I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4152 
To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration and Secretary of Commerce 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 15, 2023 
Ms. CARAVEO (for herself, Mr. LAMBORN, Ms. PETTERSEN, and Mr. NEGUSE) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration and Secretary of Commerce to sub-
mit to Congress a report on the merits of, and options 
for, establishing an institute relating to space resources, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Space Resources Insti-
tute Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REPORT ON MERITS AND OPTIONS FOR ESTAB-
LISHING AN INSTITUTE RELATING TO SPACE 
RESOURCES. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator and Sec-
retary shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report on the merits of, and options for, es-
tablishing an institute relating to space resources to ad-
vance the objectives of NASA and the Department in 
maintaining United States preeminence in space. Such ob-
jectives shall include the following: 
(1) Identifying, developing, and distributing 
space resources, including by encouraging the devel-
opment of foundational science and technology. 
(2) Reducing the technological risks associated 
with identifying, developing, and distributing space 
resources. 
(3) Developing options for using space re-
sources to— 
(A) support current and future space ar-
chitectures, programs, and missions; and 
(B) enable such architectures, programs, 
and missions that would not otherwise be pos-
sible. 
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(b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—The report required 
under subsection (a) shall also include the following as-
sessments of the Administrator and the Secretary: 
(1) Whether a virtual or physical institute relat-
ing to space resources is most cost effective and ap-
propriate. 
(2) Whether partnering with institutions of 
higher education and the aerospace industry, and 
the extractive industry as appropriate, would be ef-
fective in increasing information available to the in-
stitute with respect to advancing the objectives de-
scribed in subsection (a). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of NASA. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives; 
and 
(B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate. 
(3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Commerce. 
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(4) EXTRACTIVE
INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘ex-
tractive industry’’ means companies and individuals 
involved in the processes of extracting, including 
mining, quarrying, drilling, and dredging, raw, nat-
ural materials or energy sources. 
(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
(6) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Commerce. 
(8) SPACE RESOURCE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘space re-
source’’ means an abiotic resource in situ in 
outer space. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘space re-
source’’ includes a raw, natural material or en-
ergy source. 
Æ 
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