118 STAT. 3974 PUBLIC LAW 108–492—DEC. 23, 2004 Public Law 108–492 108th Congress 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 49 USC 70101 note. Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. Dec. 23, 2004 [H.R. 5382] VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:54 Nov 10, 2005 Jkt 029194 PO 00000 Frm 00508 Fmt 6580 Sfmt 6581 C:\STATUTES\2004\29194PT4.001 APPS10 PsN: 29194PT4
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