national obligations and policies of the United States and
for notifying the Secretary promptly of such conditions.
Not later than 60 days after receiving a request from the
Secretary to review a completed application, the Secretary
of State shall notify the Secretary and the licensee of, and
describe in appropriate detail, any specific international
obligations of the United States that the Secretary of
State determines are an appropriate reason for delaying,
modifying, or rejecting a license application. The Sec-
retary of State shall convey to the Secretary any condi-
tions for a license issued under title II, consistent with
this Act, that the Secretary of State determines necessary
to meet the international obligations of the United States.
If no such notification has been received by the Secretary
within such 60-day period, the Secretary shall deem that
activities proposed in the license application meet the
international obligations of the United States.
‘‘(2) Appropriate United States Government agencies
are authorized and encouraged to provide to developing
nations, as a component of international aid, resources for
purchasing remote sensing data, training, and analysis
from commercial providers.’’; and
(C) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘Sec-
retary may require’’ and inserting in lieu there-
of ‘‘Secretary shall, where appropriate, re-
quire’’.
SEC. 202. ACQUISITION OF EARTH SCIENCE DATA.
(a) ACQUISITION.—For purposes of meeting Govern-
ment goals for Mission to Planet Earth, and in order to
satisfy the scientific requirements of the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration, and where practicable
of other Federal agencies and scientific researchers, the
Administrator shall to the maximum extent possible ac-
quire, where cost-effective, space-based and airborne
Earth remote sensing data, services, distribution, and ap-
plications from a commercial provider.
(b) TREATMENT AS COMMERCIAL ITEM UNDER AC-
QUISITION LAWS.—Acquisitions by the Administrator of
the data, services, distribution, and applications referred
to in subsection (a) shall be carried out in accordance with
applicable acquisition laws and regulations (including
chapters 137 and 140 of title 10, United States Code),
except that such data, services, distribution, and applica-
tions shall be considered to be a commercial item for pur-
poses of such laws and regulations (including section
2306a of title 10, United States Code (relating to cost
or pricing data), section 2320 of such title (relating to
rights in technical data) and section 2321 of such title
(relating to validation of proprietary data restrictions)).
(c) STUDY.—(1) The Administrator shall conduct a
study to determine the extent to which the baseline sci-
entific requirements of Mission to Planet Earth can be
met by commercial providers, and how the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration will meet such require-
ments which cannot be met by commercial providers.
(2) The study conducted under this subsection
shall—
(A) make recommendations to promote the
availability of information from the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration to commercial
providers to enable commercial providers to better
meet the baseline scientific requirements of Mission
to Planet Earth;
(B) make recommendations to promote the dis-
semination to commercial providers of information
on advanced technology research and development
performed by or for the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration; and
(C) identify policy, regulatory, and legislative
barriers to the implementation of the recommenda-
tions made under this subsection.
(3) The results of the study conducted under this
subsection shall be transmitted to the Congress within 6
months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) SAFETY STANDARDS.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prohibit the Federal Government
from requiring compliance with applicable safety stand-
ards.
(e) ADMINISTRATION AND EXECUTION.—This section
shall be carried out as part of the Commercial Remote
Sensing Program at the Stennis Space Center.
TITLE 
III—FEDERAL 
ACQUISI-
TION OF SPACE TRANSPOR-
TATION SERVICES
SEC. 
301. 
REQUIREMENT 
TO 
PROCURE 
COMMERCIAL
SPACE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in
this section, the Federal Government shall acquire space
transportation services from United States commercial
providers whenever such services are required in the
course of its activities. To the maximum extent prac-
ticable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to ac-
commodate the space transportation services capabilities
of United States commercial providers.
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The Federal Government shall
not be required to acquire space transportation services
under subsection (a) if, on a case-by-case basis, the Ad-
ministrator or, in the case of a national security issue,
the Secretary of the Air Force, determines that—
(1) a payload requires the unique capabilities of
the space shuttle;
(2) cost effective space transportation services
that meet specific mission requirements would not be
reasonably available from United States commercial
providers when required;
(3) the use of space transportation services
from United States commercial providers poses an
unacceptable risk of loss of a unique scientific oppor-
tunity;
(4) the use of space transportation services
from United States commercial providers is incon-
sistent with national security objectives;
(5) the use of space transportation services
from United States commercial providers is incon-
sistent with foreign policy purposes, or launch of the
payload by a foreign entity serves foreign policy pur-
poses, and a specific exception to the requirements
of subsection (a) has been provided by a law, en-
acted after the date of the enactment of this Act,
that contains no matter other than that exception;
(6) it is more cost effective to transport a pay-
load in conjunction with a test or demonstration of
a space transportation vehicle owned by the Federal
Government; or
(7) a payload can make use of the available
cargo space on a Space Shuttle mission as a second-
ary payload, and such payload is consistent with the
requirements of research, development, demonstra-
tion, scientific, commercial, and educational pro-
grams authorized by the Administrator.
The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of
State and the Secretary of Transportation, may propose
to the Congress that a specific exception described in para-
graph (5) be enacted for a launch or class of launches.
Any such proposal shall include a description of the for-
eign policy purposes that would be served by such an ex-
ception, and shall identify the impacts of such an excep-
tion on the commercial launch industry. Nothing in this
subsection shall prevent the Administrator from planning
or negotiating agreements with foreign entities for the
launch of Federal Government payloads for foreign policy
purposes, contingent on enactment of a specific exception
described in paragraph (5).
(c) DELAYED EFFECT.—Subsection (a) shall not
apply to space transportation services and space transpor-
tation vehicles acquired or owned by the Federal Govern-
ment before the date of the enactment of this Act, or with
respect to which a contract for such acquisition or owner-
ship has been entered into before such date.
(d) HISTORICAL PURPOSES.—This section shall not
be construed to prohibit the Federal Government from ac-
quiring, owning, or maintaining space transportation vehi-
cles solely for historical display purposes.
SEC. 302. ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANS-
PORTATION SERVICES.
(a) TREATMENT OF COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPOR-
TATION SERVICES AS COMMERCIAL ITEM UNDER ACQUI-
SITION LAWS.—Acquisitions of space transportation serv-
ices by the Federal Government shall be carried out in
accordance with applicable acquisition laws and regula-
tions (including chapters 137 and 140 of title 10, United
States Code), except that space transportation services
shall be considered to be a commercial item for purposes
of such laws and regulations (including section 2306a of
title 10, United States Code (relating to cost or pricing
data), section 2320 of such title (relating to rights in tech-
nical data) and section 2321 of such title (relating to vali-
dation of proprietary data restrictions)).
(b) SAFETY STANDARDS.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prohibit the Federal Government
from requiring compliance with applicable safety stand-
ards.
SEC. 303. LAUNCH SERVICES PURCHASE ACT OF 1990
AMENDMENTS.
The Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 2465b et seq.) is amended—
(1) by striking section 202;
(2) in section 203—
(A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2);
and
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and
(4) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively;
(3) by striking sections 204 and 205; and
(4) in section 206—
(A) by striking ‘‘(a) COMMERCIAL PAY-
LOADS ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE.—’’; and
(B) by striking subsection (b).
SEC. 304. SHUTTLE PRIVATIZATION.
(a) POLICY AND PREPARATION.—The Administrator
shall prepare for an orderly transition from the Federal
operation, or Federal management of contracted oper-
ation, of space transportation systems to the Federal pur-
chase of commercial space transportation services for all
nonemergency launch requirements, including human,
cargo, and mixed payloads. In those preparations, the Ad-
ministrator shall take into account the need for short-term
economies, as well as the goal of restoring the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration’s research focus
and its mandate to promote the fullest possible commercial
use of space. As part of those preparations, the Adminis-
trator shall plan for the potential privatization of the
Space Shuttle program. Such plan shall keep safety and
cost effectiveness as high priorities. Nothing in this section
shall prohibit the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration from studying, designing, developing, or funding
upgrades or modifications essential to the safe and eco-
nomical operation of the Space Shuttle fleet.
(b) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Administrator shall
conduct a study of the feasibility of implementing the rec-
ommendation of the Independent Shuttle Management Re-
view Team that the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration transition toward the privatization of the
Space Shuttle. The study shall identify, discuss, and,
where possible, present options for resolving, the major
policy and legal issues that must be addressed before the
Space Shuttle is privatized, including—
(1) whether the Federal Government or the
Space Shuttle contractor should own the Space
Shuttle orbiters and ground facilities;
(2) whether the Federal Government should in-
demnify the contractor for any third party liability
arising from Space Shuttle operations, and, if so,
under what terms and conditions;
(3) whether payloads other than National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration payloads should
be allowed to be launched on the Space Shuttle, how
missions will be prioritized, and who will decide
which mission flies and when;
(4) whether commercial payloads should be al-
lowed to be launched on the Space Shuttle and
whether any classes of payloads should be made in-
eligible for launch consideration;
(5) whether National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and other Federal Government pay-
loads should have priority over non-Federal payloads
in the Space Shuttle launch assignments, and what
policies should be developed to prioritize among pay-
loads generally;
(6) whether the public interest requires that
certain Space Shuttle functions continue to be per-
formed by the Federal Government; and
(7) how much cost savings, if any, will be gen-
erated by privatization of the Space Shuttle.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 60 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration shall complete the study
required under subsection (b) and shall submit a report
on the study to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Science of the House of Representatives.
Passed the House of Representatives November 4,
1997.
Attest:
Clerk.