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To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to submit to Congress a report on the merits of, and options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill directs the NASA Administrator to submit a report to Congress within 180 days on the merits and options for establishing an institute focused on space resources. The institute would advance NASA's objectives in maintaining United States space preeminence by identifying, developing, and distributing space resources, reducing technological risks in those processes, and enabling space architectures and missions that would otherwise not be possible. The report must assess whether a virtual or physical institute would be most cost-effective and whether partnerships with universities, aerospace industry, and extractive industry companies would effectively increase the institute's capabilities and information sharing.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Perlmutter, Ed [D-CO-7] (D-CO)
1 cosponsor
- Rep. Lamborn, Doug [R-CO-5] (R-CO)
Actions (3)
- Jul 27, 2021 Referred to the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. · house
- Jul 27, 2021 Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. · house
- Jul 27, 2021 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 27, 2021
Mr. Perlmutter (for himself and Mr. Lamborn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to submit to Congress a report on the merits of, and options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources, 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 Resources Institute Act”.
SEC. 2. REPORT ON MERITS AND OPTIONS FOR ESTABLISHING AN INSTITUTE RELATING TO SPACE RESOURCES.
(a) Report.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the merits of, and options for, establishing an institute relating to space resources to advance the objectives of NASA in maintaining United States preeminence in space. Such objectives shall include the following:
(1) Identifying, developing, and distributing space resources, including by encouraging the development of foundational science and technology.
(2) Reducing the technological risks associated with identifying, developing, and distributing space resources.
(3) Developing options for using space resources to—
(A) support current and future space architectures, programs, and missions; and
(B) enable such architectures, programs, and missions that would not otherwise be possible.
(b) Additional Matters.—The report required under subsection (a) shall also include the following assessments of the Administrator:
(1) Whether a virtual or physical institute relating to space resources is most cost effective and appropriate.
(2) Whether partnering with institutions of higher education and the aerospace industry, and the extractive industry as appropriate, would be effective in increasing information available to the institute with respect to advancing the objectives described in subsection (a).
(c) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Administrator.—The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of NASA.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.—The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
(A) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(3) Extractive industry.—The term “extractive industry” means companies and individuals involved in the processes of extracting, including mining, quarrying, drilling, and dredging, raw, natural materials or energy sources.
(4) Institution of higher education.—The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(5) NASA.—The term “NASA” means the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(6) Space resource.—
(A) In general.—The term “space resource” means an abiotic resource in situ in outer space.
(B) Inclusions.—The term “space resource” includes a raw, natural material or energy source. <all>
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