Bill · S. 4693· Senate(119-S-4693)
NEW HORIZON Act
- Introduced
- 6/4/2026
- Last activity
- 6/4/2026 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
- Sponsored by
- Ted Cruz
- Cosponsors
- - 0 - 1
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill is known as the Nodes, Enterprise Workloads, and Hybrid Operations, Resilience, Integration, Zero-Trust, Orbital Networks Act or the NEW HORIZON Act. It requires the Secretary of Defense to run an operational pilot program to test commercially available orbital data center services and space-based cloud computing capabilities. The program will evaluate how well these in-space technologies meet national security and joint military mission requirements. The Defense Innovation Unit will carry out the pilot program under the Hybrid Space Architecture initiative within one year of the Act's enactment. The Secretary of Defense must brief congressional defense committees on the program by December 31, 2028. Finally, the authority to carry out this pilot program will end five years after the Act is enacted.
Yes· 3 of 8
Does this put more into space exploration?+5
Requires an operational pilot program to evaluate space-based cloud computing and orbital data center capabilities.
Does this better protect the country from computer attacks?+4
Mandates rigorous cybersecurity protections, zero-trust architecture, and secure communications for orbital data centers.
Does this make it easier to run a small business?+3
Encourages competitive participation from nontraditional defense contractors and commercial space providers.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Encouraging New Business Partners: Under Section 2(b)(4), the Secretary of Defense must encourage competitive participation from a diverse set of nontraditional defense contractors and commercial space providers. This provision can help bring new commercial companies into government work and accelerate domestic innovation.
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Improving National Security Operations: Section 2(b)(2) outlines purposes for the pilot program such as assessing military utility, examining resilience and latency, and improving mission outcomes. By testing in-space data processing, the military hopes to reduce delays and maintain better operations in contested environments.
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Protecting Sensitive Information: Under Section 2(b)(5), the Secretary must ensure that any orbital data center services used for sensitive or classified information have specific cybersecurity protections, risk-management measures for foreign ownership or supply chains, and safeguards for workload isolation. These measures help keep critical government and defense information safe from unauthorized access.
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Security and Supply Chain Risks: Section 2(b)(5) notes that using commercial providers in space introduces risks related to supply chains, foreign ownership or control, insider threats, and potential cyber or electronic warfare attacks. Relying on commercial vendors for sensitive defense operations could expose critical systems to foreign or malicious interference if vulnerabilities are not properly managed.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Economy And Finance
- Improves Small Business Support+3Increases Job Creation+2Improves Economic Growth+1
- Education And Technology
- Increases Space Exploration+5
- National Security And Foreign Policy
- Improves Cybersecurity Defense+4
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Business Owners+3
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+2Increases Federal Power+1
- 6/4/2026
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in Senate
John HickenlooperDemocrat · Colorado