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Shown Here: Introduced in Senate (02/07/2019)
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 381 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 381
To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to submit to Congress a report on the merits of, and
options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 7, 2019
Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration to submit to Congress a report on the merits of, and
options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources, 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 Resources Institute Act''.
SEC. 2. REPORT ON MERITS AND OPTIONS FOR ESTABLISHING AN INSTITUTE
RELATING TO SPACE RESOURCES.
(a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report on the merits of, and
options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources to
advance the objectives of NASA in maintaining United States preeminence
in space. Such objectives shall include the following:
(1) Identifying, developing, and distributing space
resources, including by encouraging the development of
foundational science and technology.
(2) Reducing the technological risks associated with
identifying, developing, and distributing space resources.
(3) Developing options for using space resources to--
(A) support current and future space architectures,
programs, and missions; and
(B) enable such architectures, programs, and
missions that would not otherwise be possible.
(b) Additional Matters.--The report required under subsection (a)
shall also include the following assessments of the Administrator:
(1) Whether a virtual or physical institute relating to
space resources is most cost effective and appropriate.
(2) Whether partnering with institutions of higher
education and the aerospace industry, and the extractive
industry as appropriate, would be effective in increasing
information available to the institute with respect to
advancing the objectives described in subsection (a).
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of NASA.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate.
(3) Extractive industry.--The term ``extractive industry''
means companies and individuals involved in the processes of
extracting, including mining, quarrying, drilling, and
dredging, raw, natural materials or energy sources.
(4) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such
term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(5) NASA.--The term ``NASA'' means the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration.
(6) Space resource.--
(A) In general.--The term ``space resource'' means
an abiotic resource in situ in outer space.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``space resource''
includes a raw, natural material or energy source.
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