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Title 51 — National and Commercial Space ProgramsRelease 119-73

§50115 Sources of Earth science data

Title 51 › Subtitle Subtitle V— - Programs Targeting Commercial Opportunities › Chapter CHAPTER 501— - SPACE COMMERCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - PROMOTION OF COMMERCIAL SPACE OPPORTUNITIES › § 50115

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Administrator must, when possible and when it meets the agency’s scientific or teaching needs (and, when useful, the needs of other federal agencies or researchers), buy space‑based and airborne Earth remote sensing data, services, distribution, and applications from commercial providers if it is cost‑effective. Such buys must follow federal acquisition laws and rules, including chapters 201–285, 341–343, and 363 of title 10, and the data are treated as commercial products or services. The government can still require safety rules and can buy rights to the data it needs. These activities are done under the Commercial Remote Sensing Program at the Stennis Space Center.

Full Legal Text

Title 51, §50115

National and Commercial Space Programs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Administrator shall, to the extent possible and while satisfying the scientific or educational requirements of the Administration, and where appropriate, of other Federal agencies and scientific researchers, acquire, where cost-effective, space-based and airborne Earth remote sensing data, services, distribution, and applications from a commercial provider.
(b)Acquisitions by the Administrator of the data, services, distribution, and applications referred to in subsection (a) shall be carried out in accordance with applicable acquisition laws and regulations (including applicable provisions of chapters 201 through 285, 341 through 343, and 363 of title 10). For purposes of such law and regulations, such data, services, distribution, and applications shall be considered to be a commercial product or commercial service. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to preclude the United States from acquiring, through contracts with commercial providers, sufficient rights in data to meet the needs of the scientific and educational community or the needs of other government activities.
(c)Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Federal Government from requiring compliance with applicable safety standards.
(d)This section shall be carried out as part of the Commercial Remote Sensing Program at the Stennis Space Center.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 50115(a)42 U.S.C. 14715(a).Pub. L. 105–303, title I, § 107(a), (b), (d), (e), Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat. 2853, 2854. 50115(b)42 U.S.C. 14715(b). 50115(c)42 U.S.C. 14715(d). 50115(d)42 U.S.C. 14715(e).

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 117–81 substituted “including applicable provisions of chapters 201 through 285, 341 through 343, and 363” for “including chapters 137 and 140”. 2018—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–232, in heading, substituted “Commercial Product or Commercial Service” for “Commercial Item” and, in text, substituted “commercial product or commercial service” for “commercial item”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Jan. 1, 2020, subject to a

Savings Provision

, see section 836(h) of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2018 Amendment;

Savings Provision

note under section 453b of Title 6, Domestic Security.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

51 U.S.C. § 50115

Title 51 — National and Commercial Space Programs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73