Space Resources Institute Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 381 To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- tration to submit to Congress a report on the merits of, and options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to submit to Congress a report on the merits of, and options for, establishing an insti- tute relating to space resources, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Space Resources Insti- 4 tute Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S381.IS S381 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 381 IS SEC. 2. REPORT ON MERITS AND OPTIONS FOR ESTAB- 1 LISHING AN INSTITUTE RELATING TO SPACE 2 RESOURCES. 3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub- 5 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 6 on the merits of, and options for, establishing an institute 7 relating to space resources to advance the objectives of 8 NASA in maintaining United States preeminence in space. 9 Such objectives shall include the following: 10 (1) Identifying, developing, and distributing 11 space resources, including by encouraging the devel- 12 opment of foundational science and technology. 13 (2) Reducing the technological risks associated 14 with identifying, developing, and distributing space 15 resources. 16 (3) Developing options for using space re- 17 sources to— 18 (A) support current and future space ar- 19 chitectures, programs, and missions; and 20 (B) enable such architectures, programs, 21 and missions that would not otherwise be pos- 22 sible. 23 (b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—The report required 24 under subsection (a) shall also include the following as- 25 sessments of the Administrator: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S381.IS S381 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 381 IS (1) Whether a virtual or physical institute relat- 1 ing to space resources is most cost effective and ap- 2 propriate. 3 (2) Whether partnering with institutions of 4 higher education and the aerospace industry, and 5 the extractive industry as appropriate, would be ef- 6 fective in increasing information available to the in- 7 stitute with respect to advancing the objectives de- 8 scribed in subsection (a). 9 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 11 trator’’ means the Administrator of NASA. 12 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 13 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 14 mittees’’ means— 15 (A) the Committee on Science, Space, and 16 Technology of the House of Representatives; 17 and 18 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 19 and Transportation of the Senate. 20 (3) EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘ex- 21 tractive industry’’ means companies and individuals 22 involved in the processes of extracting, including 23 mining, quarrying, drilling, and dredging, raw, nat- 24 ural materials or energy sources. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S381.IS S381 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 381 IS (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 1 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 2 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 4 (5) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na- 5 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 6 (6) SPACE RESOURCE.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘space re- 8 source’’ means an abiotic resource in situ in 9 outer space. 10 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘space re- 11 source’’ includes a raw, natural material or en- 12 ergy source. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S381.IS S381 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS