The bill, referred to as the "ASCEND Act," aims to establish a program within NASA to acquire and distribute commercial Earth remote sensing data to support scientific research and applications. This initiative seeks to augment existing Earth observations and expand data access to federal agencies and scientific researchers. The program emphasizes transparency and dissemination of commercial data for scientific purposes, with a focus on procuring data from US vendors. The bill also mandates regular reporting to congressional committees on agreements, vendors, and the use of commercial Earth remote sensing data, ensuring oversight and accountability.
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.