H.R. 2600 119th Congress House

ASCEND Act

Official title: To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish a program to identify, evaluate, acquire, and disseminate commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the Administration, and for other purposes.

Introduced: April 2, 2025 Introduced by: Jeff Hurd Republican · Colorado See on congress.gov

Science, Technology, Communications Congressional oversightEarth sciencesPhotography and imagingSpace flight and explorationSpacecraft and satellites

Everywhere this bill has been 13 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Feb 24, 2026

Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 344.

Feb 23, 2026

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2242-2243)

Feb 23, 2026

Mr. Babin moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

Feb 23, 2026

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2242-2243)

Feb 23, 2026

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2600.

Feb 23, 2026

Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H2242-2244)

Feb 23, 2026

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

Feb 20, 2026

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 428.

Feb 20, 2026

Reported by the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. H. Rept. 119-502.

Apr 29, 2025

Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.

Apr 29, 2025

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

Apr 2, 2025

Introduced in House

Apr 2, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

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What's happening now February 24, 2026

Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 344.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

Hearings & markups 1

SST Full Committee Markup
Markup Apr 29, 2025 · 10:00 AM EDT · Science, Space, and Technology Committee

Related & companion bills 2

Bill text 5 versions

Engrossed in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Placed on Calendar Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Placed on Calendar Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Reported in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 1

Science, Space, and Technology Committee
House of Representatives

Lobbying activity 20

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

PLANET LABS PBC
for PLANET LABS PBC · California · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC.
for AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC · Virginia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
VANTOR PARENT INC
for VANTOR PARENT INC · Colorado · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC.
for AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC · Virginia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
PLANET LABS PBC
for PLANET LABS PBC · California · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)
VANTOR PARENT INC
for VANTOR PARENT INC · Colorado · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)

Bodies those filers lobbied

Commerce, Dept of (DOC)
20 filings
Defense, Dept of (DOD)
20 filings
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
20 filings
SENATE
20 filings
Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
19 filings
Army, Dept of (Other)
14 filings
Office of the Secretary of Defense
14 filings
Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
13 filings

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

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Cosponsors 6