Bill stops foreign-linked companies from getting U.S. satellite licenses.
S. 1962 — Secure Space Act of 2026 · Filed by Deb Fischer (R-NE) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 5, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill changes a 2019 law about safe communications networks. It tells the FCC it cannot give licenses to satellite companies on a security watchlist. Companies owned by watchlist companies also cannot get licenses. The FCC must write new rules within one year.
Who it affects
Satellite companies that want to do business in the U.S. are affected. Companies on the FCC's security watchlist cannot get licenses. U.S. citizens benefit because satellite communications may be safer.
One thing to notice
The bill depends on the FCC's watchlist to work. If the list is wrong or outdated, the ban might not stop real threats.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jun 5, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 5, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
- Apr 14, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of…”
- Sep 23, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Unanimous Consent.”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- FCC — The Federal Communications Commission, the government agency that gives out licenses for radio and satellite use.
- security watchlist — A list of companies the FCC says are security risks, usually because they are controlled by foreign governments.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,759 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,975 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-25.
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