Pub. L. 100-685, tit. II, sec. 208

Sec. 208. (a) The Administrator shall contract with the National Academy of Sciences to undertake a review of the Nation’s microgravity research capability and issue a report addressing— (1) the scientific and commercial value to the Nation of achieving a man-tended capability through a Commercially Developed Space Facility (CDSF) prior to man-tended operations of the space station; (2) the technical characteristics of a CDSF that would enable its optimum use; (3) the anticipated microgravity research and manufacturing requirements of commercial users and the Government; (4) the extent to which existing and proposed facilities could support these requirements; (5) the likelihood that a CDSF would become commercially self-sustaining and an estimate of when that could occur; (6) the state of space automation technology and its relevance to the capabilities required for a CDSF; (7) how a decision by the Government to lease facilities on a CDSF might affect the viability of other proposed commercial microgravity research facilities; and (8) the effect a commitment to the CDSF would have on the current space transportation system launch schedule. (b) The Administrator shall contract with the National Academy of Public Administration to— (1) estimate the developmental, operational, and other costs to the Government associated with a CDSF; (2) consider the practicability of various financial options by which the Government could participate in a CE^F, including leasing, lease-purchase, and purchase; (3) consider, as regards the lease option, instead of providing for a flat level of lease obligations, the practicability of reducing 102 STAT. 4092on a yearly basis the level of Government lease operations during the years of operation of a CDSF; and (4) consider, as regards the lease option, the practicability of making the minimum levels of Government lease obligations in the years of operation of a CDSF contingent on the attachment, by the CDSF operator, of certain minimum levels of irrevocable contract commitments with entities other than the United States Government, (c) Based on the above reports, the Administrator shall provide a report to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with policy options related to a CDSF and microgravity facilities, to be delivered no later than May 15, 1989.