April 27, 2016

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee passed the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act (S. 2817) on April 27.

Sponsored by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), S. 2817 would improve space weather forecasting and help mitigate damage from space weather to communication satellites, GPS, and the electric grid. Senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) submitted technical amendments to the bill. Sen. Markey’s amendment includes a provision on developing crustal conductivity models to assess space weather, and Sen. Schatz’s amendment would increase the use of ground-based instruments in observations of the Sun.

The bill will now head to the Senate floor for consideration.

Sources: Congress.gov, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation