, substantially intact.’’; and
(F) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after
‘‘launch services’’ each place it appears in para-
graph (15), as so redesignated by subparagraph
(D) of this paragraph;
(4) in section 70103—
(A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ in sub-
section (a) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Except