S 434 United States Senate · 119th Congress

Space Commerce Advisory Committee Act

This bill establishes a 15-member Commercial Space Activity Advisory Committee within the Commerce Department to advise on U.S. commercial space activities. The committee, made up of industry experts (not federal employees), will provide recommendations to the Secretary and Congress on issues affecting private space businesses, including international obligations, export controls, spectrum access, and preventing space contamination. It will review best practices for protecting celestial bodies and Earth's environment from commercial space operations. The committee will serve for 10 years, ending 180 days after its creation.
Sub-Topics: Telecommunications
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Oct 2025
Senate Passage
Aug 2026
House Passage
President
Introduced Feb 5, 2025 Last action Aug 10, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in Senate Engrossed in Senate · 6 edits · Aug 6, 2026
MODERATE
The Engrossed version removes the detailed definition of 'space object' entirely, broadens who can serve on the advisory committee by allowing those with prior government experience and adding 'academic' as a qualifying field, shortens maximum committee terms from a fixed 4 years to 'not more than 4 years,' and significantly expands the committee's duties to include safety, sustainability, competitiveness, and regulatory framework development. These changes shift the bill from a narrow focus on space objects to a broader mandate covering all commercial space activities under Commerce jurisdiction.
DEFINITION

The entire definition of 'space object' was deleted, including its provisions covering human-made objects in outer space, items carried on such objects, objects manufactured or assembled in space, and specific exclusions. This removes a key definitional anchor from the bill.

ELIGIBILITY

Committee membership qualifications were broadened: 'academic' was added as a qualifying field of expertise, and the text now explicitly states that members may have previous Government experience, removing a practical barrier to appointing former government officials.

REQUIREMENT

The committee term changed from a fixed 4-year term to 'not more than 4 years,' giving the Secretary discretion to appoint members for shorter periods.

The committee's duty regarding challenges was expanded from merely identifying them to also providing recommendations in response. The reference to international obligations was narrowed from the obligations themselves to 'the application of' those obligations.

SCOPE

The committee's advisory duty was expanded from promoting a 'robust and innovative' sector operating space objects to promoting a 'safe, sustainable, robust, competitive, and innovative' sector conducting space activities within Commerce jurisdiction, including through development of any regulatory framework applicable to the commercial space industry.

TECHNICAL

A cross-reference error was corrected: 'clause (i)' was changed to 'clause (ii)' in the committee limitation provision, and paragraph numbers were resequenced after the space object definition removal.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
12
Key actions
4
Committee
3
Aug 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S4493-4494)
upper
Aug 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S4493-4494)
upper
Oct 21, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 119-87.
upper
Jun 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors