S 1898 119th Congress
ORBITS Act of 2025
A bill to establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital debris and to require the development of uniform orbital debris standard practices in order to support a safe and sustainable orbital environment, and for other purposes.
Official Title as Introduced Congress.gov
Open official Congress.gov recordSource-linked procedural record
Bill journey
This is a chronology, not a progress score. Politically.com does not classify stages or infer what comes next. Records sharing a date are grouped because not every source field supplies a time.
Congress.gov Recently refreshed
U.S. Senate XML Recently refreshed
-
Introduction Congress.gov
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Introduced in Senate
Open bill recordText version Congress.gov
Introduced in Senate
A dated text-version record is available.
Open text record -
Official action Congress.gov
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Open bill record -
Official action Congress.gov
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 440.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz without amendment. With written report No. 119-128.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz without amendment. With written report No. 119-128.
Open bill recordText version Congress.gov
Reported to Senate
A dated text-version record is available.
Open text record
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 without amendment favorably. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionPlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 440. | No additional detail supplied.Calendars · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz without amendment. With written report No. 119-128. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz without amendment. With written report No. 119-128. | 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 |
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
Orbital Sustainability Act of 2025 or the ORBITS Act of 2025This bill requires specified agencies to support research and develop guidance on the remediation of orbital debris (human-made space objects that are no longer in use and can harm active satellites and space activities).Under the bill, the Department of Commerce must maintain a list of orbital debris that may be remediated to improve safety and sustainability in space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) must establish a demonstration project to make competitive awards for research and development leading to the remediation of listed debris. NASA must ultimately select and partner with an entity to carry out a demonstration mission using technology capable of on-orbit remediation. After the first demonstration mission, NASA must report to Congress with recommendations to improve orbital debris remediation.The bill also authorizes NASA and other relevant agencies to contract for orbital debris remediation services.Separately, the National Space Council, in coordination with specified agencies, must update the existing U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices. This update must consider planned space systems (e.g., satellite constellations) and address factors including collision risk and post-mission disposal of space systems. The updated standard practices must be used to inform future federal regulations related to orbital debris and international discussions related to nongovernment space activities.Finally, Commerce, in coordination with specified federal entities, must facilitate the development of standard practices for coordinating space traffic and promote their adoption and use for domestic and international space missions.
Official documents
Text versions
- Reported to SenateJun 18, 2026
- Introduced in SenateMay 22, 2025