Bill > S2634

This bill, the Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries Act (ASCEND Act), requires the NASA Administrator to establish a program to acquire and disseminate commercial Earth observation data and imagery. The program aims to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of NASA, and where appropriate, other federal agencies and scientific researchers. The bill allows NASA to procure remote sensing data and imagery from commercial vendors, establish or modify end-use license terms and conditions, and acquire data for non-scientific and non-military applications. Additionally, the bill requires the Administrator to submit annual reports to Congress, detailing the vendors providing data, the end-use license terms, how the data is advancing scientific research, and any agreements allowing data usage by federal government employees, contractors, or non-federal users.