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

(a) Landsat 7 Data Policy.—The Landsat Program Management, in consultation with other appropriate United States Government agencies, shall develop a data policy for Landsat 7 which should—(1) ensure that unenhanced data are available to all users at the cost of fulfilling user requests; (2) ensure timely and dependable delivery of unenhanced data to the full spectrum of civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign users and the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive; (3) ensure that the United States retains ownership of all unenhanced data generated by Landsat 7; (4) support the development of the commercial market for remote sensing data; (5) ensure that the provision of commercial value-added services based on remote sensing data remains exclusively the function of the private sector; and (6) to the extent possible, ensure that the data distribution system for Landsat 7 is compatible with the Earth Observing System Data and Information System. (b) Additional Data Policy Considerations.—In addition, the data policy for Landsat 7 may provide for—(1) United States private sector entities to operate ground receiving stations in the United States for Landsat 7 data; (2) other means for direct access by private sector entities to unenhanced data from Landsat 7; and (3) the United States Government to charge a per image fee, license fee, or other such fee to entities operating ground receiving stations or distributing Landsat 7 data.