PUBLIC LAW 105-303—OCT. 28, 1998
112 STAT. 2845
TITLE I—PROMOTION OF COMMERCIAL
SPACE OPPORTUNITIES
SEC. 101. COMMERCIALIZATION OF SPACE STATION.
42 USC 14711.
(a) POLICY. —The Congress declares that a priority goal of constructing the International Space Station is the economic development of Earth orbital space. The Congress further declares that
free and competitive markets create the most efficient conditions
for promoting economic development, and should therefore govern
the economic development of Earth orbital space. The Congress
further declares that the use of free market principles in operating,
servicing, allocating the use of, and adding capabilities to the Space
Station, and the resulting fullest possible engagement of commercial
providers and participation of commercial users, will reduce Space
Station operational costs for all partners and the Federal Government's share of the United States burden to fund operations.
(b) REPORTS. —(1) The Administrator shall deliver to the
Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, within 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
a study that identifies and examines—
(A) the opportunities for commercial providers to play a
role in International Space Station activities, including operation, use, servicing, and augmentation;
(B) the potential cost savings to be derived from commercial
providers playing a role in each of these activities;
(C) which of the opportunities described in subparagraph
(A) the Administrator plans to make available to commercial
providers in fiscal years 1999 and 2000;
(D) the specific policies and initiatives the Administrator
is advancing to encourage and facilitate these commercial
opportunities; and
(E) the revenues and cost reimbursements to the Federal
Government from commercial users of the Space Station.
(2) The Administrator shall deliver to the Committee on Science
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate, within 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, an independently conducted
market study that examines and evaluates potential industry
interest in providing commercial goods and services for the operation, servicing, and augmentation of the International Space Station, and in the commercial use of the International Space Station.
This study shall also include updates to the cost savings and revenue estimates made in the study described in paragraph (1) based
on the external market assessment.
(3) The Administrator shall deliver to the Congress, no later
than the submission of the President's annual budget request for
fiscal year 2000, a report detailing how many proposals (whether
solicited or not) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
received during calendar years 1997 and 1998 regarding commercial
operation, servicing, utilization, or augmentation of the International Space Station, broken down by each of these four categories, and specifying how many agreements the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has entered into in response
to these proposals, also broken down by these four categories.
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