WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House of Representatives Monday passed H.R. 6219, the Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries Act (ASCEND Act), legislation to permanently authorize the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition program within NASA.
Introduced by Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), this bipartisan bill provides statutory authority for the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established the program as a pilot program in 2017 to acquire commercial small-satellite data in support of NASA’s earth science research.
“Passing the ASCEND Act demonstrates our strong commitment to NASA’s commercial operators and public-private partnerships,” Kean said. “These efforts are essential for advancing human exploration and ensuring America’s leadership in space innovation. The ASCEND Act will provide access to data sets and imagery from the commercial space sector, supporting critical scientific research and paving the way for a sustainable future for generations to come. I thank my House colleagues for supporting my bill and look forward to seeing this on the Senate floor soon.”
“The bipartisan ASCEND Act is a commonsense solution to help researchers benefit from the vast, high-quality data available from commercial satellites to better understand climate change, natural disasters, and earth sciences,” Bonamici said. “I’m grateful that the House passed this legislation and I will continue advocating with Rep. Kean for the Senate to schedule a vote on the bill.”
The ASCEND Act would:
- Establish CSDA as a permanent program within NASA’s Earth Science Division.
- Direct NASA to expand procurement licenses to provide federal agencies access to high quality Earth remote sensing datasets and imagery.
- Promote the acquisition of new datasets for scientific and non-scientific applications.
- Require an annual report to Congress on the uses and impact of commercial data products and licensing agreements.
Congressman Kean serves on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
