Space Resources Institute Act

IB Union Calendar No. 503 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4152 [Report No. 118–604] To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- tration and Secretary of Commerce 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2023 Ms. CARAVEO (for herself, Mr. LAMBORN, Ms. PETTERSEN, and Mr. NEGUSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology JULY 23, 2024 Additional sponsor: Mr. MOLINARO JULY 23, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 15, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4152 RH A BILL To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Secretary of Commerce to sub- mit to Congress a report on the merits of, and options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4152 RH 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 SEC. 2. REPORT ON MERITS AND OPTIONS FOR ESTAB- 6 LISHING AN INSTITUTE RELATING TO SPACE 7 RESOURCES. 8 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 9 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator and Sec- 10 retary shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional 11 committees a report on the merits of, and options for, estab- 12 lishing an institute relating to space resources to advance 13 the objectives of NASA and the Department in maintaining 14 United States preeminence in space. Such objectives shall 15 include the following: 16 (1) Identifying, developing, and distributing 17 space resources, including by encouraging the develop- 18 ment of foundational science and technology. 19 (2) Reducing the technological risks associated 20 with identifying, developing, and distributing space 21 resources. 22 (3) Research to maximize the responsible use of 23 space resources. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4152 RH (4) Developing options for using space resources 1 to— 2 (A) support current and future space archi- 3 tectures, programs, and missions; and 4 (B) enable such architectures, programs, 5 and missions that would not otherwise be pos- 6 sible. 7 (b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—The report required 8 under subsection (a) shall also include the following assess- 9 ments of the Administrator and the Secretary: 10 (1) Whether a virtual or physical institute relat- 11 ing to space resources is most cost effective and ap- 12 propriate. 13 (2) Whether partnering with institutions of high- 14 er education and the aerospace industry, and the ex- 15 tractive industry as appropriate, would be effective in 16 increasing information available to the institute with 17 respect to advancing the objectives described in sub- 18 section (a). 19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 21 trator’’ means the Administrator of NASA. 22 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit- 24 tees’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4152 RH (A) the Committee on Science, Space, and 1 Technology of the House of Representatives; and 2 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 3 and Transportation of the Senate. 4 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 5 means the Department of Commerce. 6 (4) EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘extrac- 7 tive industry’’ means companies and individuals in- 8 volved in the processes of extracting, including min- 9 ing, quarrying, drilling, and dredging, raw, natural 10 materials or energy sources. 11 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 12 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the mean- 13 ing given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher 14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 15 (6) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na- 16 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 17 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 the Secretary of Commerce. 19 (8) SPACE RESOURCE.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘space re- 21 source’’ means an abiotic resource in situ in 22 outer space. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4152 RH (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘space re- 1 source’’ includes a raw, natural material or en- 2 ergy source. 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 503 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4152 [Report No. 118–604] A BILL To direct the Administrator of the National Aero- nautics and Space Administration and Secretary of Commerce to submit to Congress a report on the merits of, and options for, establishing an in- stitute relating to space resources, and for other purposes. JULY 23, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jul 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H4152.RH H4152 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS