II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Space Resources Insti5 tute Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORT ON MERITS AND OPTIONS FOR ESTAB2 LISHING AN INSTITUTE RELATING TO SPACE 

3 RESOURCES. 

4 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub6 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 

7 on the merits of, and options for, establishing an institute 

8 relating to space resources to advance the objectives of 

9 NASA in maintaining United States preeminence in space. 

10 Such objectives shall include the following: 

11 (1) Identifying, developing, and distributing 

12 space resources, including by encouraging the devel13 opment of foundational science and technology. 

14 (2) Reducing the technological risks associated 

15 with identifying, developing, and distributing space 

16 resources. 

17 (3) Developing options for using space re18 sources to— 

19 (A) support current and future space ar20 chitectures, programs, and missions; and 

21 (B) enable such architectures, programs, 

22 and missions that would not otherwise be pos23 sible. 

24 (b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—The report required 

25 under subsection (a) shall also include the following as26 sessments of the Administrator: 


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1 (1) Whether a virtual or physical institute relat2 ing to space resources is most cost effective and ap3 propriate. 

4 (2) Whether partnering with institutions of 

5 higher education and the aerospace industry, and 

6 the extractive industry as appropriate, would be ef7 fective in increasing information available to the in8 stitute with respect to advancing the objectives de9 scribed in subsection (a). 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis12 trator’’ means the Administrator of NASA. 

13 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT14 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com15 mittees’’ means— 

16 (A) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

17 Technology of the House of Representatives; 

18 and 

19 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

20 and Transportation of the Senate. 

21 (3) EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘ex22 tractive industry’’ means companies and individuals 

23 involved in the processes of extracting, including 

24 mining, quarrying, drilling, and dredging, raw, nat25 ural materials or energy sources. 


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1 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

5 (5) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na6 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

7 (6) SPACE RESOURCE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘space re9 source’’ means an abiotic resource in situ in 

10 outer space. 

11 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘space re12 source’’ includes a raw, natural material or en13 ergy source. 

Æ 


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