The SPACE (Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship) Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 21. CSSS congratulates the House of Representatives for passing this pro-space legislation. The SPACE Act, aka H.R. 2262, aka Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship passed by a vote of 284 – 133. 236 Republicans voted in favor of the legislation and 3 against while 48 Democrats voted in favor and 130 against.
Rolled into this legislation were three other pro-space bills:
- H.R. 1508 on asteroid mining rights to materials,
- H.R. 2261 covering commercial remote sensing, and
- H.R. 2263 addressing the Office of Space Commercialization.
Chicago Society for Space Studies urges citizens of Illinois to contact their representative regarding this vote.
If your representative voted yes on this legislation, please contact them and voice your approval. If your reprsentative voted no, please contact them and voice your disapproval of their vote.
The following table lists how Illinois representatives voted on the SPACE Act.
| Voting Yes (A Pro-Space Vote) | ||
| Dist. | Party | Representative |
| 3rd | D | Lipinski, Daniel |
| 6th | R | Roskam, Peter |
| 10th | R | Dold, Bob |
| 12th | R | Bost, Mike |
| 13th | R | Davis, Rodney |
| 14th | R | Hultgren, Randy |
| 15th | R | Shimkus, John |
| 16th | R | Kinzinger, Adam |
| Voting No (Not A Pro-Space Vote) | ||
| 1st | D | Rush, Bobby |
| 2nd | D | Kelly, Robin |
| 4th | D | Gutiérrez, Luis |
| 5th | D | Quigley, Mike |
| 8th | D | Duckworth, Tammy |
| 9th | D | Schakowsky, Jan |
| 11th | D | Foster, Bill |
| Not Voting | ||
| 7th | D | Davis, Danny |
Supporting passage of this legislation were the companies Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Mojave Air & Space Port, and SpaceX. Also supporting
passage were the space organizations National Space Society and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation which represents more than 50 commercial space companies across the United States.