51 U.S.C. § 50111 Commercialization of Space Station
(a) Policy.—Congress declares that a priority goal of constructing the International Space Station is the economic development of Earth orbital space. Congress further declares that free and competitive markets create the most efficient conditions for promoting economic development, and should therefore govern the economic development of Earth orbital space. Congress further declares that the use of free market principles in operating, servicing, allocating the use of, and adding capabilities to the Space Station, and the resulting fullest possible engagement of commercial providers and participation of commercial users, will reduce Space Station operational costs for all partners and the Federal Government’s share of the United States burden to fund operations.
(b) Use of United States Commercially Provided Services.—(1) In general.—In order to stimulate commercial use of space, help maximize the utility and productivity of the International Space Station, and enable a commercial means of providing crew transfer and crew rescue services for the International Space Station, the Administration shall—(A) make use of United States commercially provided International Space Station crew transfer and crew rescue services to the maximum extent practicable, if those commercial services have demonstrated the capability to meet Administration-specified ascent, entry, and International Space Station proximity operations safety requirements; (B) limit, to the maximum extent practicable, the use of the Crew Exploration Vehicle to missions carrying astronauts beyond low Earth orbit once commercial crew transfer and crew rescue services that meet safety requirements become operational; (C) facilitate, to the maximum extent practicable, the transfer of Administration-developed technologies to potential United States commercial crew transfer and rescue service providers, consistent with United States law; and (D) issue a notice of intent, not later than 180 days after October 15, 2008, to enter into a funded, competitively awarded Space Act Agreement with 2 or more commercial entities for a Phase 1 Commercial Orbital Transportation Services crewed vehicle demonstration program. (2) Congressional intent.—It is the intent of Congress that funding for the program described in paragraph (1)(D) shall not come at the expense of full funding of the amounts authorized under section 101(3)(A) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–422, 122 Stat. 4783), and for future fiscal years, for Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle development, Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle development, or International Space Station cargo delivery. (3) Additional technologies.—The Administration shall make International Space Station-compatible docking adaptors and other relevant technologies available to the commercial crew providers selected to service the International Space Station. (4) Crew transfer and crew rescue services contract.—If a commercial provider demonstrates the capability to provide International Space Station crew transfer and crew rescue services and to satisfy Administration ascent, entry, and International Space Station proximity operations safety requirements, the Administration shall enter into an International Space Station crew transfer and crew rescue services contract with that commercial provider for a portion of the Administration’s anticipated International Space Station crew transfer and crew rescue requirements from the time the commercial provider commences operations under contract with the Administration through calendar year 2016, with an option to extend the period of performance through calendar year 2020.
(c) ISS Transition Plan.—(1) In general.—The Administrator, in coordination with the ISS management entity (as defined in section 2 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017), ISS partners, the scientific user community, and the commercial space sector, shall develop a plan to transition in a step-wise approach from the current regime that relies heavily on NASA sponsorship to a regime where NASA could be one of many customers of a low-Earth orbit non-governmental human space flight enterprise. (2) Reports.—Not later than December 1, 2017, and biennially thereafter until 2028, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report that includes—(A) a description of the progress in achieving the Administration’s deep space human exploration objectives on ISS and prospects for accomplishing future mission requirements, space exploration objectives, and other research objectives on future commercially supplied low-Earth orbit platforms or migration of those objectives to cis-lunar space; (B) the steps NASA is taking and will take, including demonstrations that could be conducted on the ISS, to stimulate and facilitate commercial demand and supply of products and services in low-Earth orbit; (C) an identification of barriers preventing the commercialization of low-Earth orbit, including issues relating to policy, regulations, commercial intellectual property, data, and confidentiality, that could inhibit the use of the ISS as a commercial incubator; (D) the criteria for defining the ISS as a research success; (E) the criteria used to determine whether the ISS is meeting the objective under section 301(b)(2) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017; (F) an assessment of whether the criteria under subparagraphs (D) and (E) are consistent with the research areas defined in, and recommendations and schedules under, the current National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space; (G) any necessary contributions that ISS extension would make to enabling execution of the human exploration roadmap under section 432 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017; (H) the cost estimates for operating the ISS to achieve the criteria required under subparagraphs (D) and (E) and the contributions identified under subparagraph (G); (I) the cost estimates for extending operations of the ISS to 2024, 2028, and 2030; (J) an evaluation of the feasible and preferred service life of the ISS beyond the period described in section 503 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18353), through at least 2030, as a unique scientific, commercial, and space exploration-related facility, including—(i) a general discussion of international partner capabilities and prospects for extending the partnership; (ii) the cost associated with extending the service life; (iii) an assessment on the technical limiting factors of the service life of the ISS, including a list of critical components and their expected service life and availability; and (iv) such other information as may be necessary to fully describe the justification for and feasibility of extending the service life of the ISS, including the potential scientific or technological benefits to the Federal Government, public, or to academic or commercial entities; (K) an identification of the necessary actions and an estimate of the costs to deorbit the ISS once it has reached the end of its service life; (L) the impact on deep space exploration capabilities, including a crewed mission to Mars in the 2030s, if the preferred service life of the ISS is extended beyond 2024 and NASA maintains a flat budget profile; and (M) an evaluation of the functions, roles, and responsibilities for management and operation of the ISS and a determination of—(i) those functions, roles, and responsibilities the Federal Government should retain during the lifecycle of the ISS; (ii) those functions, roles, and responsibilities that could be transferred to the commercial space sector; (iii) the metrics that would indicate the commercial space sector’s readiness and ability to assume the functions, roles, and responsibilities described in clause (ii); and (iv) any necessary changes to any agreements or other documents and the law to enable the activities described in subparagraphs (A) and (B). (3) Demonstrations.—If additional Government crew, power, and transportation resources are available after meeting the Administration’s requirements for ISS activities defined in the human exploration roadmap and related research, demonstrations identified under paragraph (2) may—(A) test the capabilities needed to meet future mission requirements, space exploration objectives, and other research objectives described in paragraph (2)(A); and (B) demonstrate or test capabilities, including commercial modules or deep space habitats, Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, orbital satellite assembly, exploration space suits, a node that enables a wide variety of activity, including multiple commercial modules and airlocks, additional docking or berthing ports for commercial crew and cargo, opportunities for the commercial space sector to cost share for transportation and other services on the ISS, other commercial activities, or services obtained through alternate acquisition approaches.