NASA must buy and share commercial satellite data with researchers
H.R. 2600 — ASCEND Act · Filed by Jeff Hurd (R-CO) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 2, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill requires NASA to establish a formal program to buy commercial satellite imagery and data from private companies to support Earth science research, education, and operations. NASA must prioritize U.S. vendors, publish findings from the data for scientific purposes, and report annually to Congress on which vendors it contracts with, what the licensing terms are, and how the data advances research.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandate to formalize and expand NASA's procurement of commercial satellite data with explicit requirements for public dissemination and broad researcher access. It is fundamentally a data-access and transparency measure, not a subsidy or deregulation.
What the text implies
- By requiring NASA to 'to the maximum extent practicable' procure from U.S. vendors, the bill creates a preference that may increase costs and limit access to superior foreign satellite data, potentially slowing scientific discovery.
- The mandate to permit 'widest-possible use' of commercial data by non-NASA researchers may create tension with vendors' proprietary interests and licensing models, potentially leading to disputes over what constitutes 'publication for scientific purposes.'
- Annual reporting requirements create transparency but also establish a public record of which commercial vendors NASA contracts with, potentially exposing vendor relationships and pricing to competitors and foreign governments.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands public access to Earth remote sensing data by requiring NASA to acquire commercial satellite imagery and explicitly permit publication of findings and derived works for scientific purposes. This increases transparency, supports broader scientific research, and enables educational use—benefiting researchers, students, and the public's ability to understand Earth systems.
Who stands to gain
- U.S. commercial satellite imagery companies
- Earth remote sensing data vendors
- Commercial smallsat operators
Named in the bill
NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Earth Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Pilot Program, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Where it stands
6 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- Apr 2, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 2, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology”
- Apr 29, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Apr 29, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote”
- Feb 23, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2242-2243)”
- Feb 23, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Babin moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,360,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 12 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.
Jeff Hurd, the sponsor, reported $624,454 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Aerospace Industries Association of America Inc — $800,000 on 1 filing
- Planet Labs Pbc — $400,000 on 1 filing
- Vantor Parent Inc — $160,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,534 characters) on Jun 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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