51 U.S.C. § 60121 — General licensing authority

(a) Licensing Authority of Secretary. (1) Working with other U.S. government agencies, the Secretary can license private companies to operate private remote sensing space systems, for however long the Secretary specifies, following the rules in this subchapter. (2) If a private space system is used for remote sensing and other things, the Secretary's authority under this subchapter only covers the remote sensing part of it. (b) Compliance With Law, Regulations, International Obligations, and National Security. (1) The Secretary cannot grant a license unless the Secretary states in writing that the applicant will follow this chapter, any regulations issued under it, and any relevant international obligations and national security concerns of the United States. (2) The Secretary must publish in the Federal Register a full, specific list of everything an application needs to be complete. An application counts as complete once the applicant has provided everything on the most recently published list at the time the application was first submitted. Unless the Secretary tells the applicant, within 30 days of getting the application, what information is still missing, the Secretary cannot deny the application for missing that information. (c) Deadline for Action on Application. The Secretary must review each application and decide on it within 120 days of receiving it. If the Secretary has not made a final decision by then, the Secretary must tell the applicant what issues are still pending and what needs to happen to resolve them. (d) Improper Basis for Denial. The Secretary cannot deny a license just to protect an existing licensee from competition. (e) Requirement To Provide Unenhanced Data. (1) Working with other federal agencies, and following paragraph (2), the Secretary must name in each license which "unenhanced" (unprocessed) data the licensee must provide, as described in section 60122(b)(3). (2) The Secretary can only make that designation after determining either: (A) that the U.S. government directly funded all or a substantial share of the system's development, building, launch, or operating costs; or (B) that requiring the data serves U.S. interests under section 60122(b)(3), after weighing the impact on the licensee against the value of giving wide access to remote sensing data from U.S. and foreign systems. (3) Any such designation must stay consistent with any contract or other agreement already in place between a U.S. government agency and the licensee.