[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3342 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3342

To establish the Commercial Space Activity Advisory Committee, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 15, 2023

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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