[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6219 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6219

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
 Administration to establish a program to identify, evaluate, acquire, 
  and disseminate commercial Earth remote sensing 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 Data 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 commercial 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 
                commercial 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 cost-effective and appropriate commercial Earth 
remote sensing 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 
to augment or complement the suite of Earth observations acquired by 
the Administration, other United States Government agencies, and 
international partners.
    ``(b) Data Publication and Transparency.--The terms and conditions 
of commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery acquisitions under 
the program described in subsection (a) shall not prevent--
            ``(1) the publication of commercial data or imagery for 
        scientific purposes; or
            ``(2) the publication of information that is derived from, 
        incorporates, or enhances the original commercial data or 
        imagery of a vendor.
    ``(c) Authorization.--In carrying out the program under this 
section, the Administrator may--
            ``(1) procure commercial Earth remote sensing data and 
        imagery from commercial vendors to advance scientific research 
        and applications in accordance with subsection (a); and
            ``(2) establish or modify end-use license terms and 
        conditions to allow for the widest-possible use of procured 
        commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery by individuals 
        other than NASA-funded users, consistent with the goals of the 
        program.
    ``(d) United States Vendors.--Commercial Earth remote sensing data 
and imagery referred to in subsections (a) and (c) shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable, be procured from United States vendors.(e) 
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 information 
regarding the agreements, vendors, license terms, and uses of 
commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery under this section:
            ``(1)(A) In the case of the initial report, a list of all 
        agreements that are providing commercial Earth remote sensing 
        data and imagery to NASA as of the date of the report.
            ``(B) For each subsequent report, a list of all agreements 
        that have provided commercial Earth 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 
        agreement 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.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 23, 2024.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
118th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 6219

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

  To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
 Administration to establish a program to identify, evaluate, acquire, 
  and disseminate commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery in 
     order to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational 
      requirements of the Administration, and for other purposes.