S. 428 · 119th Congress

SAFE Orbit Act

Introduced on Feb 5, 2025 by John Cornyn (R-TX). 7 cosponsors, 4 of them from another party. Latest action (Sep 29, 2025): Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 170.

Stage
Reported by committee
Introduced
Feb 5, 2025
Cosponsors
7
4 from the other party
Policy area
Science, Technology, Communications
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

A bill to promote space situational awareness and space traffic coordination and to modify the functions and leadership of the Office of Space Commerce, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Advanced technology and technological innovations
  • Congressional oversight
  • Department of Commerce
  • Executive agency funding and structure
  • International scientific cooperation
  • Space flight and exploration
  • Spacecraft and satellites

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in Senate, Feb 5, 2025). Public domain.

Situational Awareness of Flying Elements in Orbit Act or the SAFE Orbit Act

This bill provides statutory authority for the Traffic Coordination System for Space, which is being developed by the Office of Space Commerce to provide space situational awareness data and services to space operators. (Space situational awareness means an understanding of the space operational environment and the identification, tracking, and prediction of the behavior of space objects and debris.)

As an initial matter, the bill provides for the elevation of the Office of Space Commerce to a standalone bureau within the Department of Commerce. (The office currently sits within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)

The bill authorizes the bureau to acquire location tracking data, positional and orbit determination information, conjunction data messages, and other data, analytics, information, and services deemed necessary to avoid collisions in space. The bureau must disseminate this information at no charge (1) through a public database of space situational awareness information and services, including space traffic coordination; and (2) through the provision of basic situational awareness services to satellite operators. The bill also sets forth certain requirements for the collection and dissemination of such information, including that, to the extent practicable, the provision of service to satellite operators may not compete with private situational awareness products.

Finally, the bill provides immunity for the United States government from any suit for a cause of action arising from the provision or receipt of space situational awareness services or information.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

John CornynR-TXSponsor

Democrats · 4

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 5, 2025Introduced in Senate
  2. Feb 5, 2025 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  3. Mar 12, 2025 · SenateCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
  4. Sep 29, 2025Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with amendments. With written report No. 119-65.
  5. Sep 29, 2025 · SenateCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with amendments. With written report No. 119-65.
  6. Sep 29, 2025 · SenatePlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 170.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Aerospace Industries Association of America, Inc.6 reports
    $3.8M reported (all issues)
  2. Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (d/b/a Airlines for America)6 reports
    $7.6M reported (all issues)
  3. Slingshot Aerospace6 reports
    $310K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: SLINGSHOT AEROSPACE INC$29.8M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 93%
  4. ASTROSCALE U.S., INC.4 reports
    $180K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ASTROSCALE US INC$203.5K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  5. Maxar Intelligence2 reports
    $390K reported (all issues)
  6. LEOLABS, INC.1 report
    $120K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: LEOLABS INCAI match · 100%
  7. VANTOR PARENT INC.1 report
    $220K reported (all issues)
  8. Vantor Parent Inc (formerly reported as Maxar Intelligence)1 report
    $230K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 8, 2026 · loaded Oct 8, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.