S. 881 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 

An Act 

To improve understanding and forecasting of space weather events, 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 ‘‘Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow 

Act’’ or the ‘‘PROSWIFT Act’’. 

SEC. 2. SPACE WEATHER. 

(a) POLICY.—It shall be the policy of the United States to 

prepare and protect against the social and economic impacts of 

space weather phenomena by supporting actions to improve space 

weather forecasts and predictions including: sustaining and 

enhancing critical observations, identifying research needs and promoting opportunities for research-to-operations and operations-toresearch collaborations both within and outside of the Federal 

Government, advancing space weather models, engaging with all 

sectors of the space weather community, including academia, the 

commercial sector, and international partners, and understanding 

the needs of space weather end users. 

(b) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 51, UNITED STATES CODE.—Subtitle 

VI of title 51, United States Code, is amended by adding after 

chapter 605 the following: 

‘‘CHAPTER 606—SPACE WEATHER 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘60601. Space weather. 

‘‘60602. Integrated strategy. 

‘‘60603. Sustaining and advancing critical space weather observations. 

‘‘60604. Research activities. 

‘‘60605. Space weather data. 

‘‘60606. Space weather knowledge transfer and information exchange. 

‘‘60607. Pilot program for obtaining commercial sector space weather data. 

‘‘60608. Space weather benchmarks. 

‘‘§ 60601. Space weather 

‘‘(a) FINDINGS.— 

‘‘(1) SPACE WEATHER.—Congress makes the following 

findings with respect to space weather: 

‘‘(A) Space weather phenomena pose a significant 

threat to ground-based and space-based critical infrastructure, modern technological systems, and humans working 

in space. 
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‘‘(B) The effects of severe space weather on the electric 

power grid, satellites and satellite communications and 

information, aviation operations, astronauts living and 

working in space, and space-based position, navigation, 

and timing systems could have significant societal, economic, national security, and health impacts. 

‘‘(C) Space-based and ground-based observations provide crucial data necessary to understand, forecast, and 

prepare for space weather phenomena. 

‘‘(D) Clear roles and accountability of Federal departments and agencies are critical for efficient and effective 

response to threats posed by space weather. 

‘‘(E) Space weather observation and forecasting are 

essential for the success of human and robotic space exploration. 

‘‘(F) In October 2015, the National Science and Technology Council published a National Space Weather 

Strategy and a National Space Weather Action Plan 

seeking to integrate national space weather efforts and 

add new capabilities to meet increasing demand for space 

weather information. 

‘‘(G) In March 2019, the National Science and Technology Council published an updated National Space 

Weather Strategy and Action Plan to enhance the preparedness and resilience of the United States to space weather. 

‘‘(2) ROLE OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Congress makes the following findings with respect to the role of Federal agencies 

on space weather: 

‘‘(A) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides operational space weather monitoring, 

forecasting, and long-term data archiving and access for 

civil applications, maintains ground-based and space-based 

assets to provide observations needed for space weather 

forecasting, prediction, and warnings, provides research 

to support operational responsibilities, and develops 

requirements for space weather forecasting technologies 

and science. 

‘‘(B) The Department of Defense provides operational 

space weather research, monitoring, and forecasting for 

the Department’s unique missions and applications. 

‘‘(C) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides increased understanding of the fundamental 

physics of the Sun-Earth system through basic research, 

space-based observations and modeling, developing new 

space-based technologies and missions, and monitoring of 

space weather for the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration’s space missions. 

‘‘(D) The National Science Foundation provides 

increased understanding of the Sun-Earth system through 

ground-based measurements, technologies, and modeling. 

‘‘(E) The Department of the Interior collects, distributes, and archives operational ground-based magnetometer 

data in the United States and its territories, works with 

the international community to improve global geophysical 

monitoring, and develops crustal conductivity models to 

assess and mitigate risks from space weather-induced electric ground currents. 
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‘‘(F) The Federal Aviation Administration provides 

operational requirements for space weather services in support of aviation and for coordination of these requirements 

with the International Civil Aviation Organization, and 

integrates space weather data and products into the Next 

Generation Air Transportation System. 

‘‘(b) COORDINATION BY OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

POLICY.—The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

shall— 

‘‘(1) coordinate the development and implementation of Federal Government activities conducted with respect to space 

weather to improve the ability of the United States to prepare 

for, avoid, mitigate, respond to, and recover from potentially 

devastating impacts of space weather; and 

‘‘(2) coordinate the activities of the interagency working 

group on space weather established under subsection (c). 

‘‘(c) SPACE WEATHER INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—Not later 

than 90 days after the date of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, 

the National Science and Technology Council shall establish an 

interagency working group on space weather (in this chapter 

referred to as the ‘interagency working group’) to coordinate executive branch actions that improve the understanding and prediction 

of and preparation for space weather phenomena, and coordinate 

Federal space weather activities. 

‘‘(1) MEMBERSHIP.—The following entities shall be members 

of the interagency working group: 

‘‘(A) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

‘‘(B) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

‘‘(C) The National Science Foundation. 

‘‘(D) The Department of Defense. 

‘‘(E) The Department of the Interior. 

‘‘(F) Such other Federal agencies as the Director of 

the Office of Science and Technology Policy deems appropriate. 

‘‘(2) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.— ‘‘(A) The members of the interagency working group 

may enter into one or more interagency agreements providing for cooperation and collaboration in the development 

of space weather spacecraft, instruments, technologies, and 

research to operations and operations to research in accordance with this chapter. 

‘‘(B) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration and the Administrator of the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

enter into one or more interagency agreements providing 

for cooperation and collaboration in the development of 

space weather spacecraft, instruments, and technologies 

in accordance with this chapter. 

‘‘(3) INTERNATIONAL, ACADEMIC COMMUNITY, AND COMMERCIAL SECTOR COLLABORATION.—Each Federal agency participating in the space weather interagency working group established under this subsection shall, to the extent practicable, 

increase engagement and cooperation with the international 

community, academic community, and commercial space 

weather sector on the observational infrastructure, data, and 
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scientific research necessary to advance the monitoring, forecasting, and prediction of, preparation for, and protection from, 

space weather phenomena. 

‘‘(d) SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY GROUP.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

the date of the enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the 

Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, in consultation with other relevant Federal 

agencies, shall establish a space weather advisory group 

(in this chapter referred to as the ‘advisory group’) for 

the purposes of receiving advice from the academic community, the commercial space weather sector, and space 

weather end users that informs the interests and work 

of the interagency working group. 

‘‘(B) COMPOSITION.—The advisory group shall be composed of not more than 15 members appointed by the 

interagency working group, of whom— 

‘‘(i) 5 members shall be representatives of the academic community; 

‘‘(ii) 5 members shall be representatives of the 

commercial space weather sector; and 

‘‘(iii) 5 members shall be nongovernmental representatives of the space weather end user community. 

‘‘(C) CHAIR.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

on which the last member of the advisory group is 

appointed under subparagraph (B), the Administrator of 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

appoint 1 member as the Chair of the advisory group. 

‘‘(D) TERMS.—The length of the term of each member 

of the advisory group shall be 3 years beginning on the 

date on which the member is appointed. 

‘‘(E) TERM LIMITS.— 

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A member of the advisory group 

may not serve on the advisory group for more than 

2 consecutive terms. 

‘‘(ii) CHAIR.—A member of the advisory group may 

not serve as the Chair of the advisory group for more 

than 2 terms, regardless of whether the terms are 

consecutive. 

‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The advisory group shall advise the interagency working group on the following: 

‘‘(A) Facilitating advances in the space weather enterprise of the United States. 

‘‘(B) Improving the ability of the United States to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from space 

weather phenomena. 

‘‘(C) Enabling the coordination and facilitation of 

research to operations and operations to research, as 

described in section 60604(d). 

‘‘(D) Developing and implementing the integrated 

strategy under section 60602 including subsequent updates 

and reevaluations. 

‘‘(3) USER SURVEY.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

establishment of the advisory group, the advisory group 

shall conduct a comprehensive survey of the needs of users 
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of space weather products to identify the space weather 

research, observations, forecasting, prediction, and modeling advances required to improve space weather products. 

‘‘(B) SURVEY CONSIDERATIONS.—The survey conducted 

under subparagraph (A) shall— 

‘‘(i) assess the adequacy of current Federal Government goals for lead time, accuracy, coverage, timeliness, data rate, and data quality for space weather 

observations and forecasting; 

‘‘(ii) identify options and methods to, in consultation with the academic community and the commercial 

space weather sector, improve upon the advancement 

of the goals described in clause (i); 

‘‘(iii) identify opportunities for collection of new 

data to address the needs of the space weather user 

community; 

‘‘(iv) identify methods to increase coordination of 

space weather research to operations and operations 

to research; 

‘‘(v) identify opportunities for new technologies, 

research, and instrumentation to aid in research, 

understanding, monitoring, modeling, prediction, forecasting, and warning of space weather; and 

‘‘(vi) identify methods and technologies to improve 

preparedness for potential space weather phenomena. 

‘‘(C) COORDINATION WITH AGENCIES.—In carrying out 

the requirements of this subsection, the advisory group 

shall communicate and coordinate with the interagency 

working group to ensure the needs of the governmental 

space weather user community are adequately and appropriately identified by the survey under subparagraph (A). 

‘‘(D) BRIEFING TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days 

after the completion of the survey under subparagraph 

(A), the advisory group shall provide to the Committee 

on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation of the Senate a briefing on the results 

of the survey under subparagraph (A). 

‘‘(E) PUBLICATION.—Within 30 days of the briefing to 

Congress, the advisory group shall make the results of 

the survey under subparagraph (A) publicly available. 

‘‘(F) REEVALUATION.—The advisory group shall review 

and assess the survey under subparagraph (A) not less 

than every 3 years and update, resubmit, and republish 

the survey in accordance with the requirements of subparagraphs (D) and (E). 

‘‘(4) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Section 14 of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 

to the advisory group. 

‘‘§ 60602. Integrated strategy 

‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy, in collaboration with the interagency working 

group and upon the advice of the advisory group, shall develop 

a strategy for coordinated observation of space weather among 

members of the interagency working group (in this chapter, referred 
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to as the ‘integrated strategy’). The integrated strategy shall identify— 

‘‘(1) observations and measurements that must be sustained 

beyond the lifetime of current ground-based and space-based 

assets, as described under section 60603, that are essential 

for space weather research, models, forecasting, and prediction; 

‘‘(2) new observations and measurements that may significantly improve space weather forecasting and prediction; and 

‘‘(3) plans for follow-on space-based observations under section 60603. 

‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the integrated strategy 

in subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall consider, as appropriate, the following: 

‘‘(1) Potential contributions of commercial solutions, prize 

authority, academic and international partnerships, microsatellites, small satellite options, ground-based instruments, and 

hosted payloads for observations identified in section 

60602(a)(2). 

‘‘(2) Work conducted before the date of enactment of the 

PROSWIFT Act by the National Science and Technology 

Council with respect to space weather. 

‘‘(3) The survey under section 60601(d). 

‘‘(4) Any relevant recommendations from the most recent 

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 

Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics). 

‘‘(c) REVIEW OF INTEGRATED STRATEGY.— 

‘‘(1) REVIEW.—The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Administrator of 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with Federal agencies participating in the interagency 

working group, shall enter into an agreement with the National 

Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review 

the integrated strategy developed in this section. 

‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The review from paragraph (1) shall 

also consider the current state, capability, and feasibility of 

the commercial space weather sector to provide new and supplemental observations and measurements that may significantly 

improve space weather forecasting and prediction. 

‘‘(3) TRANSMITTAL.—The Director of the Office of Science 

and Technology Policy, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Administrator of 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

transmit the integrated strategy and the results of the review 

required under paragraph (1) to the Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

the Senate not later than 1 year after the date of the completion 

of the survey under section 60601(d)(3). The integrated strategy 

and its review shall be made publicly available within 30 days 

of submittal to Congress. 

‘‘(d) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after 

delivery of the review of the integrated strategy in subsection 

(c)(3), the interagency working group shall develop a plan to implement the integrated strategy, including an estimate of the cost 

and schedule required for implementation. Upon completion, the 

interagency working group shall submit the implementation plan 

to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and Armed 
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Services of the House of Representatives and the Committees on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Armed Services of the 

Senate. The implementation plan shall be made publicly available 

within 30 days of submittal to Congress. 

‘‘(e) REEVALUATION.—The Director, in collaboration with the 

interagency working group, shall update the integrated strategy 

not later than 1 year after the reevaluation of the user survey 

from section 60601(d)(3)(F) in accordance with the requirements 

of subsections (a) through (d). 

‘‘§ 60603. Sustaining and advancing critical space weather 

observations 

‘‘(a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States to— 

‘‘(1) establish and sustain a baseline capability for space 

weather observations and to make such observations and data 

publicly available; and 

‘‘(2) obtain enhanced space weather observations, as practicable, to advance forecasting and prediction capability, as 

informed by the integrated strategy in section 60602. 

‘‘(b) SUSTAINING BASELINE SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONAL

CAPABILITIES.— 

‘‘(1) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration shall, in cooperation with the European 

Space Agency and other international and interagency partners, 

maintain operations of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/ 

Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (referred to in 

this section as ‘SOHO/LASCO’) for as long as the satellite 

continues to deliver quality observations. 

‘‘(2) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration shall prioritize the reception of SOHO/ 

LASCO data. 

‘‘(3) The Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration shall maintain, for as long as is 

practicable, operations of current space-based observational 

assets, including but not limited to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites system, and the Deep Space 

Climate Observatory. 

‘‘(c) BACKUP SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONAL CAPABILITY.—The 

Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall 

work with Federal and international partners in order to secure 

reliable backup baseline capability for near real-time coronal mass 

ejection imagery, solar wind, solar imaging, coronal imagery, and 

other relevant observations required to provide space weather forecasts. 

‘‘(d) SOHO/LASCO OPERATIONAL CONTINGENCY PLAN.—The 

Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall develop an operational contingency plan to provide continuous space weather forecasting in the event of an unexpected 

SOHO/LASCO failure, and prior to the implementation of the 

backup space-based baseline observational capability in section 

60603(c). 

‘‘(e) BRIEFING.—Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall provide a briefing 

to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 
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of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation of the Senate on the plan to secure reliable backup 

baseline capability described in subsection (c) and the SOHO/ 

LASCO operational contingency plan developed under subsection 

(d). 

‘‘(f) SUSTAINING GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONAL CAPABILITY.— 

The Director of the National Science Foundation, the Director of 

the United States Geological Survey, the Secretary of the Air Force, 

and, as practicable in support of the Air Force, the Secretary of 

the Navy, shall each— 

‘‘(1) maintain and improve ground-based observations of 

the Sun, as necessary and advisable, to help meet the needs 

identified in the survey under section 60601(d)(3); and 

‘‘(2) continue to provide space weather data through 

ground-based facilities, including radars, lidars, 

magnetometers, neutron monitors, radio receivers, aurora and 

airglow imagers, spectrometers, interferometers, and solar 

observatories. 

‘‘(g) CONSIDERATIONS.—In implementing subsections (b), (c), and 

(d), the Administrators of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Directors of the National Science Foundation and 

United States Geological Survey, and the Secretaries of the Air 

Force and the Navy shall prioritize cost-effective and reliable solutions. 

‘‘(h) GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONAL DATA.—The Director of the 

National Science Foundation shall— 

‘‘(1) make available to the public key data streams from 

the platforms and facilities described in subsection (d) for 

research and to support space weather model development; 

‘‘(2) develop experimental models for scientific purposes; 

and 

‘‘(3) support the transition of the experimental models to 

operations where appropriate. 

‘‘(i) ENHANCED SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONS.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, should develop 

options to build and deploy space-based observational capabilities, 

beyond the baseline capabilities referenced in subsection (b), that 

may improve space weather measurements and observations. These 

supplemental observational capabilities could include commercial 

solutions, prize authority, academic partnerships, microsatellites, 

ground-based instruments, and opportunities to deploy the 

instrument or instruments as a secondary payload on an upcoming 

planned launch. 

‘‘§ 60604. Research activities 

‘‘(a) BASIC RESEARCH.—The Director of the National Science 

Foundation, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, and the Secretary of Defense, shall— 

‘‘(1) continue to carry out basic research on heliophysics, 

geospace science, and space weather; and 

‘‘(2) support competitive, peer-reviewed proposals for conducting research, advancing modeling, and monitoring of space 

weather and its impacts, including the science goals outlined 

in decadal surveys in solar and space physics conducted by 

the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 
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‘‘(b) MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.— 

‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the multidisciplinary 

nature of solar and space physics creates funding challenges 

that require coordination across scientific disciplines and Federal agencies. 

‘‘(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that 

science centers could coordinate multidisciplinary solar and 

space physics research. The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Director of the National 

Science Foundation should support competitively awarded 

grants for multidisciplinary science centers that advance solar 

and space physics research, including research-to-operations 

and operations-to-research processes. 

‘‘(3) MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH.—The Director of the 

National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

shall each pursue multidisciplinary research in subjects that 

further the understanding of solar physics, space physics, and 

space weather. 

‘‘(c) SCIENCE MISSIONS.—The Administrator of the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration should implement missions 

that meet the science objectives identified in solar and space physics 

decadal surveys conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, 

Engineering, and Medicine. 

‘‘(d) RESEARCH TO OPERATIONS; OPERATIONS TO RESEARCH.— 

The interagency working group shall, upon consideration of the 

advice of the advisory group, develop formal mechanisms to— 

‘‘(1) transition the space weather research findings, models, 

and capabilities of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, the National Science Foundation, the United 

States Geological Survey, and other relevant Federal agencies, 

as appropriate, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration and the Department of Defense; 

‘‘(2) enhance coordination between research modeling centers and forecasting centers; and 

‘‘(3) communicate the operational needs of space weather 

forecasters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Department of Defense, as appropriate, to the 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National 

Science Foundation, and the United States Geological Survey. 

‘‘§ 60605. Space weather data 

‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Director of the National 

Science Foundation shall continue to— 

‘‘(1) make space weather-related data obtained for scientific 

research purposes available to space weather forecasters and 

operations centers; and 

‘‘(2) support model development and model applications 

to space weather forecasting. 

‘‘(b) RESEARCH.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration shall make space weather-related 

data obtained from operational forecasting available for research. 
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‘‘§ 60606. Space weather knowledge transfer and information 

exchange 

‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 

PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, in collaboration with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and 

the Director of the National Science Foundation, shall enter into 

an arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences, 

Engineering, and Medicine to establish a Space Weather Government-Academic-Commercial Roundtable to facilitate communication 

and knowledge transfer among Government participants in the 

space weather interagency working group established under section 

60601(c), the academic community, and the commercial space 

weather sector to— 

‘‘(1) facilitate advances in space weather prediction and 

forecasting; 

‘‘(2) increase coordination of space weather research to 

operations and operations to research; and 

‘‘(3) improve preparedness for potential space weather phenomena. 

‘‘§ 60607. Pilot program for obtaining commercial sector 

space weather data 

‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 12 months after the date 

of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may establish 

a pilot program under which the Administrator will offer to enter 

into contracts with one or more entities in the commercial space 

weather sector for the provision to the Administrator of space 

weather data generated by such an entity that meets the standards 

and specifications published under subsection (b). 

‘‘(b) DATA STANDARD AND SPECIFICATIONS.—Not later than 18 

months after the date of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the 

Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, may publish 

standards and specifications for ground-based, ocean-based, airbased, and space-based commercial space weather data and 

metadata. 

‘‘(c) CONTRACTS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 12 months after the date of transmission of the review of the integrated strategy to Congress 

under section 60602(c)(3) and taking into account the results 

of the review, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration may offer to enter, through an 

open competition, into at least one contract with one or more 

commercial space weather sector entities capable of providing 

space weather data that— 

‘‘(A) meets the standards and specifications established 

for providing such data under subsection (b); and 

‘‘(B) is provided in a manner that allows the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to calibrate and evaluate the data for use in space 

weather research and forecasting models of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department 

of Defense, or both. 

‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT.—If one or more contract is entered into 

under paragraph (1), not later than 4 years after the date 
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of enactment of the PROSWIFT Act, the Administrator of the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall assess, 

and submit to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and Armed Services of the House of Representatives 

and the Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

and Armed Services of the Senate, a report on the extent 

to which the pilot program has demonstrated data provided 

under contracts described in paragraph (1) meet the standards 

and specifications established under subsection (b) and the 

extent to which the pilot program has demonstrated— 

‘‘(A) the viability of assimilating the commercially provided data into National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration space weather research and forecasting 

models; 

‘‘(B) whether, and by how much, the data so provided 

add value to space weather forecasts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department 

of Defense; and 

‘‘(C) the accuracy, quality, timeliness, validity, reliability, usability, information technology security, and costeffectiveness of obtaining commercial space weather data 

from commercial sector providers. 

‘‘§ 60608. Space weather benchmarks 

‘‘The interagency working group established under section 

60601(c) shall periodically review and update the benchmarks 

described in the report of the National Science and Technology 

Council entitled ‘Space Weather Phase 1 Benchmarks’ and dated 

June 2018, as necessary, based on— 

‘‘(1) any significant new data or advances in scientific 

understanding that become available; or 

‘‘(2) the evolving needs of entities impacted by space 

weather phenomena.’’. 

(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

(1) The table of chapters of title 51, United States Code, 

is amended by adding after the item relating to chapter 605 

the following: 

‘‘606. Space Weather .............................................................................................60601’’. 

(2) Section 809 of the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18388) 

and the item relating to that section in the table of contents 
S. 881—12 

under section 1(b) of that Act (Public Law 111–267; 124 Stat. 

2806) are repealed. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.