IB 
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 Adminis-
tration to establish a program to identify, evaluate, acquire, and dissemi-
nate 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 fol-
lowing 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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A BILL 
To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration to establish a program to iden-
tify, 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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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 ‘‘Accessing Satellite Data 
to Enable New Discoveries Act’’ or the ‘‘ASCEND Act’’. 
SEC. 2. COMMERCIAL SATELLITE DATA. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Section 60501 of title 51, United States 
Code, states that the goal for the Earth Science pro-
gram of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration (referred to in this section as ‘‘NASA’’) shall 
be to pursue a program of Earth observations, re-
search, and applications activities to better under-
stand the Earth, how it supports life, and how human 
activities affect its ability to do so in the future. 
(2) Section 50115 of title 51, United States 
Code, states that the Administrator of NASA shall, to 
the extent possible and while satisfying the scientific 
or educational requirements of NASA, and where ap-
propriate, of other Federal agencies and scientific re-
searchers, acquire, where cost effective, space-based 
and airborne commercial Earth remote sensing data, 
services, distribution, and applications from a com-
mercial provider. 
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(3) The Administrator of NASA established the 
Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Pilot Pro-
gram in 2019 to identify, validate, and acquire from 
commercial sources data that support the Earth 
science research and application goals. 
(4) The Administrator of NASA has— 
(A) determined that the pilot program de-
scribed in paragraph (3) has been a success, as 
described in the final evaluation entitled ‘‘Com-
mercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program 
Pilot Evaluation Report’’ issued in 2020; 
(B) established a formal process for evalu-
ating and onboarding new commercial vendors 
in such pilot program; 
(C) increased the number of commercial 
vendors and commercial data products available 
through such pilot program; and 
(D) expanded procurement arrangements 
with commercial vendors to broaden user access 
to provide commercial Earth remote sensing 
data and imagery to federally funded research-
ers. 
(b) COMMERCIAL SATELLITE DATA ACQUISITION PRO-
GRAM.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 603 of title 51, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘§ 60307. Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Pro-
gram 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 
within the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission 
Directorate a program to acquire and disseminate cost-ef-
fective and appropriate commercial Earth remote sensing 
data and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, oper-
ational, and educational requirements of the Administra-
tion, and where appropriate, of other Federal agencies and 
scientific researchers to augment or complement the suite 
of Earth observations acquired by the Administration, other 
United States Government agencies, and international 
partners. 
‘‘(b) DATA PUBLICATION AND TRANSPARENCY.—The 
terms and conditions of commercial Earth remote sensing 
data and imagery acquisitions under the program described 
in subsection (a) shall not prevent— 
‘‘(1) the publication of commercial data or im-
agery for scientific purposes; or 
‘‘(2) the publication of information that is de-
rived from, incorporates, or enhances the original 
commercial data or imagery of a vendor. 
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‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION.—In carrying out the program 
under this section, the Administrator may— 
‘‘(1) procure commercial Earth remote sensing 
data and imagery from commercial vendors to ad-
vance scientific research and applications in accord-
ance with subsection (a); and 
‘‘(2) establish or modify end-use license terms 
and conditions to allow for the widest-possible use of 
procured commercial Earth remote sensing data and 
imagery by individuals other than NASA-funded 
users, consistent with the goals of the program. 
‘‘(d) UNITED STATES VENDORS.—Commercial Earth 
remote sensing data and imagery referred to in subsections 
(a) and (c) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be 
procured from United States vendors. 
‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the 
Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives a report that includes the following infor-
mation regarding the agreements, vendors, license terms, 
and uses of commercial Earth remote sensing data and im-
agery under this section: 
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‘‘(1)(A) In the case of the initial report, a list 
of all agreements that are providing commercial 
Earth remote sensing data and imagery to NASA as 
of the date of the report. 
‘‘(B) For each subsequent report, a list of all 
agreements that have provided commercial Earth re-
mote sensing data and imagery to NASA during the 
reporting period. 
‘‘(2) A description of the end-use license terms 
and conditions for each such vendor. 
‘‘(3) A description of the manner in which each 
such agreement is advancing scientific research and 
applications, including priorities recommended by the 
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 
Medicine decadal surveys. 
‘‘(4) Information specifying whether the Admin-
istrator has entered into an agreement with a com-
mercial vendor or a Federal agency that permits the 
use of data and imagery by Federal Government em-
ployees, contractors, or non-Federal users.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents for chapter 603 of title 51, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘60307. Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 502 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6219 
[Report No. 118–603] 
A BILL 
To require the Administrator of the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration to establish a 
program to identify, evaluate, acquire, and dis-
seminate commercial Earth remote sensing data 
and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, 
operational, and educational requirements of the 
Administration, and for other purposes. 
JULY 23, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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