§60111 — Title 51 National and Commercial Space Programs | U.S. Code

Summary

The Administrator and the Secretary of Defense must run the Landsat program together by creating one unified management team. They and any other officials the President assigns must make a management plan that sets out who does what and how the money will be handled. The plan must make keeping unenhanced Landsat data continuous the top goal by building and operating Landsat 7 as soon as possible. Landsat 7 must work at least as well as Landsat 6 and add a tracking and data relay communications ability. The plan must include a funding schedule both agencies accept for Landsat 7, with each agency’s total share being roughly equal over the life of the project. Any upgrades beyond the Landsat 6-level must be paid for by specific sponsor agencies if they cost more than the baseline funding, and upgrades may only proceed if they do not endanger data continuity. The plan must also include a technology demonstration program to test advanced land remote sensing ideas that could lower costs and better meet user needs. The Landsat management team must buy, launch, and run Landsat 7 and make sure the system serves civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign users. They must keep all unenhanced Landsat data unclassified and available except as allowed under section 60146(a) and (b). They must collect high-priority data for the United States Global Change Research Program (Global Change Research Act of 1990, 15 U.S.C. 2921 et seq.) and for national security needs. They also handle Landsat data duties under this chapter, oversee contracts under sections 102 and 103 of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, coordinate the technology demo under section 60133, and send copies of Landsat data to the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. With available appropriations and within existing agency contract powers, they may hire private companies for services like satellite operations and data preprocessing. The team must seek outside advice from broad and diverse science and user groups and, every two years, send Congress a report listing public comments, responses to those comments, how much the data is used by category, and any suggested policy or program changes.

Title 51, §60111

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

(a)The Administrator and the Secretary of Defense shall be responsible for management of the Landsat program. Such responsibility shall be carried out by establishing an integrated program management structure for the Landsat system.

(b)The Administrator, the Secretary of Defense, and any other United States Government official the President designates as responsible for part of the Landsat program shall establish, through a management plan, the roles, responsibilities, and funding expectations for the Landsat program of the appropriate United States Government agencies. The management plan shall—

(1)specify that the fundamental goal of the Landsat Program Management is the continuity of unenhanced Landsat data through the acquisition and operation of a Landsat 7 satellite as quickly as practicable which is, at a minimum, functionally equivalent to the Landsat 6 satellite, with the addition of a tracking and data relay satellite communications capability;

(2)include a baseline funding profile that—

(A)is mutually acceptable to the Administration and the Department of Defense for the period covering the development and operation of Landsat 7; and

(B)provides for total funding responsibility of the Administration and the Department of Defense, respectively, to be approximately equal to the funding responsibility of the other as spread across the development and operational life of Landsat 7;

(3)specify that any improvements over the Landsat 6 functional equivalent capability for Landsat 7 will be funded by a specific sponsoring agency or agencies, in a manner agreed to by the Landsat Program Management, if the required funding exceeds the baseline funding profile required by paragraph (2), and that additional improvements will be sought only if the improvements will not jeopardize data continuity; and

(4)provide for a technology demonstration program whose objective shall be the demonstration of advanced land remote sensing technologies that may potentially yield a system which is less expensive to build and operate, and more responsive to data users, than is the current Landsat system.

(c)The Landsat Program Management shall be responsible for—

(1)Landsat 7 procurement, launch, and operations;

(2)ensuring that the operation of the Landsat system is responsive to the broad interests of the civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign users of the Landsat system;

(3)ensuring that all unenhanced Landsat data remain unclassified and that, except as provided in subsections (a) and (b) of section 60146 of this title, no restrictions are placed on the availability of unenhanced data;

(4)ensuring that land remote sensing data of high priority locations will be acquired by the Landsat 7 system as required to meet the needs of the United States Global Change Research Program, as established in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2921 et seq.), and to meet the needs of national security users;

(5)Landsat data responsibilities pursuant to this chapter;

(6)oversight of Landsat contracts entered into under section 102 11 See References in Text note below. and 103 1 of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–555, 106 Stat. 4168);

(7)coordination of a technology demonstration program pursuant to section 60133 of this title; and

(8)ensuring that copies of data acquired by the Landsat system are provided to the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive.

(d)The Landsat Program Management may, subject to appropriations and only under the existing contract authority of the United States Government agencies that compose the Landsat Program Management, enter into contracts with the private sector for services such as satellite operations and data preprocessing.

(e)(1)The Landsat Program Management shall seek impartial advice and comments regarding the status, effectiveness, and operation of the Landsat system, using existing advisory committees and other appropriate mechanisms. Such advice shall be sought from individuals who represent—

(A)a broad range of perspectives on basic and applied science and operational needs with respect to land remote sensing data;

(B)the full spectrum of users of Landsat data, including representatives from United States Government agencies, State and local government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, value-added companies, the agricultural, mineral extraction, and other user industries, and the public; and

(C)a broad diversity of age groups, sexes, and races.

(2)The Landsat Program Management shall prepare and submit biennially a report to Congress which—

(A)reports the public comments received pursuant to paragraph (1); and

(B)includes—

(i)a response to the public comments received pursuant to paragraph (1);

(ii)information on the volume of use, by category, of data from the Landsat system; and

(iii)any recommendations for policy or programmatic changes to improve the utility and operation of the Landsat system.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 6011115 U.S.C. 5611.Pub. L. 102–555, title I, § 101, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4166. In subsection (b), in the matter before paragraph (1), after the words “funding expectations for the Landsat”, the word “program” is set out without being capitalized to correct an error in the law. In subsection (c)(6), the words “section 102 and 103 of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–555, 106 Stat. 4168)” are substituted for “section 102 and 103” to clarify the reference. The reference to section 102 and 103 of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 is retained in text, notwithstanding the fact that section 102 and 103 of the Act are repealed as obsolete, because oversight responsibilities may continue for contracts entered into under the now obsolete provisions. In subsection (e)(2), in the matter before subparagraph (A), the word “biennially” is substituted for “Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter,” to eliminate obsolete language.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Global Change Research Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (c)(4), is Pub. L. 101–606, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 3096, which is classified generally to chapter 56A (§ 2921 et seq.) of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 2921 of Title 15 and Tables. section 102 and 103 of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, referred to in subsec. (c)(6), which were classified to section 5612 and 5613, respectively, of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, were repealed by Pub. L. 111–314, § 6, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3444, which Act enacted this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Development, Procurement, and Support Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title II, § 243, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2360, as amended by Pub. L. 103–35, title II, § 202(a)(3), May 31, 1993, 107 Stat. 101, provided that: “The Secretary of Defense is authorized to contract for the development and procurement of, and support for operations of, the Landsat vehicle designated as Landsat 7.” Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation act: Pub. L. 102–396, title IX, § 9082A, Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1920.

§60111 Landsat Program Management