10 1 take steps to ensure that the launches of satellites with re- 7 national need shall be made by the Secretary of the Air Force or the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and shall not be delegated. "(B) The Secretary of Transportation shall include in 8 any license issued under this Act a provision which estab9 lishes an amount of liquidated damages to be paid by the 10 preempting agency of the United States in the event that a 11 satellite is preempted other than as provided in subparagraph 18 (A). Such liquidated damages shall be paid to the licensee and/or the customer 13 SEC. STUDY OF PROCESS FOR SCHEDULING LAUNCHES. The Secretary of Transportation, in cooperation with 15 the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Na16 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, and in consul17 tation with representatives of the space launch and satellite 18 industry, shall study ways and means of scheduling Govern19 ment and commercial payloads on commercial launch vehi20 cles at government launch sites in a manner which 21 2222 23 24 25 (1) optimizes the use of the launch property of the United States; 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, 11 1 consistent with the objectives of the Commercial Space 8 study to the Congress within 90 days after the date of the 9 5 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH SERVICE COMPETITION. 6 It is the sense of the Congress that the United States 7 should explore ways and means of developing a dialogue with 8 appropriate foreign government representatives to seek the 9 development of guidelines for access to launch services by 10 satellite builders and users in a manner that assures the con11, duct of reasonable and fair international competition in com12 mercial space activities. 10 13 SEC. LAUNCH VEHICLE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 14 The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and in consultation with representatives of the space launch and satellite 15 Space Administration shall design a program for the support industry, 16 of research into launch systems component technologies, for HR 3765 DH 11 12 1 SEC. 10. APPLICABILITY TO LICENSES. This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall 8 apply to all licenses issued under the Commercial Space 4 Launch Act before or after the date of the enactment of this 5 Act. HR $765 TH In response to your letter of February 12, 1988, I am pleased to submit for inclusion in the published hearing record on HR 3765 the comments and views of Associated Aviation Underwriters with respect to the issue of third party liability for commercial space launches. We view insurers as partners with the commercial space industry and believe the industry will mature more rapidly in a free market environment such as exists in the aviation and marine insurance markets. Nevertheless, while this should be the eventual goal, we can appreciate the immediate concerns for temporary, limited government measures given the embryonic, yet highly competitive, nature of the commercial launcher market. Any such measures, however, should minimize government involvement in the claims handling process as to claims which are within coverage limits. Otherwise, we believe the willingness of insurers such as AAU to participate in third party risks will be seriously diminished. Thank you for the opportunity to present the views of our organization on this matter of great importance to the growth of our country's commercial space industry. |