51 U.S.C. § 60113 — Data policy for Landsat 7

(a) Landsat 7^* Data Policy. Working with other relevant federal agencies, the Landsat Program Management^* must develop a data policy for Landsat 7 that should: (1) make sure unenhanced data^* is available to everyone at the cost of filling their request; (2) make sure that data reaches the full range of civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign users — plus the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive^* — reliably and on time; (3) make sure the United States keeps ownership of all unenhanced Landsat 7 data; (4) support growth of the private commercial market for remote sensing data; (5) make sure that value-added commercial services built on remote sensing data stay strictly a private-sector job; and (6) as much as possible, make the Landsat 7 data distribution system compatible with the Earth Observing System Data and Information System.

(b) Additional Data Policy Considerations. The data policy may also allow for: (1) U.S. private companies to run ground receiving stations in the United States for Landsat 7 data; (2) other ways for private companies to directly access unenhanced Landsat 7 data; and (3) the federal government to charge fees — per image, by license, or otherwise — to companies that run ground stations or distribute Landsat 7 data.