Space Commerce Advisory Committee Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 434 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 434

To establish the Commercial Space Activity Advisory Committee, and for
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 5, 2025

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following bill;
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To establish the Commercial Space Activity Advisory Committee, and for
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Space Commerce Advisory Committee
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
        of Commerce, acting through the Office of Space Commerce.
            (2) Space object.--The term ``space object''--
                    (A) means--
                            (i) a human-made object located in outer
                        space, including on the Moon or other celestial
                        bodies, with or without human occupants, that
                        was launched from Earth, such as a satellite or
                        a spacecraft, including component parts of the
                        object; and
                            (ii) all items carried on such object that
                        are intended for use in outer space outside of,
                        and independent of, the operation of such
                        object;
                    (B) includes any human-made object that is--
                            (i) manufactured or assembled in outer
                        space; and
                            (ii) intended for operations in outer space
                        other than, and independent of, the operations
                        of such object in which the manufacturing or
                        assembly occurred; and
                    (C) does not include--
                            (i) an article aboard a space object that
                        is only intended for use inside the space
                        object;
                            (ii) an article manufactured or processed
                        in outer space that is a material; or
                            (iii) an article intended for use outside a
                        space object as part of the authorized
                        operations of the space object.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
        States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,
        Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
        Islands, and any other commonwealth, territory, or possession
        of the United States.
            (4) United states entity.--The term ``United States
        entity'' means--
                    (A) an individual who is a national of the United
                States (as defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration
                and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))); and
                    (B) a nongovernmental entity organized or existing
                under, and subject to, the laws of the United States or
                a State.

SEC. 3. COMMERCIAL SPACE ACTIVITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a Commercial Space
Activity Advisory Committee (in this section referred to as the
``Committee'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The Committee shall be composed of 15
        members appointed by the Secretary.
            (2) Qualifications.--
                    (A) In general.--The Committee shall be composed of
                representatives from a variety of space policy,
                engineering, technical, science, legal, and finance
                fields who have significant experience in the
                commercial space industry.
                    (B) Limitation.--
                            (i) In general.--Except as provided in
                        clause (i), the Secretary may not appoint as a
                        member of the Committee any employee or
                        official of the Federal Government.
                            (ii) Exception.--The Secretary may appoint
                        as a member of the Committee a special
                        government employee (as defined in section
                        202(a) of title 18, United States Code) who
                        serves on 1 or more other Federal advisory
                        committees.
            (3) Term.--Each individual appointed as a member of the
        Committee--
                    (A) shall be appointed for a term of 4 years; and
                    (B) during the 2-year period beginning on the date
                on which such term ends, may not serve as a member of
                the Committee.
    (c) Duties.--The duties of the Committee shall be--
            (1) to advise on the status and recent developments of
        nongovernmental space activities;
            (2) to provide to the Secretary and Congress
        recommendations on the manner in which the United States may
        facilitate and promote a robust and innovative commercial
        sector that is investing in, developing, and operating space
        objects;
            (3) to identify any challenge faced by the United States
        commercial sector relating to--
                    (A) international obligations of the United States
                relevant to commercial space sector activities in outer
                space;
                    (B) export controls that affect the commercial
                space sector;
                    (C) harmful interference with commercial space
                sector activities in outer space; and
                    (D) access to adequate, predictable, and reliable
                radio frequency spectrum;
            (4) to review existing best practices for United States
        entities to avoid--
                    (A) the harmful contamination of the Moon and other
                celestial bodies; and
                    (B) adverse changes in the environment of the Earth
                resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial
                matter; and
            (5) to provide information, advice, and recommendations on
        matters relating to--
                    (A) United States commercial space sector
                activities in outer space; and
                    (B) other commercial space sector activities, as
                the Committee considers necessary.
    (d) Termination.--The Committee shall terminate on the date that is
10 years after the date on which the Committee is established.
                                 <all>