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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is aggressively trying to undermine and replace the United States as the dominant power in the space industry through its Made in China 2025 industrial plan.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and colleagues reintroduced the Space Protection of American Command and Enterprise (SPACE) Act to combat the CCP’s ongoing efforts to surpass the United States as the global leader of the space industry and ensure our critical supply chains are not beholden to the CCP.

• “As China continues its aggressive agenda to surpass the United States as the global leader in space industrialization, we must take swift and decisive action to protect our technological investments and prevent the CCP from infiltrating American companies and stealing our intellectual property. The SPACE Act is not just about protecting our companies and intellectual property, it’s also about safeguarding our national security interests. It is imperative that Congress and the Biden Administration take this threat seriously, or we risk losing our position as the world’s leader in the future of space.” – Senator Rubio

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and John Cornyn (R-TX) are original cosponsors.

The Space Protection of American Command and Enterprise (SPACE) Act would:   

1. Prohibit taxpayer funds under the U.S. Department of Commerce or National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from being used to purchase or lease telecommunications or aerospace hardware/software and/or services from any telecommunications or aerospace corporations, subsidiaries, or affiliates with links to the Chinese Communist Party, including the government of the People’s Republic of China, the People’s Liberation Army, the China National Space Administration, the China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC), and/or the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System, and any PRC military firm identified by the Department of Defense according to NDAA FY1999 Section 1237.

2. Require that Schedule 13D/13G reports, under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), be required for foreign investment in U.S. companies that are involved in critical technologies regarding space exploration, manufacturing, telecommunications, and national security activities for any foreign beneficial ownership acquisitions of more than 2 percent beneficial ownership to inform American investors of risk exposure to foreign adversarial capital.

3. Require the National Space Council to submit a report to Congress on space investment competition from China and Russia regarding concentrated adversarial capital efforts to usurp American economic leadership in commercial space, including through venture capital, military-civil fusion, intellectual property theft, industrial imitation, and to further include an assessment of current economic risk exposure to foreign adversarial influence in this industry and an interagency strategy to protect U.S. supply chains in space industrialization. 

4. Require an interagency annual report to Congress, with a classified annex, by the secretaries of the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Treasury on foreign investment in U.S. space exploration, manufacturing, telecommunications, and national security, including the countries of origin, sources of funds, and any other information according to the secretaries of Defense, Commerce, and Treasury departments.

Want more information? 

• December 2021: Rubio Introduces Legislation to Strengthen the US Space Industry Against CCP Aggression