Bipartisan, bicameral U.S. space commerce bill unveiled by Wicker, Rubio

U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined a bipartisan group of colleagues to propose the bipartisan, bicameral American Space Commerce Act of 2021. 

“The United States has been a leader since the beginning of the space race and it is vital that we maintain our leadership,” Sen. Wicker said on Tuesday. “This legislation would help us maintain our advantage by supporting investments in our domestic space industry, and therefore keeping American companies competitive.”  

Sen. Wicker on June 8 signed on as the lead original cosponsor of S. 1968, which was introduced by bill sponsor Sen. Rubio and five other original cosponsors, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), to bolster United States leadership in the space industry, enhance public-private partnerships with American companies, and increase U.S. innovation, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers. 

“America’s commercial space industry is thriving, and its unique partnership with NASA is producing once unthinkable innovation and technological advances,” said Sen. Rubio. “As nations, such as China and Russia, work to overtake us, we must do everything possible to ensure America’s leadership in space continues for generations to come.”

The bill is the U.S. Senate companion bill to the same-named H.R. 1369, introduced in February by U.S. Reps. Bill Posey (R-FL) and Charlie Crist (D-FL) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide bonus depreciation for certain space launch expenditures, according to the text of the bills. 

The measure would boost America’s investment in space by extending full expensing treatment, currently available to all businesses under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, to “qualified domestic space launch property” for an additional 10 years beyond current law, according to the lawmakers’ bill summary.

Under the bill, a “qualified space launch property” would be defined as a space transportation vehicle or payload that is launched from the U.S. or other property or equipment placed in service for the purpose of facilitating a space launch from the U.S., while a spacecraft launched from the U.S. would be considered only if the spacecraft is substantially manufactured in the U.S. or launched from an aircraft on a flight that originated from the U.S., the summary says.

“With a vibrant stateside industry, I am sure our nation’s space capabilities will remain the envy of the world,” Sen. Wicker said.

Sens. Wicker and Rubio in June 2020 first introduced the bill, S. 3875, which stalled in the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.