S.Amdt. 6705

SA 6705 is an amendment proposed by Mr. Bennet and Mr. Hickenlooper to be added to bill S. 4748. Its purpose is to promote competition and industrial base resilience for proliferated space architectures.

The amendment aims to add a new section, Sec. 1510A, which focuses on the following:

• Findings and Sense of Congress: It states that the U.S. needs a resilient and scalable space architecture to face peer adversaries. It notes that relying on a single contractor or a limited supplier base creates strategic risks. Therefore, it is the sense of Congress that the Department of the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office should maintain robust competition and preserve multiple domestic sources for designing, manufacturing, and sustaining satellite constellations.

• Competitive Procurement Strategy: The Secretary of the Air Force and the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office must submit a strategy to congressional defense committees within 180 days. This strategy must include risk assessments of single-source procurement, evaluations of the industrial base and supply chain, and recommendations to keep at least two viable domestic providers for each major capability area.

• Minimum Competitive Investment: Starting in fiscal year 2028, the officials must maintain at least two qualified domestic providers for each major proliferated space acquisition program. Additionally, at least 25 percent of annual production, contract value, or funding must be awarded to a provider other than the incumbent, unless a certification is submitted stating that only one source exists or that competition would increase risk or cost.

• Annual Reporting: For five years, the Secretary of the Air Force and the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office must provide annual reports on the number of qualified providers, funding allocations, supply chain vulnerabilities, and actions taken to promote competition.