The legislative wheels are turning, with senators introducing two new space-focused bills last week and one NASA bill set to get marked up in the House tomorrow.
Hit the Quad: The Quad—an informal security partnership among the US, Japan, India, and Australia—has tackled priorities ranging from vaccine distribution to cybersecurity preparations since its reestablishment in 2017. A new bill would direct DoD leaders to look at how the group could boost cooperation in space, to counter China’s growing dominance in the domain.
The Quad Space Act of 2025 was introduced last week by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Michael Bennet (D-CO). It would require the defense secretary to talk to other Quad leaders about how the nations could work together on priorities such as space situational awareness.
There’s already some cooperation in orbit on national security priorities. Quad nations established the Quad Satellite Data Portal in 2022 to share civil EO data and imagery with regard to climate concerns.
Keep out: The Secure Space Act of 2025, which was introduced by Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NB) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), would prevent the FCC from granting a satellite license to a foreign space company that provides comms tech or services posing a national security threat to the US.
“The Secure Space Act blocks satellite licenses for untrusted entities and protects our skies from foreign adversaries,” Luján said in a statement.”This bill would help protect US innovation and defend our communications networks from foreign entities that seek to hijack our future.”
A companion bill passed the House in April.
Eyes in the skies: On the opposite side of Capitol Hill, House members are preparing to mark up a bill tomorrow that would promote the use of NASA tech to fight wildfires and encourage more information sharing.
The ACERO Act, introduced in January by Reps. Vince Fong (R-CA) and Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), will be marked up by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
