Privatizing Space

A bill designed to encourage the privatization of the space industry rocketed through the House Science Committee by voice vote Wednesday, but its future in the waning days of the 104th Congress is cloudy, LEGI-SLATE News Service reported.

"It is certainly a long shot," Science Chairman Walker, the bill's sponsor, told the committee. "But if they can put a man on the moon, then we ought to be able to pass a straight-forward piece of legislation in time to be sent to the president before the end of the session."

The Space Commercialization Promotion Act should be approved on the House floor under suspension of the rules this month, Walker said, but he indicated getting Senate attention for the measure could be a problem. If the whole bill cannot get passed there, he said some provisions could still be passed separately.

Science ranking member George Brown, D-Calif., said the bill is "relatively modest in scope," but "will continue the bipartisan effort to help ensure the health and growth of the nation's commercial space sector."

Some major bill provisions include: directing NASA to conduct a market survey that examines the potential participation of commercial ventures in the international space center; creating a regulatory framework for licensing spaceports; allowing exceptions to rules that restrict NASA employees from working for private contractors; and requiring the U.S. government to procure launch service from U.S. commercial providers and to use competitive bidding for the acquisition of space transportation services.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports today that testimony by GAO official Thomas Schultz yesterday before the House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee on national security concluded that NASA may not be able to cut back quickly or efficiently enough without outside help. What is being considered is a commission like the military base closing commission that would help decide which facilities are unnecessary. Such a commission would in large part be an acknowledgment that Congressional political pressures and internal turf battles are making agency downsizing efforts difficult.