Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 4.djvu/936

 102 STAT. 3906

PUBLIC LAW 100-657—NOV. 15, 1988 (3) is licensed for launch under the Commercial Space Launch Act

SEC 7. PREEMPTION OF SCHEDULED LAUNCHES.

Reports.

Section 15(b) of the Commercial Space Launch Act (49 U.S.C. App. 2614(b)) is amended by adding at the end the jfollowing new paragraph: "(4)(A) The Secretary, with the cooperation of the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall take steps to ensure that the launches of payloads with respect to which a launch date commitment from the United States has been obtained for a launch licensed under this Act are not preempted from acc^s to United States launch sites or launch property, except in cases of imperative national need. Any determination of imperative national need shall be made by the Secretary of Defense or the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in consultation with the Secretary, and shall not be del^ated. A licensee or transferee preempted from access to a launch site or launch property shall not be required to pay to the United States any amount for launch services solely atfaributable to the scheduled launch prevented by such preemption. "(B) The Secretary of Defense or the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in cooperation with the Secretary, as the case may be, shall report to the Congress within 7 days after any determination of imperative national need under subparagraph (A), including an explanation of the circumstances justifying such determination and a schedule for ensuring the prompt launching of a preempted payload." SEC 8. STUDY OF PROCESS FOR SCHEDULING LAUNCHES.

Reports.

The Secretary of Transportation, in cooperation with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and in consultation with representatives of the space launch and sateUite industry, shall study ways and means of scheduling (government and commercial payloads on commercial launch vehicles at (jovernment launch sites in a manner which— (1) makes the best practicable use of the launch property of the United Stotes; and (2) assures that the launch property of the United States that is available for commercial use will be available on a commercially reasonable basis, consistent with the objectives of the Commercial Space Launch Act. The Secretary shall report the results of such study to the Congress within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. SEC. 9. COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH SERVICE COMPETITION.

It is the sense of the Congress that the United States should explore ways and means of developing a dialc^ue with appropriate foreign government representatives to seek the development of guidelines for access to launch services by satellite builders and users in a manner that assures the (X)nduct of reasonable and fair international competition in commercial space activities.

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