Many editorials and comments have argued that the Republicans were for larger space projects while the Democrats were for the president in light of the recent development of the space policy positions of the Obama and Romney campaigns on space and platform statements. Only one person in history has ever made space accessible to everyone by letting the private sector handle critical tasks like conveyance to orbit, which also gave rise to a new sector of the space economy. (Weeks, 2014). The issue that arises is how the Obama campaign is perceived as taking unfair credit for space activism. In 1984, the commercial space act was first passed by President Ronald Reagan when he first occupied the white house. This happened when the Congress and the Republican split thus making the Democrats the majority in the Senate. As stated by the president, the Reagans administration policy part was a key to step near their goals of the commercialization of space. The objectives of the government were also to encourage the private sectors to commercialize in the space endeavors. However, there were complications between the shared authority and the fragmentation when it came to the approval of space activities. This essay will highlight historical contents in regards to the development and commercialization of the commercial space act.
Space commercial law bill was sponsored by Daniel Akaka (the house representative) and the political parties (Foust, 2014). During this time, the bill was amended severally by the Democrats and the Republicans such as Lamar Smith because they aimed to signify the level of economic and commercial activities for potential growth in the U.S. The purpose of the amendment was also to promote the growth through the use of space environments. The private sector in the United States was also encouraged to provide reentry and launch vehicles which were associated by expediting and simplifying the transfer and issuance of commercial licenses (Pelton, 1998).
The government also developed a space technology that encouraged and facilitated the safety of the launch vehicles because they were designed to carry human beings (Lawrence, 2014). With this law in mind, the government started the procedures of opening up the possibilities of commercial sector investments which promoted the economic growth through the use of the space environment. Therefore, the amendment of the bill was meant to support space development and utilization just as intended by the Congress and the President.
Before the launching of the first constituents of the International Space Station, the Commercial Space Act of 1998 was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Clinton. The primary objective of this act was to influence the advancement of a commercial space industry in the United States. Some of the critical areas that were to be addressed by this bill include:
Commercial space launch
Launch voucher demonstration programs
Space station commercialization
Administration of commercial space centers.
The bill was composed of direction for the government to make surveys of commercial space options for the programs that are managed and operated by agencies of government. Furthermore, Congress also declared that the most efficient conditions for improving economic development are created through free and competitive markets and consequently should govern the economic growth of Earth orbital space (Lawrence, 2014). Not many believed that this bill showed that before the ISS was amassed, apart from the intensity and health of the US commercial space sector the economic growth of near-Earth space was substantially adequate for the Republican Congress to support the passing of the bill. According to the belief by John Logsdon Space was never a high priority for the eight years that Clinton was in power, but even so, Clinton still agreed to enact the bill (Lawrence, 2014). The Commercial Space Act made an explicit approval of the growth and use of commercial launch vehicles for firing and landing in the United States. Furthermore, the effort of the young commercial launch obtained a substantial boost by the law directing NASA to use the commercial launch services anytime it is demanded during its activities and to also make plans for missions that would accommodate the United States, commercial providers. The statue banned the government from taking advantage of any missile that was used in the past by the Department of Defense for the purpose of national defense as a space transportation vehicle resulting in the government being effectively taken out of the satellite launch business. The statue made provisions of seven exceptions that were to be utilized in case there were overrides in the national defense (Lawrence, 2014).
Confusions that might have been brought up as a result of either the authority, CSLA, regulations of the FAA, or the OCST was made clear by the Commercial Space Act of 1998. This act made it possible for the FAA to authorize the licensing of the launches and landings of space vehicles. Before the enactment of this law, no company could legally land a launched vehicle in the United States. By considering these facts, Kistler Aerospace was able to make the choice of developing additional launch facilities in Australia because such regulations were not in effect there. This 1998 Commercial Space Act is a significant law mainly because it has made possible for the RLVs to launch as well as land within the United States when they are developed.
The purpose of the Space act
The primary reason for this bill was to resolve the confusion about Commercial space. Also, the law was meant to approve the use of the launch vehicles for take-off as well as landing with the U.S. Moreover, the bill was intended to receive a financial boost from NASA particularly when it came to the use of the commercial launch services as required by the plan missions who accommodate the U.S commercial providers (Stone 2012). However, the government was prohibited from using any missile that was used before by the department of defense. The primary reason was that the space transportation vehicle was meant for protection as well as providing several exceptions in cases where the nation would need defensive rides.
Conclusion
The path to commercial cargo and crew to the development of the commercial space act was meant to ease the transition of the space law. It is important to note that the elaboration of the space policy as illustrated in the thesis was to support the economic development and commercialization of the earth space. Therefore, the amendment of the bill was meant to support space development and utilization just as intended by the Congress and the President.
References
Foust, J. (n.d.). (2014). Senate Approves Commercial Space Act..
Joseph N. Pelton: (1998) Commercial Space Act of 1998. In www.GovTrack.us. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/105/hr1702
Lawrence, H. (2014). Aviation and the role of government. Dubuque, IA. Kendall Hunt.
Weeks. E (2014) - Barriers to Space Enterprise. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2014.
Stone, C. (n.d.). (2012). Perception vs. reality in NASA's commercial crew and cargo program..
