H. R. 5382
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four
An Act
To promote the development of the emerging commercial human space flight indus-
try, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Space Launch
Amendments Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.
(a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 70101 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting ‘‘human space flight,’’
after ‘‘microgravity research,’’;
(2) in subsection (a)(4)—
(A) by striking ‘‘satellite’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘services now available from’’ and
inserting ‘‘capabilities of’’;
(3) in subsection (a)(8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;
(4) in subsection (a)(9), by striking the period and inserting
a semicolon;
(5) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the following
new paragraphs:
‘‘(10) the goal of safely opening space to the American
people and their private commercial, scientific, and cultural
enterprises should guide Federal space investments, policies,
and regulations;
‘‘(11) private industry has begun to develop commercial
launch vehicles capable of carrying human beings into space
and greater private investment in these efforts will stimulate
the Nation’s commercial space transportation industry as a
whole;
‘‘(12) space transportation is inherently risky, and the
future of the commercial human space flight industry will
depend on its ability to continually improve its safety perform-
ance;
‘‘(13) a critical area of responsibility for the Department
of Transportation is to regulate the operations and safety of
the emerging commercial human space flight industry;
‘‘(14) the public interest is served by creating a clear legal,
regulatory, and safety regime for commercial human space
flight; and
‘‘(15) the regulatory standards governing human space
flight must evolve as the industry matures so that regulations
H. R. 5382—2
neither stifle technology development nor expose crew or space
flight participants to avoidable risks as the public comes to
expect greater safety for crew and space flight participants
from the industry.’’;
(6) in subsection (b)(2)—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (A);
(B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in subpara-
graph (B); and
(C) by adding at the end the following new subpara-
graph:
‘‘(C) promoting the continuous improvement of the
safety of launch vehicles designed to carry humans,
including through the issuance of regulations, to the extent
permitted by this chapter;’’; and
(7) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘issue and transfer’’
and inserting ‘‘issue permits and commercial licenses and
transfer’’.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 70102 of title 49, United States Code,
is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (17) as para-
graphs (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (12), (13), (14), (15),
(16), (18), (21), and (22), respectively;
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(2) ‘crew’ means any employee of a licensee or transferee,
or of a contractor or subcontractor of a licensee or transferee,
who performs activities in the course of that employment
directly relating to the launch, reentry, or other operation of
or in a launch vehicle or reentry vehicle that carries human
beings.’’;
(3) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated by paragraph (1)
of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘, crew, or space flight partici-
pant’’ after ‘‘any payload’’;
(4) in paragraph (6)(A), as so redesignated by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘and payload’’ and inserting
‘‘, payload, crew (including crew training), or space flight partici-
pant’’;
(5) in paragraph (8)(A), as so redesignated by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘or human beings’’ after
‘‘place a payload’’;
(6) by inserting after paragraph (10), as so redesignated
by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(11) except in section 70104(c), ‘permit’ means an experi-
mental permit issued under section 70105a.’’;
(7) in paragraph (13), as so redesignated by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, by inserting ‘‘crew, or space flight partici-
pants,’’ after ‘‘and its payload,’’;
(8) in paragraph (14)(A), as so redesignated by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘and its payload’’ inserting
‘‘and payload, crew (including crew training), or space flight
participant’’;
(9) by inserting after paragraph (16), as so redesignated
by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(17) ‘space flight participant’ means an individual, who
is not crew, carried within a launch vehicle or reentry vehicle.’’;