Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends certain regulations governing the commercial space transportation industry.

Highlights:

• Requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to limit proposed regulations concerning the design or operation of a launch vehicle for the safety of crew and space flight participants to the following conditions until December 31, 2025, whereas existing law requires this limitation until October 1, 2015 (Sec. 101):
• Regulations must be limited to restricting design features or operating practices that have resulted in or created a high risk of serious injury during a licensed commercial space flight; and
• Regulations must be issued with a description of the instance when the design feature or operating practice being restricted contributed to a high-risk result, injury, or death.

• Authorizes the Department of Transportation to issue an experimental permit for reusable rockets or launch vehicles that will be launched into a suborbital trajectory or reentered regardless of the following conditions (Sec. 103):
• If a launch or reentry license has been issued; or
• If a crew trains before or after obtaining a license.

• Extends the third-party liability risk sharing regime for commercial space launch activities, wherein the state pays for certain third-party damage claims against license holders, until December 31, 2025 (Sec. 102).

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to present to Congress a plan to update the methodology used to calculate “maximum probable loss” relating to accident-caused insurance claims (Sec. 102).

• Requires the Administrator of NASA to enter into an arrangement with a private nonprofit systems engineering organization to study and report to Congress on possible frameworks for the management of space traffic and orbital activities, as well as legal, safety, and practicality considerations (Sec. 109).

• Specifies that any resources obtained in outer space on or in an asteroid are the property of the entity that obtained those resources, which is entitled to full property rights for those resources (Sec. 202).

• Requires the Secretary of the FAA and the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee to provide a report to the relevant Committees in the US Legislature on the progress of the commercial space transportation industry in developing voluntary consensus standards to improve the industry (Sec 101).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text