S 1437 119th Congress
ASCEND Act
A bill to require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish a program to identify, evaluate, acquire, and disseminate commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the Administration, and for other purposes.
Official Title as Introduced Congress.gov
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Bill journey
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Introduction Congress.gov
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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Introduced in Senate
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Introduced in Senate
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Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
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Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 173.
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Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-68.
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Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-68.
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Reported to Senate
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Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8581; text: CR S8581)
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Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
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Engrossed in Senate
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Message on Senate action sent to the House.
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Received in the House.
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Held at the desk.
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View the complete bill journey as an accessible table
| Date and time | Record | Official detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| IntroductionIntroduced | Introduced in the Senate. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionIntroduced in Senate | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Library of Congress · Code 10000 | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionIntroduced in Senate | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionPlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 173. | No additional detail supplied.Calendars · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-68. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-68. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · Library of Congress · Code 14000 | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionReported to Senate | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionPassed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8581; text: CR S8581) | No additional detail supplied.Floor · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionPassed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · Library of Congress · Code 17000 | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionEngrossed in Senate | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionMessage on Senate action sent to the House. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionReceived in the House. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H14000 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionHeld at the desk. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H15000 | Congress.gov |
House roll calls join only on matching Congress, legislation type, and number. Senate roll calls join only on matching source-supplied document type and number, not question text. Committee and related-measure relationships have no date in their relationship records and therefore are counted above but never placed on the chronology.
Congressional Research Service
CRS 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.
Official documents
Text versions
- Engrossed in SenateDec 9, 2025
- Reported to SenateSep 29, 2025
- Introduced in SenateApr 10, 2025