IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6219 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accessing Satellite 

3 Data to Enable New Discoveries Act’’ or the ‘‘ASCEND 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL SATELLITE DATA. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

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’’) 

12 shall be to pursue a program of Earth observations, 

13 research, and applications activities to better under14 stand the Earth, how it supports life, and how 

15 human activities affect its ability to do so in the fu16 ture. 

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

18 Code, states that the Administrator of NASA shall, 

19 to the extent possible and while satisfying the sci20 entific or educational requirements of NASA, and 

21 where appropriate, of other Federal agencies and 

22 scientific researchers, acquire, where cost effective, 

23 space-based and airborne commercial Earth remote 

24 sensing data, services, distribution, and applications 

25 from a commercial 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

24 PROGRAM.— 


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

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following: 

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

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall estab7 lish within the Earth Science Division of the Science Mis8 sion Directorate a program to acquire and disseminate 

9 cost-effective and appropriate commercial Earth remote 

10 sensing data and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, 

11 operational, and educational requirements of the Adminis12 tration, and where appropriate, of other Federal agencies 

13 and scientific researchers to augment or complement the 

14 suite of Earth observations acquired by the Administra15 tion, other United States Government agencies, and inter16 national 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 de20 scribed 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 sub14 sections (a) and (c) shall, to the maximum extent prac15 ticable, be procured from United States vendors.(e) RE16 PORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the en17 actment of this section and annually thereafter, the Ad18 ministrator 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 

21 of Representatives a report that includes the following in22 formation regarding the agreements, vendors, license 

23 terms, and uses of commercial Earth remote sensing data 

24 and imagery 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 

14 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

15 and 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 


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1 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 

2 new item: 

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

Passed the House of Representatives September 23, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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