Talk to Congress about Commercial Human Spaceflight

On October 27, the Suborbital Institute will hold its third Suborbital
Action Day on Capitol Hill. Executives of suborbital spaceflight
companies and interested members of the public will meet with House
and Senate offices to discuss upcoming legislation and regulatory
issues affecting commercial suborbital spaceflight.

In past visits to the Hill, the Suborbital Institute has been
successful in influencing Congress to revitalize the Office of Space
Commercialization and add language on suborbital vehicles to Senate
Resolution 1260. This time, the Suborbital Institute will be following
up on those successes while adding a new agenda item: support for the
recently introduced HR 3245, the Commercial Space Act of 2003. (See
below for the complete text of the bill.) HR 3245 contains many
positive items, in the view of Suborbital Institute, and will help
enable the development of a commercial human spaceflight industry in
the United States.

If you want to speak to lawmakers about the development of commercial
human spaceflight and help promote the opportunity for ordinary
Americans to fly in space, here is your chance to do so. We invite
interested parties to get in touch as soon as possible, so that we may
add you to our scheduling. We are making appointments with
Congressional offices right now, so please do not delay. Email
with your name, contact information, and a
brief bio. We will get in touch to provide you with more information.

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Commercial Space Act of 2003 (Introduced in House)
HR 3245 IH

108th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3245

To promote the development of the commercial space transportation
industry, to authorize appropriations for the Office of the Associate
Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, to authorize
appropriations for the Office of Space Commerce , and for other
purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 2, 2003


Mr. ROHRABACHER (for himself, Mr. GORDON, and Mr. HALL) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

A BILL

To promote the development of the commercial space transportation
industry, to authorize appropriations for the Office of the Associate
Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, to authorize
appropriations for the Office of Space Commerce , 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 Act of 2003'.


SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds that--

(1) a prolonged and severe downturn in the market for commercial space
launches has resulted in--

(A) a significant reduction in the United States global market share
in orbital space launches;

(B) a severe decrease in the number of Government-licensed orbital
launches; and

(C) a commercial space transportation industry dependent upon
Government business opportunities;

(2) the continuous reduction of cost and improvement in safety and
reliability of commercial space transportation capabilities is a
necessary ingredient to achieving most United States space goals;

(3) the opening of outer space to the American people and their
economic, scientific, and cultural enterprises is a priority goal
which should guide Federal space investments, policy development, and
regulatory action;

(4) despite a weak United States launch industry, recent industrial
and technical developments indicate that commercial suborbital human
spaceflight vehicles are under active development in both the United
States and other nations, and greater private investment in these
development efforts will promote greater innovation and
competitiveness for the United States commercial space transportation
industry as a whole;

(5) space transportation is not without risks;

(6) a critical area of responsibility for the Office of the Associate
Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation is to ensure that
the Federal regulation of this new commercial suborbital human
spaceflight industry should focus on protecting the safety of the
general, uninvolved public, while allowing involved persons to assume
risks which are inherent to human spaceflight activities;

(7) enactment of a 3-year extension of the excess third party claims
payment provision of chapter 701 of title 49, United States Code
(Commercial Space Launch Activities) is necessary to provide an
appropriate period to evaluate recommended changes to the Government's
commercial space launch indemnification regime;

(8) the Secretary of Transportation should establish regulatory
guidelines that foster an efficient and cost-effective process for
ensuring safe commercial space launch operations at the Nation's
launch ranges and bases; and

(9) the public interest is served by creating a clear legal and
regulatory regime for commercial space transportation, including an
unambiguous delineation of regulatory roles and responsibilities.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR OFFICE OF COMMERCIAL SPACE
TRANSPORTATION- Section 70119 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting the
following:

`(1) $11,523,000 for fiscal year 2004; and

`(2) $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.'.

(b) FINDINGS- Section 70101(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended--

(1) in paragraph (3), by inserting `human spaceflight,' after
`research,'; and

(2) in paragraph (4), by striking `satellite' and inserting `space' ,
and by striking `services now available from' and inserting
`capabilities of'.

(c) DEFINITIONS- Section 70102 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended--

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (16) as paragraphs (3),
(4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (16),
(19), and (20), respectively;

(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph:

`(2) `crew' means an individual or individuals carried within a launch
or reentry vehicle who performs a function necessary for the
protection of public safety. ';

(3) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated by paragraph (1) of this
subsection--

(A) by inserting `an individual or' after `means';

(B) by inserting `or return from' after `to place in'; and

(C) by striking `that object' and inserting `that individual or
object';

(4) by inserting after paragraph (14), as so redesignated by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, the following new paragraph:

`(15) `spaceflight participant' means an individual who is not crew
carried within a launch or reentry vehicle during a launch or
reentry.';

(5) by inserting after paragraph (16), as so redesignated by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, the following new paragraphs:

`(17) `suborbital rocket' means a rocket-propelled vehicle intended
for flight on a suborbital trajectory whose thrust is greater than its
lift for the majority of the powered portion of its flight.

`(18) `suborbital trajectory' means the intentional flight path of a
launch vehicle, reentry vehicle, or any portion thereof, whose vacuum
instantaneous impact point does not leave the surface of the Earth.';
and

(6) in paragraph (19), as so redesignated by paragraph (1) of this
subsection--

(A) by striking `or' at the end of subparagraph (C);

(B) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) and
inserting `; and'; and

(C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(E) crew or spaceflight participants.'.

(d) COMMERCIAL HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT- (1) Section 70104 of title 49,
United States Code, is amended--

(A) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and

(B) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection:

`(c) COMPLIANCE WITH SPACEFLIGHT PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS- The holder
of a license under this chapter may launch or reenter a spaceflight
participant only if--

`(1) the spaceflight participant has received training and met medical
or other standards specified in the license;

`(2) the spaceflight participant is informed of the safety record of
the launch or reentry vehicle type; and

`(3) the launch or reentry vehicle is marked in a manner specified by
the Secretary of Transportation which identifies it as a launch or
reentry vehicle rather than an aircraft.'.

(2) Section 70112(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by
striking `property damage or loss it sustains, or for personal injury
to, death of, or property damage or loss sustained by its own
employees' and inserting `personal injury, death, property damage, or
loss it sustains, and for personal injury to, death of, or property
damage or loss sustained by its own employees,'.


SEC. 4. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK.

The Secretary of Transportation shall take appropriate efforts,
including realignment of personnel and resources, to create a
streamlined, cost-effective, and enabling regulatory framework for the
United States commercial human spaceflight industry. The Secretary of
Transportation shall clearly distinguish the Department's regulation
of air commerce from its regulation of commercial human spaceflight,
and focus the Department's regulation of commercial human spaceflight
activities on protecting the safety of the general public, while
allowing spaceflight participants who have been trained and meet
license-specific standards to assume an informed level of risk. Not
later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Transportation shall transmit to the Congress a report on
the progress made in implementing this section.


SEC. 5. COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION INDEMNIFICATION EXTENSION.

Section 70113(f) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by
striking `December 31, 2004' and inserting `December 31, 2007'.

SEC. 6. LIABILITY REGIME FOR COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION.

(a) APPLICATIONS- Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall enter
into an appropriate arrangement with the National Academy of Public
Administration to conduct a study on the liability risk-sharing regime
in the United States for commercial space transportation. The study
shall recommend modifications to the liability regime and
characterization of actions required to implement those modifications.
The study shall analyze the adequacy, propriety, and effectiveness of,
and the need for, the current liability risk-sharing regime. The study
shall specifically consider--

(1) other countries' regimes;

(2) the use of the designation of `ultra hazardous' for space
transportation activities;

(3) relevant international treaties;

(4) impacts of reusable launch vehicles and spaceports; and

(5) the feasibility of airline-like liability regimes.

The study shall use a clearly described, analytical methodology to
specify the factors used in evaluating the current regime and
alternative approaches to the current regime. Estimates of impacts
shall be quantified where possible.

(b) COMPLETION DATE- The results of the study described in subsection
(a) shall be transmitted to the Congress not later than 18 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. OFFICE OF SPACE COMMERCE .

(a) REDESIGNATION- The Office of Space Commercialization established
under section 8 of the Technology Administration Act of 1998 (15
U.S.C. 1511e) is redesignated as the Office of Space Commerce .

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce for the Office of Space
Commerce --

(1) $1,800,000 for fiscal year 2004; and

(2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.

SEC. 8. DELEGATION OF LICENSING AUTHORITY.

(a) DELEGATION- The Secretary of Commerce shall delegate the
authority provided to the Secretary under title II of the Land Remote
Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 5621 et seq.) to the Director of
the Office of Space Commerce .

(b) AMENDMENT- Section 8(c) of the Technology Administration Act of
1998 (15 U.S.C. 1511e(c)) is amended--

(1) by striking `and' at the end of paragraph (6);

(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (7) and inserting a
semicolon; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

`(8) licensing private sector parties to operate private remote
sensing space systems; and

`(9) serving as the Executive Secretary for the Interagency Global
Positioning System Executive Board.'.