[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2443 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2443

To promote the development of the United States space tourism industry, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2001

 Mr. Lampson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 
 Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To promote the development of the United States space tourism industry, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Space Tourism Promotion Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) humans have long had a yearning to travel in space and 
        experience conditions beyond Earth's atmosphere;
            (2) forty years of human space flight experience have 
        demonstrated the feasibility of safe travel to and from space 
        as well as the ability of humans to live and work in space;
            (3) the Nation's human space flight program has developed 
        technologies and operational procedures that the private sector 
        could make use of to enable American citizens to experience 
        space travel;
            (4) space tourism has the potential to become a significant 
        industry and a powerful stimulus for advances in space 
        transportation;
            (5) the Federal Government could play an important role in 
        stimulating the development of space tourism by means of 
        guaranteed loans, tax credits, expeditious establishment of a 
        straightforward and predictable regulatory structure, and 
        research and development in technologies that may enable the 
        private sector to develop operational passenger-carrying space 
        transportation systems and on-orbit habitations;
            (6) as the agency of the Federal Government primarily 
        responsible for the development of America's commercial sector, 
        the Department of Commerce, and in particular its Office of 
        Space Commercialization, should have the lead role in 
        encouraging the growth of space tourism;
            (7) as the agency of the Federal Government currently 
        responsible for regulating America's commercial space 
        transportation industry, the Federal Aviation Administration, 
        and in particular its Office of Commercial Space 
        Transportation, should have the lead role in establishing the 
        regulatory structure necessary to ensure the safety of United 
        States space tourism;
            (8) as the agency of the Federal Government responsible for 
        carrying out the major share of the Nation's civil space 
        activities, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
        should continue its traditional role of conducting research and 
        development related to new space technologies and systems and 
        facilitating their transfer to the private sector;
            (9) it is an appropriate role for the Federal Government to 
        undertake measures to encourage the development of space 
        tourism in the United States; and
            (10) at the same time, it is an inappropriate role and a 
        misallocation of taxpayer-provided resources for the Federal 
        Government to compete with the private sector in the provision 
        of transportation vehicles or facilities for space tourism.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) terms that are defined in the Federal Credit Reform Act 
        of 1990 have the meaning given those terms in that Act; and
            (2) the term ``space tourism'' means travel to, from, or 
        within outer space, or to the surface of a body in space other 
        than Earth, or habitation in outer space, for the purpose of 
        recreation.

SEC. 4. LOAN GUARANTEES.

    (a) Authority.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce may guarantee up 
        to 85 percent of the value of loans for the purpose of 
        developing transportation systems, habitation facilities, or 
        other infrastructure required for space tourism.
            (2) Limitation.--The maximum aggregate amount of loan 
        commitments that may be guaranteed under this section by the 
        Secretary of Commerce at any one time shall be $2,000,000,000.
            (3) Administrative fee.--The Secretary of Commerce is 
        authorized to collect from any borrower, and to the extent 
        provided for in advance in appropriations Acts to use, an 
        amount not to exceed 0.5 percent of the amount borrowed, for 
        covering the administrative expenses and other annual costs to 
        the Department of Commerce of the loan guarantee.
    (b) Terms and Conditions.--A loan guaranteed under this section 
shall be on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of Commerce may 
prescribe.
    (c) Term of Loans.--Loans guaranteed under this section shall be 
for a term of not to exceed 20 years, or 100 percent of the useful life 
of the substantial portion of the physical assets to be financed by the 
loans, whichever is shorter, as determined by the Secretary of 
Commerce.
    (d) Lien on Interests in Assets.--Upon providing a loan guarantee 
to a borrower under this section, the Secretary of Commerce shall have 
liens which shall be superior to all other liens on assets of the 
borrower equal to 85 percent of the unpaid balance of the loan subject 
to the guarantee.
    (e) Protection.--No loan shall be guaranteed under this section 
unless the Secretary of Commerce determines that the borrower is 
responsible and that adequate provision is made for servicing the loan 
on reasonable terms and for protecting the interests of the United 
States.
    (f) Validity.--A loan guarantee under this section shall be 
conclusive evidence that such guarantee has been properly obtained, and 
that the underlying loan qualifies for such guarantee. In an action for 
fraud or material misrepresentation by the holder of a loan guaranteed 
under this section, such guarantee shall be presumed to be valid, 
legal, and enforceable.
    (g) Forbearance.--The Secretary of Commerce may approve an 
agreement, between the parties to a loan guaranteed under this section, 
that provides for forbearance for the benefit of the borrower if the 
forbearance will result in no cost to the Federal Government.
    (h) Administration and Oversight Responsibility.--The Office of 
Space Commercialization shall be responsible for the administration and 
oversight of this section on behalf of the Department of Commerce.

SEC. 5. CAPITAL GAINS EXCLUSION.

    (a) In General.--Part I of subchapter P of chapter 1 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to items specifically excluded 
from gross income) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 1203. EXCLUSION OF GAINS FOR QUALIFIED SPACE TOURISM 
              CORPORATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--Gross income shall not include gain on the sale 
or exchange of any stock of a qualified space tourism corporation held 
for more than one year.
    ``(b) Qualified Space Tourism Corporation.--For purposes of 
subsection (a), the term `qualified space tourism corporation' means, 
with respect to any taxable year, a domestic corporation which is a C 
corporation if--
            ``(1) such corporation is organized exclusively for 
        providing to unrelated persons any service of space tourism (as 
        defined in section 3 of the Space Tourism Promotion Act of 
        2001), and
            ``(2) such corporation derives at least 75 percent of its 
        gross receipts from the active conduct of a trade or business 
        of providing a service described in paragraph (1).
    ``(c) Certain Purchases by Corporations of Its Own Stock.--For 
purposes of this section, rules similar to the rules of section 
1202(c)(3) shall apply.
    ``(d) Related Person.--Persons shall be treated as related to each 
other if such persons would be treated as a single employer under the 
regulations prescribed under section 52(b). In the case of a 
corporation which is a member of an affiliated group of corporations 
filing a consolidated return, such corporation shall be treated as 
providing services related to space tourism to an unrelated person if 
such services are provided to such a person by another member of such 
group.
    ``(e) Termination.--This section shall not apply to sales or 
exchanges after December 31, 2011.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for part I of 
subchapter P of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following 
new item:

                              ``Sec. 1203. Exclusion of gains for 
                                        qualified space tourism 
                                        corporations.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to sales and exchanges in taxable years beginning after December 
31, 2001.

SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGULATORY STANDARDS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue 
regulations to govern--
            (1) activities necessary to ensure the safe operation of 
        passenger-carrying launch and reentry vehicles and spacecraft 
        for space tourism, to the extent to which regulatory procedures 
        have not previously been established by law; and
            (2) activities related to the provision of and safe 
        operation of habitable facilities in outer space for space 
        tourism purposes.
    (b) Orbital Debris Avoidance.--Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 
shall issue regulations to prevent, to the extent practicable, the 
growth of orbital debris resulting from activities associated with 
space tourism.
    (c) Legal Regime.--Activities taking place on space tourism 
habitation facilities and passenger-carrying launch and reentry 
vehicles and spacecraft for space tourism licensed or otherwise 
regulated by the Secretary of Transportation shall be governed by the 
laws of the United States.

SEC. 7. USE OF FEDERAL FACILITIES.

    (a) Prohibition Against Certain Uses of Federal Facilities.--
            (1) In general.--Launch, reentry, and space travel vehicles 
        owned by the Federal Government shall not be used for the 
        transport of any individuals other than those engaged in or 
        supporting the conduct of official business of the United 
        States or the conduct of scientific or engineering research and 
        development, except in emergency situations.
            (2) International space station.--The United States portion 
        of the International Space Station shall not be visited or 
        occupied by any individuals other than those engaged in or 
        supporting the conduct of official business of the United 
        States or the conduct of scientific or engineering research and 
        development, and those authorized by relevant international 
        agreements, except in emergency situations.
    (b) Use of Other Federal Facilities.--The use of other Federal 
facilities and infrastructure, such as launch ranges and data relay 
satellites, shall be made available to commercial entities engaged in 
space tourism on a cost-reimbursable basis to the extent that excess 
capacity exists at the time the commercial entity requests the use of 
such facilities and infrastructure.
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