Software is an important field of technology development at NASA, as demonstrated by the array of tech briefs in this special supplement. Since 1997, NASA has had a policy in place covering the release of its software. In accor- dance with that policy, NASA has appointed Software Release Authorities at each NASA Center who are responsible for determining appropriate release restrictions on software, and for disseminating it accordingly. NASA’s policy encourages,
to the extent that it is practical and legal, that NASA make software available for use by others.

NASA has several options available for release of software called categories of release. Each category includes appropriate use and disclosure conditions. There are also certain software technologies that may be made available for licensing.