§50910 — Title 51 National and Commercial Space Programs | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must work with the Secretary of Defense and the NASA Administrator to make sure a licensed launch or reentry that the government has promised a date for is not blocked from using a U.S. government launch site, reentry site, or launch property, except for an urgent national need. If a license holder or transferee is blocked for that reason, they do not have to pay the government for launch or reentry services that only covered the blocked launch or reentry. Either the Secretary of Defense or the NASA Administrator, after talking with the Secretary of Transportation, must personally decide if an urgent national need requires blocking access. They cannot pass that decision to someone else. Within 7 days of making that decision, they must send Congress a report explaining why and a schedule to get the blocked payload launched or reentered quickly.

Title 51, §50910

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

(a)With the cooperation of the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Secretary of Transportation shall act to ensure that a launch or reentry of a payload is not preempted from access to a United States Government launch site, reentry site, or launch property, except for imperative national need, when a launch date commitment or reentry date commitment from the Government has been obtained for a launch or reentry licensed under this chapter. A licensee or transferee preempted from access to a launch site, reentry site, or launch property does not have to pay the Government any amount for launch services, or services related to a reentry, attributable only to the scheduled launch or reentry prevented by the preemption.

(b)In consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Defense or the Administrator shall decide when an imperative national need requires preemption under subsection (a) of this section. That decision may not be delegated.

(c)In cooperation with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Defense or the Administrator, as appropriate, shall submit to Congress not later than 7 days after a decision to preempt under subsection (a) of this section, a report that includes an explanation of the circumstances justifying the decision and a schedule for ensuring the prompt launching or reentry of a preempted payload.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 70109(a)49 App.:2614(b)(4)(A) (1st, last sentences).Oct. 30, 1984, Pub. L. 98–575, 98 Stat. 3055, § 15(b)(4); added Nov. 15, 1988, Pub. L. 100–657, § 7, 102 Stat. 3906. 70109(b)49 App.:2614(b)(4)(A) (2d sentence). 70109(c)49 App.:2614(b)(4)(B).

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2010—Pub. L. 111–314 successively renumbered section 70109 of title 49 and section 70109 of this title as this section. 1998—Pub. L. 105–303, § 102(a)(9)(A), substituted “Preemption of scheduled launches or reentries” for “Preemption of scheduled launches” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–303, § 102(a)(9)(B), inserted “or reentry” after “ensure that a launch”, “, reentry site,” after “United States Government launch site”, “or reentry date commitment” after “launch date commitment”, “or reentry” after “obtained for a launch”, “, reentry site,” after “access to a launch site”, “, or services related to a reentry,” after “amount for launch services”, and “or reentry” after “the scheduled launch”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–303, § 102(a)(9)(C), inserted “or reentry” after “prompt launching”.

§50910 Preemption of scheduled launches or reentries