# 119-hr-2600: ASCEND Act

119-hr-2600, ASCEND Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Hurd, Jeff [R-CO-3] (R-CO); status passed_house (as of 2026-07-19).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2600
- As of: 2026-07-19
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-2600
- Congress: 119
- Title: ASCEND Act
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-04-02
- Sponsor: Rep. Hurd, Jeff [R-CO-3] (R-CO)
- Cosponsors: 6
- Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-19

## Summary

**This bill would create a formal NASA program to _access commercial Earth remote sensing data_ and imagery to augment NASA’s observations and expand use by researchers and other federal users.** - Researchers and educators would gain broader access to commercial satellite imagery under license terms that allow scientific publication and wider reuse beyond NASA-funded projects. - Other federal agencies would be able to supplement federal and international Earth observations with procured commercial data for operational and research needs. - U.S. commercial satellite vendors would see a clearer, expanded pathway to sell data to NASA, since acquisitions must, to the maximum extent practicable, come from U.S. vendors. - NASA would report within 180 days and then annually on vendor agreements, license terms, and how each agreement advances research priorities, including whether data use is open to nonfederal users.

## Cosponsors (6)

- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR), 2025-04-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Subramanyam, Suhas [D-VA-10] (D-VA), 2025-04-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Crank, Jeff [R-CO-5] (R-CO), 2025-04-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gillen, Laura [D-NY-4] (D-NY), 2025-04-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY), 2025-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kean, Thomas H. [R-NJ-7] (R-NJ), 2025-07-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More satellite data access for researchers: benefit, low. If enacted, NASA would set up a program to buy and share commercial Earth imagery for science, operations, and education. NASA would try to buy from U.S. companies when possible. NASA would set license terms so people beyond NASA projects can use the data, and would not allow terms that block scien…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-2600 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2600)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2548)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1229)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2600 (as of 2026-07-19).