Declares that the general welfare requires the Government to: (1) aggressively fund the development of innovative propulsion systems, high-temperature thermal protection systems, integrated vehicle health monitoring systems, lightweight durable airframes, and simplified launch and processing operations; (2) maintain a concerted effort in the development and testing of new space transportation technologies while providing sufficient funding for basic scientific research that is necessary for the long-term, revolutionary advances that will drastically reduce the costs of space access; (3) enhance U.S. economic competitiveness by facilitating U.S. commercial sector access to space transportation technology, data, and facilities, within the constraints imposed by national security considerations; (4) enter into cooperative research and development agreements with U.S. academic and commercial sectors to advance space transportation research, developments, and operations; (5) minimize regulations that discourage academic and commercial sector involvement in the development of advanced space transportation technologies; (6) utilize expertise and products available within the United States prior to seeking availability from foreign nations (except in cases where such utilization would be inconsistent with U.S. public interests); (7) equitably promote engineering and science education related to space transportation technologies, within constraints of national security considerations, to as broad a range of individuals as possible; and (8) continue to closely protect the intellectual property rights associated with advancements in advanced space transportation systems to maintain U.S. competitiveness in the world.
Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 1986, respecting space shuttle pricing policy, to find and declare that: (1) the Space Transportation System remains an important space launch system (currently, is the primary space launch system); and (2) the United States must be committed to further developing low-cost, frequent, and reliable access to space.
[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2542 Introduced in House (IH)]
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2542
To encourage the reduction of the costs of access to space for both the
Federal Government and the private sector, thereby regaining recently
lost market share of the United States commercial launch industry,
improving the economic competitiveness of the United States in the
world markets, and strengthening and maintaining the national security
of the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 1999
Mr. Cramer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To encourage the reduction of the costs of access to space for both the
Federal Government and the private sector, thereby regaining recently
lost market share of the United States commercial launch industry,
improving the economic competitiveness of the United States in the
world markets, and strengthening and maintaining the national security
of the United States.
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 ``Space Access Improvement Act of
1999''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) the commercialization of space has played a significant
role in establishing the United States as an economic
superpower;
(2) vital services enabled by satellites in space, such as
global positioning, early ballistic missile launch warning,
weather observations, intelligence gathering, and global
communications, have played a significant role in establishing
the United States as a military superpower;
(3) access to space enables research in space science to
enhance our understanding of the Universe and the physical
sciences, and enables observations of the Earth to monitor our
global environment, establishing the United States as a
scientific and technological superpower;
(4) activities in space have a remarkable ability to
inspire future generations of Americans to study science,
engineering, and mathematics, enhancing the scientific and
technical capabilities of the United States;
(5) the United States is rapidly losing its share of the
commercial space launch market to a number of foreign nations;
and
(6) the Federal Government is currently underfunding the
research and development of cutting-edge technologies
associated with advanced space transportation systems that
would lead to significant decreases in the costs of access to
space.
SEC. 3. REDUCING SPACE ACCESS COSTS.
(a) Amendments.--Section 102 of the National Aeronautics and Space
Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e), (f), (g),
and (h) as subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i),
respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new
subsection:
``(c) The Congress declares that the general welfare of the United
States requires that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
work to identify and develop innovative technologies which would reduce
the costs of transporting payloads and personnel to and from space,
while simultaneously increasing the reliability and safety of advanced
space transportation systems. The Congress further declares that the
general welfare of the United States requires that, to the extent
feasible, the Federal Government--
``(1) aggressively fund the development of innovative
propulsion systems, high-temperature thermal protection
systems, integrated vehicle health monitoring systems,
lightweight durable airframes, and simplified launch and
processing operations;
``(2) maintain a concerted effort in the development and
testing of new space transportation technologies while
providing sufficient funding for basic scientific research that
is necessary for the long-term, revolutionary advances that
will drastically reduce the costs of space access;
``(3) enhance United States economic competitiveness by
facilitating United States commercial sector access to space
transportation technology, data, and facilities, within the
constraints imposed by national security considerations;
``(4) enter into appropriate cooperative research and
development agreements with the United States academic and
commercial sectors to advance space transportation research,
development, and operations;
``(5) minimize regulations that discourage academic and
commercial sector involvement in the development of advanced
space transportation technologies;
``(6) utilize to the fullest extent possible expertise and
products available within the United States prior to seeking
availability from foreign nations, except in cases where such
utilization would be inconsistent with the United States public
interests;
``(7) equitably promote engineering and science education
related to space transportation technologies, within
constraints of national security considerations, to as broad a
range of individuals as possible; and
``(8) continue to closely protect the intellectual property
rights associated with advancements in advanced space
transportation systems to maintain United States
competitiveness in the world.''; and
(3) in subsection (i), as so redesignated by paragraph (1)
of this subsection, by striking ``subsections (a), (b), (c),
(d), (e), (f), and (g)'' and inserting ``this section''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 206 of the National Aeronautics
and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2476) is amended by striking ``section
102(c)'' both places it appears and inserting ``section 102(e)''.
SEC. 4. FURTHER ADVANCEMENT OF SPACE TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES.
Section 201 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Authorization Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 2466) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``is the primary'' and
inserting ``remains an important''; and
(2) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``, and must therefore
also be committed to further developing low-cost, frequent, and
reliable access to space'' after ``transportation''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Science.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.
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