YourVoice.Now Summary
Corporate BenefitsTransparency & AccountabilityEnvironmentNASA would keep buying Earth photos from private satellite firms, and scientists could publish what they find.
Corporate Benefits
NASA has bought Earth images from private satellite firms since 2019 under a test program. This bill writes that buying into law, so it no longer rests on a year-to-year choice.
When it is practical, NASA would have to buy the images from U.S. companies. The bill counts any company or nonprofit set up in the United States as a U.S. company.
Transparency & Accountability
Deals for the images could not stop scientists from publishing the data, or from publishing work built on it. Some company contracts limit what a buyer may share.
NASA could write or change license terms so people outside NASA-funded projects can use the images too. The bill leaves that choice to the agency.
NASA would report to two committees in Congress 180 days after the bill becomes law, then once a year. Each report lists the companies, their license terms, and who may use the data.
Environment
The program's job is to buy and share images used to study the Earth. Writing it into law gives researchers a steady source instead of a test program that could end.
More about this bill
Most people would see no change in daily life. The bill deals with how NASA gets its pictures of Earth. NASA has been buying Earth images from private satellite companies since 2019 under a test program. The bill would make that buying a permanent part of NASA's Earth science work. Scientists who use the images could publish their findings freely. Contracts with the companies could not block that. NASA could also loosen its license rules so people outside NASA-funded projects can use the images. When it is practical, NASA would have to buy from U.S. companies. NASA would send Congress a list of those companies 180 days after the bill becomes law, and every year after.
Congressional Summary
Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries Act or the ASCEND ActThis bill provides statutory authority for the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) program run by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Through the CSDA program, NASA acquires remote sensing data and imagery from commercial satellites to support its Earth science research. (Remote sensing generally refers to the collection of data by instruments in Earth’s orbit, such as satellites, that can be processed into imagery of Earth’s surface.)Under the bill, NASA may establish or modify end-use agreements to allow for broad use of data and imagery acquired under the program, including by individuals outside of NASA (e.g., other federal agencies). The terms of any data or imagery acquisition may not prevent the publication of such data or imagery for scientific purposes or the publication of information derived from it. To the extent practicable, NASA must acquire such data and imagery from U.S. vendors.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Held at the desk.
- Action Date
- 2025-12-10
- Date Added
- 2026-04-21
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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