SPACE Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4827 To authorize the Assistant Secretary of Space Commerce to provide space situational awareness data, information, and services to non-United States Government entities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 21 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 Mr. WICKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To authorize the Assistant Secretary of Space Commerce to provide space situational awareness data, information, and services to non-United States Government entities, 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 Preservation 4 And Conjunction Emergency Act of 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘SPACE Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4827 IS SEC. 2. BUREAU OF SPACE COMMERCE. 1 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 2 gress that— 3 (1) growing commercial activity in space re- 4 quires immediate action to address the increasing 5 probability of collisions between spacecraft and or- 6 bital debris; 7 (2) such collisions threaten the billions of dol- 8 lars of existing United States and allied spacecraft, 9 including the International Space Station, and en- 10 danger the future usability of space; 11 (3) the provision of accurate and timely notice 12 to commercial satellite operators with respect to po- 13 tential conjunctions enhances safety; and 14 (4) a 2020 National Academies for Public Ad- 15 ministration study identified the Department of 16 Commerce as the preferred Federal agency to pro- 17 vide space situational awareness services to commer- 18 cial satellite operators. 19 (b) AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 507 of title 51, United 20 States Code, is amended— 21 (1) in the chapter heading, by striking ‘‘OF- 22 FICE’’ and inserting ‘‘BUREAU’’; 23 (2) by amending section 50701 to read as fol- 24 lows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4827 IS ‘‘§ 50701. Definition of Bureau 1 ‘‘In this chapter, the term ‘Bureau’ means the Bu- 2 reau of Space Commerce established in section 50702.’’; 3 (3) in section 50702— 4 (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as 5 follows: 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 7 Department of Commerce a Bureau of Space Commerce.’’; 8 (B) by amending subsection (b) to read as 9 follows: 10 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Bureau shall be 11 headed by an Assistant Secretary for Space Commerce, 12 to be appointed by the President, with the advice and con- 13 sent of the Senate, and compensated at level II or III of 14 the Executive Schedule, as determined by the Secretary 15 of Commerce. The Assistant Secretary shall report directly 16 to the Secretary of Commerce.’’; 17 (C) in subsection (c)— 18 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik- 19 ing ‘‘OFFICE’’ and inserting ‘‘BUREAU’’; 20 (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 21 (1), by striking ‘‘Office’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘Bureau’’; 23 (iii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, 24 including activities licensed under chapter 25 601’’ before the semicolon; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4827 IS (iv) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘Po- 1 sition,’’ and inserting ‘‘Positioning,’’; and 2 (D) in subsection (d)— 3 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik- 4 ing ‘‘DIRECTOR’’ and inserting ‘‘ASSIST- 5 ANT SECRETARY’’; 6 (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 7 (1)— 8 (I) by striking ‘‘Director’’ and in- 9 serting ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’; and 10 (II) by striking ‘‘Office shall’’ 11 and inserting ‘‘Bureau shall, under 12 the direction and supervision of the 13 Secretary of Commerce,’’; 14 (iii) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 15 through (7) as paragraphs (3) through (9), 16 respectively; 17 (iv) by inserting before paragraph (3), 18 as redesignated, the following: 19 ‘‘(1) overseeing the issuing of licenses under 20 chapter 601; 21 ‘‘(2) coordinating Department of Commerce 22 policy affecting commercial space activities and 23 working with other executive agencies to promote 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4827 IS policies that advance commercial space activities;’’; 1 and 2 (v) in paragraph (8), as redesignated, 3 by inserting ‘‘, consistent with the inter- 4 national obligations, foreign policy, and na- 5 tional security interests of the United 6 States’’ before the semicolon; 7 (4) in section 50703— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘Office’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘Bureau’’; and 10 (B) by striking ‘‘Committee on Science and 11 Technology of the House of Representatives’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘Committee on Science, Space, 13 and Technology of the House of Representa- 14 tives’’; and 15 (5) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘§ 50705. Authorization of appropriations 17 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 18 retary of Commerce to carry out this chapter $15,000,000 19 for fiscal year 2021.’’. 20 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 21 (1) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of sec- 22 tions for chapter 507 of title 51, United States 23 Code, is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4827 IS (A) by striking the item relating to section 1 50701 and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘50701. Definition of Bureau.’’; and 3 (B) by adding after the item relating to 4 section 50703 the following: 5 ‘‘50705. Authorization of appropriations.’’. (2) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap- 6 ters for title 51, United States Code, is amended by 7 striking the item relating to chapter 507 and insert- 8 ing the following: 9 ‘‘Chapter 507. Bureau of Space Commerce ...........................50701.’’. (3) COOPERATION WITH FORMER SOVIET RE- 10 PUBLICS.—Section 218 of the National Aeronautics 11 and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal 12 Year 1993 (51 U.S.C. 50702 note) is amended by 13 striking ‘‘Office’’ each place it appears and inserting 14 ‘‘Bureau’’. 15 SEC. 3. SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS DATA, INFORMA- 16 TION, AND SERVICES: PROVISION TO NON- 17 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ENTITIES. 18 (a) BUREAU OF SPACE COMMERCE AUTHORITY.— 19 Title 51, United States Code, is amended by inserting 20 after section 50703 the following: 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4827 IS ‘‘§ 50704. Space situational awareness data, informa- 1 tion, and services: provision to non- 2 United States Government entities 3 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Assistant Secretary for 4 Space Commerce (referred to in this section as the ‘Assist- 5 ant Secretary’) may provide space situational awareness 6 data, information, and services to, and may obtain space 7 situational awareness data, information, and services 8 from, non-United States Government entities in accord- 9 ance with this section. 10 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Assistant Secretary 11 may provide data, information, and services under sub- 12 section (a) to, and may obtain data, information, and serv- 13 ices under subsection (a) from, any non-United States 14 Government entity, including any of the following: 15 ‘‘(1) A State. 16 ‘‘(2) A political subdivision of a State. 17 ‘‘(3) A United States commercial entity. 18 ‘‘(4) The government of a foreign country. 19 ‘‘(5) A foreign commercial entity. 20 ‘‘(c) AGREEMENT.—The Assistant Secretary may not 21 provide space situational awareness data, information, or 22 services under subsection (a) to a non-United States Gov- 23 ernment entity unless that entity enters into an agreement 24 with the Assistant Secretary under which the entity— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4827 IS ‘‘(1) agrees to pay an amount that may be 1 charged by the Assistant Secretary under subsection 2 (d); 3 ‘‘(2) agrees not to transfer any data or tech- 4 nical information received under the agreement, in- 5 cluding the analysis of data, to any other entity 6 without the express approval of the Assistant Sec- 7 retary; and 8 ‘‘(3) agrees to any other terms and conditions 9 considered necessary by the Assistant Secretary. 10 ‘‘(d) CHARGES.—(1) As a condition of an agreement 11 under subsection (c), the Assistant Secretary may (except 12 as provided in paragraph (2)) require the non-United 13 States Government entity entering into the agreement to 14 pay to the Department of Commerce such amounts as the 15 Assistant Secretary determines appropriate. 16 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary may not require the 17 government of a State, or of a political subdivision of a 18 State, to pay any amount under paragraph (1). 19 ‘‘(3) The Assistant Secretary may designate a basic 20 level of space situational awareness services to be provided 21 at no charge to non-United States Government entities. 22 ‘‘(e) CREDITING OF FUNDS RECEIVED.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Funds received for the pro- 24 vision of space situational awareness data, informa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4827 IS tion, or services pursuant to an agreement under 1 this section shall be credited, at the election of the 2 Assistant Secretary, to the following: 3 ‘‘(A) The appropriation, fund, or account 4 used in incurring the obligation. 5 ‘‘(B) An appropriate appropriation, fund, 6 or account currently available for the purposes 7 for which the expenditures were made. 8 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF CREDITED FUNDS.— 9 Funds credited under this subsection shall be 10 merged with, and remain available for obligation 11 with, the funds in the appropriation, fund, or ac- 12 count to which credited. 13 ‘‘(f) PROCEDURES.—The Assistant Secretary shall 14 establish procedures by which the authority under this sec- 15 tion shall be carried out. As part of those procedures, the 16 Assistant Secretary may allow space situational awareness 17 date, information, or services to be provided through a 18 contractor of the Department of Commerce. 19 ‘‘(g) IMMUNITY.—The United States, any agencies 20 and instrumentalities thereof, and any individuals, firms, 21 corporations, and other persons acting for the United 22 States, shall be immune from any suit in any court for 23 any cause of action arising from the provision or receipt 24 of space situational awareness data, information, or serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4827 IS ices, whether or not provided in accordance with this sec- 1 tion, or any related action or omission. 2 ‘‘(h) NOTICE OF CONCERNS OF DISCLOSURE OF IN- 3 FORMATION.—If the Assistant Secretary determines that 4 a commercial or foreign entity has declined or is reluctant 5 to provide data, information, or services to the Assistant 6 Secretary in accordance with this section due to the con- 7 cerns of such entity about the potential disclosure of such 8 data, information, or services, the Assistant Secretary 9 shall, not later than 60 days after the Assistant Secretary 10 makes that determination, provide notice to the Com- 11 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 12 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 13 the House of Representatives of the declination or reluc- 14 tance of such entity.’’. 15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 16 The table of sections for chapter 507 of title 51, United 17 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat- 18 ing to section 50703 the following: 19 ‘‘50704. Space situational awareness data, information, and services: provision to non-United States Government entities.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4827.IS S4827 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS