Before you vote › Federal bills
S. 1437: ASCEND Act
119th Congress · introduced 2025-04-10 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Held at the desk.
federal
Official title
ASCEND Act
Plain summary
Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries Act or the ASCEND Act This 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.
Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
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The strongest published arguments
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Alternatives
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Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] · 1 cosponsors
Money: CBO cost estimate: S. 1437, ASCEND Act (2025-08-13) No linked contracts or vendors yet.
Words on this page, explained (2)
- Bill
- A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
- Statute
- A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-119s1437.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/s>
Record fed-us-cong119-s1437 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong119 · updated 2026-11-03 by psicol fed-bills