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Union Calendar No. 502 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6219 

[Report No. 118–603] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2023 

Mr. KEAN of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology 

JULY 23, 2024 

Additional sponsor: Mr. FITZPATRICK

JULY 23, 2024 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 3, 2023] 


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•HR 6219 RH

A BILL 

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. 


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•HR 6219 RH

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 ‘‘Accessing Satellite Data 

5 to Enable New Discoveries Act’’ or the ‘‘ASCEND Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL SATELLITE DATA. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Section 60501 of title 51, United States 

9 Code, states that the goal for the Earth Science pro10 gram of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin11 istration (referred to in this section as ‘‘NASA’’) shall 

12 be to pursue a program of Earth observations, re13 search, and applications activities to better under14 stand the Earth, how it supports life, and how human 

15 activities affect its ability to do so in the future. 

16 (2) Section 50115 of title 51, United States 

17 Code, states that the Administrator of NASA shall, to 

18 the extent possible and while satisfying the scientific 

19 or educational requirements of NASA, and where ap20 propriate, of other Federal agencies and scientific re21 searchers, acquire, where cost effective, space-based 

22 and airborne commercial Earth remote sensing data, 

23 services, distribution, and applications from a com24 mercial provider. 


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1 (3) The Administrator of NASA established the 

2 Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Pilot Pro3 gram in 2019 to identify, validate, and acquire from 

4 commercial sources data that support the Earth 

5 science research and application goals. 

6 (4) The Administrator of NASA has— 

7 (A) determined that the pilot program de8 scribed in paragraph (3) has been a success, as 

9 described in the final evaluation entitled ‘‘Com10 mercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program 

11 Pilot Evaluation Report’’ issued in 2020; 

12 (B) established a formal process for evalu13 ating and onboarding new commercial vendors 

14 in such pilot program; 

15 (C) increased the number of commercial 

16 vendors and commercial data products available 

17 through such pilot program; and 

18 (D) expanded procurement arrangements 

19 with commercial vendors to broaden user access 

20 to provide commercial Earth remote sensing 

21 data and imagery to federally funded research22 ers. 

23 (b) COMMERCIAL SATELLITE DATA ACQUISITION PRO24 GRAM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 603 of title 51, 

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

3 the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 60307. Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Pro5 gram 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

7 within the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission 

8 Directorate a program to acquire and disseminate cost-ef9 fective and appropriate commercial Earth remote sensing 

10 data and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, oper11 ational, and educational requirements of the Administra12 tion, and where appropriate, of other Federal agencies and 

13 scientific researchers to augment or complement the suite 

14 of Earth observations acquired by the Administration, other 

15 United States Government agencies, and international 

16 partners. 

17 ‘‘(b) DATA PUBLICATION AND TRANSPARENCY.—The 

18 terms and conditions of commercial Earth remote sensing 

19 data and imagery acquisitions under the program described 

20 in subsection (a) shall not prevent— 

21 ‘‘(1) the publication of commercial data or im22 agery for scientific purposes; or 

23 ‘‘(2) the publication of information that is de24 rived from, incorporates, or enhances the original 

25 commercial data or imagery of a vendor. 


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1 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION.—In carrying out the program 

2 under this section, the Administrator may— 

3 ‘‘(1) procure commercial Earth remote sensing 

4 data and imagery from commercial vendors to ad5 vance scientific research and applications in accord6 ance with subsection (a); and 

7 ‘‘(2) establish or modify end-use license terms 

8 and conditions to allow for the widest-possible use of 

9 procured commercial Earth remote sensing data and 

10 imagery by individuals other than NASA-funded 

11 users, consistent with the goals of the program. 

12 ‘‘(d) UNITED STATES VENDORS.—Commercial Earth 

13 remote sensing data and imagery referred to in subsections 

14 (a) and (c) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be 

15 procured from United States vendors. 

16 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

17 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the 

18 Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com20 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

21 Representatives a report that includes the following infor22 mation regarding the agreements, vendors, license terms, 

23 and uses of commercial Earth remote sensing data and im24 agery under this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1)(A) In the case of the initial report, a list 

2 of all agreements that are providing commercial 

3 Earth remote sensing data and imagery to NASA as 

4 of the date of the report. 

5 ‘‘(B) For each subsequent report, a list of all 

6 agreements that have provided commercial Earth re7 mote sensing data and imagery to NASA during the 

8 reporting period. 

9 ‘‘(2) A description of the end-use license terms 

10 and conditions for each such vendor. 

11 ‘‘(3) A description of the manner in which each 

12 such agreement is advancing scientific research and 

13 applications, including priorities recommended by the 

14 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 

15 Medicine decadal surveys. 

16 ‘‘(4) Information specifying whether the Admin17 istrator has entered into an agreement with a com18 mercial vendor or a Federal agency that permits the 

19 use of data and imagery by Federal Government em20 ployees, contractors, or non-Federal users.’’. 

21 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con22 tents for chapter 603 of title 51, United States Code, 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 item: 

‘‘60307. Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program.’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 502 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6219 

[Report No. 118–603] 

A BILL 

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

JULY 23, 2024 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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