Lockheed Martin Space Systems "Columbia" launched on January 12, 1986, Bob Cenker became RCA Astro-Electronic's first astronaut. Following the destruction of "Space Shuttle Challenger" with the next Shuttle mission, civilian Payload Specialists were excluded from flying Shuttle missions until 1990. By that time, RCA had been purchased by General Electric, and RCA Astro-Electronics became part of GE. As a result, Cenker was the only RCA Astro-Electronics employee, and only employee in the history of the facility under all of its subsequent names, to ever fly in space. The facility operated as GE Astro Space until it was sold to Martin Marietta in 1993. Then
Space Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act Bill Nelson has a similar bill in the United States Senate that would extend the system for three years instead of one. The system was created in 1988 when Congress passed the Commercial Space Launch Act Amendments. "This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source." The Space Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act would extend through December 31, 2014, the application deadline for licenses with respect to which the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) is required to pay third-party claims in excess of a commercial space launcher's required insurance coverage. The Space