Title 51National and Commercial Space ProgramsRelease 119-73

§50116 Commercial technology transfer program

Title 51 › Subtitle Subtitle V— - Programs Targeting Commercial Opportunities › Chapter CHAPTER 501— - SPACE COMMERCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - PROMOTION OF COMMERCIAL SPACE OPPORTUNITIES › § 50116

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Run a commercial tech-transfer program so the agency and private sector can trade technology. It must favor spinning out agency tech to industry as much as adopting private tech, benefit the agency, economy, and research, protect national security, and give participants 45 days’ notice before changes to the tech-transfer or commercialization structure existing on December 30, 2005.

Full Legal Text

Title 51, §50116

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

(a)The Administrator shall execute a commercial technology transfer program with the goal of facilitating the exchange of services, products, and intellectual property between the Administration and the private sector. This program shall place at least as much emphasis on encouraging the transfer of Administration technology to the private sector (“spinning out”) as on encouraging use of private sector technology by the Administration. This program shall be maintained in a manner that provides clear benefits for the Administration, the domestic economy, and the research community, while protecting national security.
(b)In carrying out the program described in subsection (a), the Administrator shall provide program participants with at least 45 days notice of any proposed changes to the structure of the Administration’s technology transfer and commercialization organizations that is in effect as of December 30, 2005.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 5011642 U.S.C. 16811.Pub. L. 109–155, title VI, § 621, Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2935. This section restates provisions originally enacted as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155, 119 Stat. 2895), and not as part of the Commercial Space Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–303, 112 Stat. 2843), which is generally restated in this chapter. In subsection (a), in the last sentence, the word “Administration” is substituted for “agency” for clarity and because of the definition of “Administration” added by section 10101 of title 51. In subsection (b), the date “December 30, 2005” is substituted for “the date of enactment of this Act” to reflect the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–155, 119 Stat. 2895).

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2017—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–10 inserted “, while protecting national security” after “research community”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

51 U.S.C. § 50116

Title 51National and Commercial Space Programs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73