S 1437
Passed a chamber
Requires NASA to set up a program that buys and shares commercial Earth satellite imagery and data for scientific research, with a preference for U.S. vendors.
Official title: ASCEND Act
Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions
House
Received
10-DEC-2025
Senate
Introduced
10-APR-2025
Referred
10-APR-2025
Approved by committee
30-APR-2025
Reported
29-SEP-2025
On the calendar
29-SEP-2025
Passed
09-DEC-2025
- Creates a Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition Program in NASA's Earth Science Division to procure and distribute commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery.
- Allows NASA to set license terms that permit the widest possible use of procured data by people other than NASA-funded users.
- Protects the publication of commercial data, and information derived from it, in academic and scientific articles.
- Requires NASA to buy from U.S. vendors to the maximum extent practicable and to report to Congress within 180 days after enactment, then annually, on its vendors, license terms, and agreements allowing federal and non-federal use.
Current. The Congressional Research Service's summary covers the bill's latest wording (Passed Senate, 09-DEC-2025).
CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.govScience, Technology, Communications
■ 1 R
1 Republican