51 USC § 70702 - Establishment of Commission

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t51/s70702"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "51 USC § 70702 - Establishment of Commission"
title_number: 51
title_name: "NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS"
section_number: "70702"
section_name: "Establishment of Commission"
chapter_number: 707
chapter_name: "HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION COMMISSION"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3432; Pub. L. 115–10, title VIII, § 838, Mar. 21, 2017, 131 Stat. 71.)"
---


# § 70702. Establishment of Commission

**(a)** **Establishment.—** The President shall establish an independent, nonpartisan Commission within the executive branch to investigate any incident that results in the loss of—

**(1)** a space shuttle;

**(2)** the International Space Station or its operational viability;

**(3)** any other orbital or suborbital space vehicle carrying humans that is—

**(A)** owned by the Federal Government; or

**(B)** being used pursuant to a contract or Space Act Agreement with the Federal Government for carrying a government astronaut or a researcher funded by the Federal Government; or

**(4)** a crew member or passenger of any space vehicle described in this subsection.

**(b)** **Deadline for Establishment.—** The President shall establish a Commission within 7 days after an incident specified in subsection (a).

**(c)** **Definitions.—** In this section:

**(1)** **Government astronaut.—** The term “government astronaut” has the meaning given the term in section 50902.

**(2)** **Space act agreement.—** The term “Space Act Agreement” means an agreement entered into by the Administration pursuant to its other transactions authority under section 20113(e).

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3432; Pub. L. 115–10, title VIII, § 838, Mar. 21, 2017, 131 Stat. 71.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 70702 | 42 U.S.C. 16842. | Pub. L. 109–155, title VIII, § 822, Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2941. |

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2017—Subsec. (a)(3). , amended par. (3) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (3) read as follows: “any other United States space vehicle carrying humans that is owned by the Federal Government or that is being used pursuant to a contract with the Federal Government; or”.

Subsec. (c). , added subsec. (c).