[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 434 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 434
To establish the Commercial Space Activity Advisory Committee, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 5, 2025
Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Commercial Space Activity Advisory Committee, 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 ``Space Commerce Advisory Committee
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Commerce, acting through the Office of Space Commerce.
(2) Space object.--The term ``space object''--
(A) means--
(i) a human-made object located in outer
space, including on the Moon or other celestial
bodies, with or without human occupants, that
was launched from Earth, such as a satellite or
a spacecraft, including component parts of the
object; and
(ii) all items carried on such object that
are intended for use in outer space outside of,
and independent of, the operation of such
object;
(B) includes any human-made object that is--
(i) manufactured or assembled in outer
space; and
(ii) intended for operations in outer space
other than, and independent of, the operations
of such object in which the manufacturing or
assembly occurred; and
(C) does not include--
(i) an article aboard a space object that
is only intended for use inside the space
object;
(ii) an article manufactured or processed
in outer space that is a material; or
(iii) an article intended for use outside a
space object as part of the authorized
operations of the space object.
(3) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, and any other commonwealth, territory, or possession
of the United States.
(4) United states entity.--The term ``United States
entity'' means--
(A) an individual who is a national of the United
States (as defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))); and
(B) a nongovernmental entity organized or existing
under, and subject to, the laws of the United States or
a State.
SEC. 3. COMMERCIAL SPACE ACTIVITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a Commercial Space
Activity Advisory Committee (in this section referred to as the
``Committee'').
(b) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Committee shall be composed of 15
members appointed by the Secretary.
(2) Qualifications.--
(A) In general.--The Committee shall be composed of
representatives from a variety of space policy,
engineering, technical, science, legal, and finance
fields who have significant experience in the
commercial space industry.
(B) Limitation.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in
clause (i), the Secretary may not appoint as a
member of the Committee any employee or
official of the Federal Government.
(ii) Exception.--The Secretary may appoint
as a member of the Committee a special
government employee (as defined in section
202(a) of title 18, United States Code) who
serves on 1 or more other Federal advisory
committees.
(3) Term.--Each individual appointed as a member of the
Committee--
(A) shall be appointed for a term of 4 years; and
(B) during the 2-year period beginning on the date
on which such term ends, may not serve as a member of
the Committee.
(c) Duties.--The duties of the Committee shall be--
(1) to advise on the status and recent developments of
nongovernmental space activities;
(2) to provide to the Secretary and Congress
recommendations on the manner in which the United States may
facilitate and promote a robust and innovative commercial
sector that is investing in, developing, and operating space
objects;
(3) to identify any challenge faced by the United States
commercial sector relating to--
(A) international obligations of the United States
relevant to commercial space sector activities in outer
space;
(B) export controls that affect the commercial
space sector;
(C) harmful interference with commercial space
sector activities in outer space; and
(D) access to adequate, predictable, and reliable
radio frequency spectrum;
(4) to review existing best practices for United States
entities to avoid--
(A) the harmful contamination of the Moon and other
celestial bodies; and
(B) adverse changes in the environment of the Earth
resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial
matter; and
(5) to provide information, advice, and recommendations on
matters relating to--
(A) United States commercial space sector
activities in outer space; and
(B) other commercial space sector activities, as
the Committee considers necessary.
(d) Termination.--The Committee shall terminate on the date that is
10 years after the date on which the Committee is established.
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