[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2634 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2634
To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to establish a program to acquire and disseminate
commercial Earth observation data and imagery in order to satisfy the
scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the
Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 27, 2023
Mr. Hickenlooper (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to establish a program to acquire and disseminate
commercial Earth observation data and imagery in order to satisfy the
scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the
Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Accessing Satellite Capabilities to
Enable New Discoveries Act'' or the ``ASCEND Act''.
SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL SATELLITE DATA.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Section 60501 of title 51, United States Code, states
that the goal for the Earth Science program of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (referred to in this
section as ``NASA'') shall be to pursue a program of Earth
observations, research, and applications activities to better
understand the Earth, how it supports life, and how human
activities affect its ability to do so in the future.
(2) Section 50115 of title 51, United States Code, states
that the Administrator of NASA shall, to the extent possible
and while satisfying the scientific or educational requirements
of NASA, and where appropriate, of other Federal agencies and
scientific researchers, acquire, where cost effective, space-
based and airborne Earth remote sensing data, services,
distribution, and applications from a commercial provider.
(3) The Administrator of NASA established the Commercial
SmallSat Data Acquisition Pilot Program in 2019 to identify,
validate, and acquire from commercial sources data that support
the Earth science research and application goals.
(4) The Administrator of NASA has--
(A) determined that the pilot program described in
paragraph (3) has been a success, as described in the
final evaluation entitled ``Commercial SmallSat Data
Acquisition Program Pilot Evaluation Report'' issued in
2020;
(B) established a formal process for evaluating and
onboarding new commercial vendors in such pilot
program;
(C) increased the number of commercial vendors and
commercial data products available through such pilot
program; and
(D) expanded procurement arrangements with
commercial vendors to broaden user access to provide
Earth remote sensing data and imagery to federally
funded researchers.
(b) Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 603 of title 51, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 60307. Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program
``(a) In General.--The Administrator shall establish within the
Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate a program to
acquire and disseminate commercial Earth observation data and imagery
in order to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational
requirements of the Administration, and where appropriate, of other
Federal agencies and scientific researchers.
``(b) Data Publication and Transparency.--The terms and conditions
of commercial remote sensing data acquisitions under the program
described in subsection (a) shall not prevent--
``(1) the publication of commercial data for scientific
purposes; or
``(2) the publication of information that is derived from,
incorporates, or enhances the original commercial data of a
vendor.
``(c) Authorization.--In carrying out the program under this
section, the Administrator may--
``(1) procure the remote sensing data and imagery from
commercial vendors necessary to advance scientific research and
applications;
``(2) establish or modify end-use license terms and
conditions to allow for the use of procured data and imagery by
individuals other than NASA-funded users, consistent with the
goals of the program; and
``(3) as practicable, procure remote sensing data and
imagery from commercial vendors to support--
``(A) nonscientific applications; and
``(B) nonmilitary activities of Federal agencies.
``(d) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Administrator
shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives a report that includes the following:
``(1)(A) In the case of the initial report, a list of all
vendors that are providing remote sensing data and imagery to
NASA as of the date of the report.
``(B) For each subsequent report, a list of all vendors
that have provided remote sensing data and imagery to NASA
during the reporting period.
``(2) A description of the end-use license terms and
conditions for each such vendor.
``(3) A description of the manner in which each such vendor
is advancing scientific research and applications, including
priorities recommended by the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine decadal surveys.
``(4) Information specifying whether the Administrator has
entered into an agreement with a commercial vendor or a Federal
agency that permits the use of data and imagery by Federal
Government employees, contractors, or non-Federal users.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents for chapter
603 of title 51, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following new item:
``60307. Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program.''.
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