National Aeronautics and Space Act

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958

Other short titles	The Space Act of 1958
Long title	An Act to provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earths atmosphere, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	NASA
Enacted by	the 85th United States Congress
Effective	July 29, 1958
Citations
Public law	85-568
Statutes at Large	72 Stat. 426-2
Codification
Titles amended	42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare
U.S.C. sections created	42 U.S.C. ch. 26 § 2451 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 12575 on May 24, 1958 Committee consideration by House Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration Passed the House on June 2, 1958 (passed) Passed the Senate on June 16, 1958 (passed) Reported by the joint conference committee on July 15, 1958; agreed to by the House on July 16, 1958 (agreed) and by the Senate on July 16, 1958 (agreed) Signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 29, 1958

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Pub.L. 85–568) is the United States federal statute that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Act, which followed close on the heels of the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, was drafted by the United States House Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration and on July 29, 1958 was signed by President Eisenhower. Prior to enactment, the responsibility for space exploration was deemed primarily a military venture, in line with the Soviet model that had launched the first orbital satellite. In large measure, the Act was prompted by the lack of response by a US military infrastructure that seemed incapable of keeping up the space race.

The original 1958 act charged the new Agency with conducting the aeronautical and space activities of the United States "so as to contribute materially to one or more of the following objectives:"

In 2012, a ninth objective was added: "The preservation of the United States preeminent position in aeronautics and space through research and technology development related to associated manufacturing processes."

The Act abolished the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), transferring its activities and resources to NASA effective October 1, 1958. The Act also created a Civilian-Military Liaison Committee, for the purpose of coordinating civilian and military space applications, and keeping NASA and the Department of Defense "fully and currently informed" of each other's space activities. To this day, the United States has coordinated but separate military and civilian space programs, with much of the former involved in launching military and surveillance craft and, prior to the Partial Test Ban Treaty, planning counter-measures to the anticipated Soviet launch of nuclear warheads into space.

In addition, the new law made extensive modifications to the patent law and provided that both employee inventions as well as private contractor innovations brought about through space travel would be subject to government ownership. By making the government the exclusive provider of space transport, the act effectively discouraged the private development of space travel. This situation endured until the law was modified by the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, enacted to allow civilian use of NASA systems in launching space vehicles.

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