COMMERCIAL SPACE ACT OF 1998 COMMERCIAL SPACE ACT OF 1998 Public Law 105–303, as amended 112 Stat. 2843, as amended COMMERCIAL SPACE ACT OF 1998 303 111–314 Statute Compilation United States House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20240419 2025-08-21 Commercial Space Act of 1998 1841 105 1998-10-28 COMMERCIAL SPACE ACT OF 19981 [(Public Law 105–303; 112 Stat. 2843)] [As Amended Through P.L. 111–314, Enacted December 18, 2010] [Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Public Law 105–303. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/] [Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]
AN ACTTo encourage the development of a commercial space industry in the United States, 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. [42 U.S.C. 14701 note] SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. (a) Short Title.—This Act may be cited as the “Commercial Space Act of 1998”.1

Generally, section 6 of Public Law 111–314 (enacted December 18, 2010) provides for a repeal of a majority of sections in the Commercial Space Act of 1998. Section 3 of such Public Law provides for the enactment into law a new title 51, United States Code. Many of the provisions repealed have been codified to title 51, USC. See bracketed notes throughout this Act which include details related to a repeal. Also, see Law Revision Counsel's disposition tables set out in the committee report for H.R. 3237 found in a pdf file located in /comp/science to see where the prior provisions have been restated in the new title 51, United States Code.

The repeal of sections of this Act by section 6 of Public Law 111–314 did not include a conforming amendment to repeal the items related to such repealed sections in the table of contents contained in section 1(b).

 (b) Table of Contents.— Sec. 1. Sec. 2. TITLE I— Sec. 101. Sec. 102. Sec. 103. Sec. 104. Sec. 105. Sec. 106. Sec. 107. TITLE II— Sec. 201. Sec. 202. Sec. 203. Sec. 204. Sec. 205. Sec. 206.
[Section 2 was repealed by section 6 of Public Law 111–314. See Law Revision Counsel's disposition tables for those provisions that were included in title 51, USC as enacted into law by section 3 of such Public Law.] <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="I">TITLE I—</num><heading style="-uslm-dtd:header">PROMOTION OF COMMERCIAL SPACE OPPORTUNITIES </heading><editorialNote style="-uslm-dtd:legis-comment"><b>[</b>Section 101 was repealed by section 6 of Public Law 111–314. See Law Revision Counsel's disposition tables for those provisions that were included in title 51, USC as enacted into law by section 3 of such Public Law.<b>]</b> </editorialNote> <section identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s102" style="-uslm-dtd:section" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="102">SEC. 102. </num><heading style="-uslm-dtd:header">COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH AMENDMENTS.<ref class="footnoteRef" idref="IDCE92E13E4B7744B7A4F6E5844660442C" style="-uslm-dtd:footnote-ref">2</ref> </heading><footnote id="IDCE92E13E4B7744B7A4F6E5844660442C" style="-uslm-dtd:footnote"><sup style="-uslm-dtd:superscript">2</sup><p style="-uslm-dtd:para; margin-left:1em">This section amends chapter 701 of title 49, which appears elsewhere in this compilation.</p></footnote> </section> <section identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s103" style="-uslm-dtd:section" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="103">SEC. 103. </num><heading style="-uslm-dtd:header">LAUNCH VOUCHER DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. </heading> <subsection role="undesignated-level" style="-uslm-dtd:subsection" styleType="OLC"><chapeau style="-uslm-dtd:text">Section 504 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1993 (15 U.S.C. 5803) is <br style="-uslm-dtd:linebreak"/>amended—</chapeau> <paragraph identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s103/1" style="-uslm-dtd:paragraph" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="1">(1) </num><chapeau style="-uslm-dtd:text">in subsection (a)—</chapeau> <subparagraph identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s103/1/A" style="-uslm-dtd:subparagraph" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="A">(A) </num><content style="-uslm-dtd:text">by striking “<quotedText style="-uslm-dtd:quote">the Office of Commercial Programs within</quotedText>”; and</content> </subparagraph> <subparagraph identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s103/1/B" style="-uslm-dtd:subparagraph" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="B">(B) </num><content style="-uslm-dtd:text">by striking “<quotedText style="-uslm-dtd:quote">Such program shall not be effective after September 30, 1995.</quotedText>”;</content> </subparagraph> </paragraph> <paragraph identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s103/2" style="-uslm-dtd:paragraph" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="2">(2) </num><content style="-uslm-dtd:text">by striking subsection (c); and</content> </paragraph> <paragraph identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s103/3" style="-uslm-dtd:paragraph" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="3">(3) </num><content style="-uslm-dtd:text">by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively.</content> </paragraph> </subsection> </section> <section identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s104" style="-uslm-dtd:section" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="104">SEC. 104. </num><editorialNote role="uscRef" style="-uslm-dtd:usc-reference"><b>[</b><ref href="/us/usc/t42/s14712">42 U.S.C. 14712</ref><b>]</b> </editorialNote><heading style="-uslm-dtd:header">PROMOTION OF UNITED STATES GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM STANDARDS. </heading> <subsection identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s104/a" style="-uslm-dtd:subsection" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="a">(a) </num><heading style="-uslm-dtd:header">Finding.—</heading><content style="-uslm-dtd:text">The Congress finds that the Global Positioning System, including satellites, signal equipment, ground stations, data links, and associated command and control facilities, has become an essential element in civil, scientific, and military space development because of the emergence of a United States commercial industry which provides Global Positioning System equipment and related services.</content> </subsection><editorialNote style="-uslm-dtd:subsection"> <subsection identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tI/s104/b" style="-uslm-dtd:subsection" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="b"><b>[</b>(b) </num><content style="-uslm-dtd:text">Section 104(b) was repealed by section 6 of Public Law 111–314. See Law Revision Counsel's disposition tables for those provisions that were included in title 51, USC as enacted into law by section 3 of such Public Law.<b>]</b></content> </subsection></editorialNote> </section><editorialNote style="-uslm-dtd:legis-comment"><b>[</b>Sections 105 through 107 were repealed by section 6 of Public Law 111–314. See Law Revision Counsel's disposition tables for those provisions that were included in title 51, USC as enacted into law by section 3 of such Public Law.<b>]</b> </editorialNote> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="II">TITLE II—</num><heading style="-uslm-dtd:header">FEDERAL ACQUISITION OF SPACE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES </heading><editorialNote style="-uslm-dtd:legis-comment"><b>[</b>Sections 201 and 202 were repealed by section 6 of Public Law 111–314. See Law Revision Counsel's disposition tables for those provisions that were included in title 51, USC as enacted into law by section 3 of such Public Law.<b>]</b> </editorialNote> <section identifier="/us/sComp/105/303/tII/s203" style="-uslm-dtd:section" styleType="OLC"> <num style="-uslm-dtd:enum" value="203">SEC. 203. </num><heading style="-uslm-dtd:header">LAUNCH SERVICES PURCHASE ACT OF 1990 AMENDMENTS.<ref class="footnoteRef" idref="IDB6E44546704B459587A82D15AF81FE54" style="-uslm-dtd:footnote-ref">3</ref> </heading><editorialNote style="-uslm-dtd:legis-comment"><b>[</b>Sections 204 through 206 were repealed by section 6 of Public Law 111–314. See Law Revision Counsel's disposition tables for those provisions that were included in title 51, USC as enacted into law by section 3 of such Public Law.<b>]</b> </editorialNote><footnote id="IDB6E44546704B459587A82D15AF81FE54" style="-uslm-dtd:footnote"><sup style="-uslm-dtd:superscript">3</sup><p style="-uslm-dtd:para; margin-left:1em">This section amends the Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990, which appears elsewhere in this compilation.</p></footnote> </section>