United States Space Policy Announcement of the President's Decisions Concerning Land Remote-Sensing Activities.

The President today announced the designation of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) to manage all operational civilian remotesensing activities from space. This designation is one of several policy decisions announced today after a review of civilian space policy mandated by a Presidential directive in October 1978.

Early in his administration the President directed a comprehensive review of space policy. The review, completed in May 1978, resulted in a Presidential directive that established a national space policy framework. It created a Policy Review Committee on Space, chaired by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Frank Press. One of the tasks of the Policy Review Committee has been to assess the Nation's future civil space remote-sensing requirements. That review was the basis for the policy decisions announced today.

Designation of a single agency, NOAA, to manage all civil operational satellite activities will lend itself to further integration and potential cost saving in the future. NOAA's experience in successfully operating and managing three generations of weather satellites prepares it to assume the responsibility for land remote-sensing in addition to its ongoing atmospheric and oceanic activities. NOAA's first action will be to develop a transition plan, in coordination with other appropriate agencies, for moving to a fully integrated satellite-based land remote-sensing program.

Initially, our operational land remotesensing efforts will rely on experience derived from the LANDSAT program. LANDSAT was begun in 1972 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a satellite effort specifically designed to observe surface features of the Earth.

The President's decision establishes a three-part framework to serve remotesensing activities:

—Integration of civilian operational activities under NOAA;

—Joint or coordinated civil/military activities where both parties' objectives can be best met through this approach;

—Separate defense activities which have no civilian counterpart.

Other space policy decisions developed by this review and announced today are:

—The Commerce Department will seek ways to further private sector opportunities in civil land remote-sensing activities, through joint ventures with industry, a quasi-government corporation, leasing, etc., with the goal of eventual operation of these activities by the private sector.

—We will continue the policy of providing LANDSAT data to foreign users and promoting development of complementary and cooperative nationally operated satellite systems so as to increase benefits for all nations.

—The Department of Commerce will establish and chair a Program Board for continuing Federal coordination and regulation of civil remote-sensing activities. The involved Federal organizations will be represented (i.e., the Departments of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, State, Transportation, and Energy, and NASA, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Agency for International Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency). The National Governors' Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures will be invited to participate.

—Separate weather programs for the military and civil sectors will be maintained under the Departments of Defense and Commerce, because of their differing needs. We will continue procurement of current spacecraft until development of a new system design is justified. Future polar-orbiting satellite development and procurement will be jointly undertaken by Defense, Commerce, and NASA to maximize technology-sharing and minimize cost.

—Ocean observations from space can meet common civil and military data requirements. Accordingly, if we decide to develop ocean satellites, joint Defense/ Commerce/NASA management of the program will be pursued.