NASA would be required to permanently run a program that buys Earth-observation satellite imagery from commercial companies — things like crop monitoring, weather patterns, and deforestation tracking — and share that data with researchers and other federal agencies. The program has been running as a pilot since 2019, and this bill makes it official and expandable. U.S.-based vendors would get priority, and end-user licenses would be loosened so scientists can publish findings from the data freely. Mostly affects climate researchers, commercial satellite operators, and the federally funded scientists who already rely on the pilot.
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
- Passed Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-12-09
- Date Added
- 2026-04-21
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