Posted: Thu, Oct 9, 2003, 9:59 AM ET (1359 GMT)
The space subcommittee of the House Science Committee approved four pieces of space-related legislation on Wednesday, covering topics ranging from commercial spaceflight to future shuttle accident investigations. The committee approved HR 3245, the Commercial Space Act of 2003, which was introduced just last week by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). The bill would authorize funding for the FAA's office of commercial space transportation as well as the Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commercialization, and would also fix into law definitions of suborbital spaceflight and regulations for carrying paying passengers on commercial vehicles. The subcommittee also approved HR 2450, the Human Space Flight Independent Investigation Commission Act of 2003, introduced earlier this year by Rep. Bart Gordon (T-DN). That bill would create a Presidentially-appointed independent commission to investigate any future accidents involving the shuttle or ISS. The subcommittee passed HR 912, the Charles 'Pete' Conrad Astronomy Awards Act, to provide awards for amateur astronomers who discover near-Earth asteroids, and HR 1292, Remote Sensing Applications Act of 2003, to offer grants to local governments to purchase remote sensing products. All four bills passed by voice vote.

Related Links:

•  House Science Committee press release
•  Rep. Gordon press release (via SpaceRef)