[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6385 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6385

 To promote space situational awareness and space traffic coordination 
   and to modify the functions and leadership of the Office of Space 
                   Commerce, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 2023

    Mr. Kean of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
      referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To promote space situational awareness and space traffic coordination 
   and to modify the functions and leadership of the Office of Space 
                   Commerce, 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 ``Situational Awareness of Flying 
Elements in Orbit Act of 2023'' or the ``SAFE Orbit Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND SPACE TRAFFIC COORDINATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce shall facilitate safe 
operations in space and encourage the development of commercial space 
capabilities by acquiring and disseminating unclassified data, 
analytics, information, and services on space activities.
    (b) Immunity.--The United States, any agencies and 
instrumentalities thereof, and any individuals, firms, corporations, 
and other persons acting for the United States, including non-
governmental entities, shall be immune from any suit in any court for 
any cause of action arising from the provision or receipt of space 
situational awareness services or information, whether or not provided 
in accordance with this section, or any related action or omission.
    (c) Acquisition of Data.--The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
Space Commerce (established under section 50702(b) of title 51, United 
States Code, as amended by section 3) is authorized to acquire--
            (1) data, analytics, information, and services, including 
        with respect to--
                    (A) location tracking data;
                    (B) positional and orbit determination information; 
                and
                    (C) conjunction data messages; and
            (2) such other data, analytics, information, and services 
        as the Secretary of Commerce determines necessary to avoid 
        collisions of space objects.
    (d) Database on Satellite Location and Behavior.--The Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce shall provide access for the 
public, at no charge, a fully updated, unclassified database of 
information concerning space objects and behavior that includes--
            (1) the data and information acquired under subsection (c), 
        except to the extent that such data or information is 
        classified or a trade secret (as defined in section 1839 of 
        title 18, United States Code); and
            (2) the provision of basic space situational awareness 
        services and space traffic coordination based on the data 
        referred to in paragraph (1), including basic analytics, 
        tracking calculations, and conjunction data messages.
    (e) Basic Space Situational Awareness Services.--The Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce--
            (1) shall provide to satellite operators, at no charge, 
        basic space situational awareness services, including the data, 
        analytics, information, and services described in subsection 
        (c);
            (2) in carrying out paragraph (1), may not compete with 
        private sector advanced space situational awareness products, 
        to the maximum extent practicable; and
            (3) not less frequently than every 3 years, shall review 
        the basic space situational awareness services described in 
        paragraph (1) to ensure that such services provided by the 
        Federal Government do not compete with advanced space 
        situational services offered by the private sector.
    (f) Requirements for Data Acquisition and Dissemination.--In 
acquiring data, analytics, information, and services under subsection 
(c) and disseminating data, analytics, information, and services under 
subsections (d) and (e), the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 
Commerce shall--
            (1) leverage commercial capabilities to the maximum extent 
        practicable;
            (2) prioritize the acquisition of data, analytics, 
        information, and services from commercial industry located in 
        or licensed in the United States to supplement data collected 
        by United States Government agencies, including the Department 
        of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration;
            (3) appropriately protect proprietary data, information, 
        and systems of firms located in the United States, including by 
        using appropriate infrastructure and cybersecurity measures;
            (4) facilitate the development of standardization and 
        consistency in data reporting, in collaboration with satellite 
        owners and operators, commercial space situational awareness 
        data and service providers, the academic community, and 
        nonprofit organizations; and
            (5) encourage foreign governments to participate in 
        unclassified data sharing arrangements for space situational 
        awareness and space traffic coordination.
    (g) Other Transaction Authority.--In carrying out the activities 
required by this section, the Secretary of Commerce shall enter into 
such contracts, leases, cooperative agreements, or other transactions 
as may be necessary.
    (h) Space Object Defined.--In this section, the term ``space 
object'' means any object launched into space, or created in space, 
robotically or by humans, including an object's component parts.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS TO OFFICE OF SPACE COMMERCE.

    (a) Location of Office.--Subsection (a) of section 50702 of title 
51, United States Code, is amended by inserting before the end period 
the following: ``, which, not later than 5 years after the date of the 
enactment of the SAFE Orbit Act of 2023, shall transition to a 
principal physical location within the Office of the Secretary of 
Commerce''.
    (b) Additional Functions of Office.--Subsection (c) of such section 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) to perform space situational awareness and space 
        traffic management duties pursuant to the SAFE Orbit Act of 
        2023.''.
    (c) Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (b) of such section is amended 
        to read as follows:
    ``(b) Assistant Secretary.--The Office shall be headed by the 
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce, who shall--
            ``(1) be appointed by the President, by and with the advice 
        and consent of the Senate;
            ``(2) report directly to the Secretary of Commerce; and
            ``(3) have a rate of pay that is equal to the rate payable 
        for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of 
        title 5.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Section 50702(d) of title 51, United States 
                Code, is amended--
                            (i) in the subsection heading, by striking 
                        ``Director'' and inserting ``Assistant 
                        Secretary''; and
                            (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
                        by striking ``Director'' and inserting 
                        ``Assistant Secretary''.
                    (B) Section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is 
                amended by striking ``Assistant Secretaries of Commerce 
                (11)'' and inserting ``Assistant Secretaries of 
                Commerce (12)''.
            (3) References.--On and after the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, any reference in any law or regulation to the 
        Director of the Office of Space Commerce shall be deemed to be 
        a reference to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 
        Commerce.
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