The Honorable Donna F. Edwards
H.R. 3547, the Space Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act
December 2, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I probably will not use all of the 5 minutes, but I wanted to be here today, Mr. Speaker, to support H.R. 3547, the Space Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act, of which I am an original cosponsor.
I want to thank both our chairmen – the chairman of our subcommittee, Mr. Palazzo, and Chairman Smith – and, of course, our ranking Democrat on the committee, Ms. Johnson, because we would not have been able to get to this point if we hadn’t been able collectively, across the aisle, to work on a 1-year extension that would be provided for in Commercial Space Launch Act Amendments of 1988 that established the government-private risk-sharing regime for third-party liability. Should a launch accident occur, the effects that involve the public and property on the ground in this indemnification provision would cover such losses.
It turns out that commercial space launch capacity in the industry is really at a critical point in our Nation’s development of our space infrastructure. Both the Federal and commercial customers rely on commercial space launch, the industry for safe, reliable, and effective service, and delivering payloads in orbit and providing related space transportation services.
Just recently, in September of this year, a commercial space launch provider successfully lofted a cargo capsule into space to carry supplies to the international space station. This is exactly what we have in mind when we talk about integrating our commercial launch capacity with what we do already at NASA in terms of our scientific endeavors.
Mr. Speaker, commercial space transportation services have really always been carried out in partnership with the United States Government through the use of Federal launch ranges and services, for example, and through the government risk-sharing regime for protecting the uninvolved public and property should an accident occur. So it seems quite fitting that we have reached this point today.
Unfortunately, the reason that we are only able to do a 1-year extension and can agree on that is because there are also some other things that we need to figure out for the future with respect to the involvement of the commercial industry. It is my hope that over the course of this 1 year we will use that time wisely here in the Congress to have the kind of oversight hearings that we need to bring in the FAA so that we can make sure that we are venturing in this direction in the right kind of way that really takes into consideration what we are doing in the 21st century.
New entrants are delivering spacecraft to orbit, commercial resupply services to the international space station, and companies are working toward providing commercial human spaceflight on both reusable suborbital vehicles and orbital human spaceflight systems.
In fact, although I have been, admittedly, a skeptic, I am excited about the potential of the industry and I want it to succeed. Just last year, in a hearing on launch indemnification before the committee’s Space Subcommittee of which I am the ranking member, a senior official representing the Aerospace Industries Association characterized the continuation of U.S. space launch indemnification as providing “substantial upside potential to enable new markets, create jobs, and assure U.S. space technology leadership for the 21st century.”
It is easy to see how that upside is both national and local in scope. The launch capability at nearby Wallace air facility on the eastern shore is becoming a critical link to resupplying the international space station.
Commercial space companies make investments in our economy and create jobs all across the country. Specifically, in my home State of Maryland, companies like Lockheed Martin, Orbital, and Northrop Grumman employ thousands of people in my district alone creating high-tech jobs, high-skilled jobs in the local community. ATK is a leading aerospace provider and has its main headquarters right up in Beltsville, Maryland, not very far from here.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure that our legislation and policies regarding commercial space transportation reflect the changing industry, changes and activities that may not have been contemplated when the liability indemnification regime was first established. This 1-year extension provides Congress the opportunity to consider any potential changes that might be needed to ensure the continued safety of the public.
Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to join us today in supporting H.R. 3547.
