,,ii #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #dfic ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #d1 #bjbf,mr4 ,cruz 7for himself and ,mr4 ,hickenlooper7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to require the ,secretary of ,defense to carry out an operational pilot program under the ,hybrid ,space ,architecture initiative to evaluate the use of commercially available orbital data center services and space-based cloud computing capabilities relevant to national security space and joint mission requirements1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,nodes1 ,enterprise ,workloads1 and ,hybrid ,operations1 ,resilience1 ,integration1 ,zero-,trust1 ,orbital ,networks ,act or the ,,new ,,horizon ,act4 #b4 ,operational pilot program on orbital data center services 7a7 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,modern national security space missions generate increasing volumes of data from space-based sensors1 platforms1 and constellations1 placing growing demands on terrestrial data transport1 processing1 and analysis infrastructure4 7#b7 ,reliance on ground-based data processing can introduce latency1 bandwidth constraints1 and vulnerabilities that may degrade the timeliness1 resilience1 and effectiveness of military and intelligence operations in contested environments4 7#c7 ,commercial industry is developing orbital data center and space-based cloud computing capabilities that enable in-space data processing1 storage1 and analytics1 which may reduce latency1 enhance resilience1 and improve mission outcomes4 7#d7 ,the ,department of ,defense has identified the need for hybrid architectures that integrate space1 terrestrial1 and commercial capabilities to support joint and national security missions4 7#e7 ,an operational pilot program is necessary to evaluate the military utility1 operational integration1 and transition potential of orbital data center services through real-world mission use cases before any broader adoption or sustained acquisition4 7#f7 ,maintaining a competitive and resilient domestic industrial base for orbital infrastructure1 including satellite platforms1 communications systems1 and in-space computing capabilities1 is important to accelerating innovation and supporting operational resilience4 7b7 ,pilot program 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #a year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense 7referred to in this ,act as the ,secretary71 acting through the ,director of the ,defense ,innovation ,unit1 shall carry out an operational pilot program under the ,hybrid ,space ,architecture initiative to evaluate the use of commercially available orbital data center services and space-based cloud computing capabilities relevant to national security space and joint mission requirements4 7#b7 ,purposes ,the purposes of the pilot program shall be-- 7,a7 to assess the military utility of orbital data center and space-based cloud computing services2 7,b7 to evaluate the operational integration of such services into existing and planned ,department of ,defense space and joint architectures2 7,c7 to examine the resilience1 latency1 security1 and mission assurance benefits of in-space data processing2 7,d7 to inform the potential transition of such services into sustained programs of record or operational use2 7,e7 to evaluate concepts of operations for the protection and defense of orbital data center assets against kinetic1 nonkinetic1 and cyber threats2 7,f7 to assess the asset protection strategies and vulnerabilities of orbital data center infrastructure2 and 7,g7 to evaluate the integration and operational performance of interoperable1 commercially provided orbital infrastructure components sourced from multiple vendors across the hybrid space architecture ecosystem4 7#c7 ,scope ,in carrying out the pilot program1 the ,secretary may-- 7,a7 employ commercially available orbital data center services in support of real-world mission scenarios1 including intelligence1 space domain awareness1 command and control1 data transport1 and other national security applications2 7,b7 conduct testing1 demonstration1 and limited operational employment necessary to assess technical performance and operational viability2 and 7,c7 support integration activities required to evaluate interoperability with the ,department of ,defense's space1 ground1 and network systems4 7#d7 ,acquisition authority ,the ,secretary shall encourage competitive participation from a diverse set of nontraditional defense contractors and commercial space providers4 7#e7 ,security and resilience measures for sensitive and classified information ,in carrying out the pilot program1 the ,secretary shall ensure that any orbital data center services used to process1 store1 or transmit sensitive or classified information have in place-- 7,a7 cybersecurity protections1 including zero-trust architecture1 encryption1 identity and access management1 continuous monitoring1 and protections against insider threats2 7,b7 risk-management measures-- 7i7 to address supply chain vulnerabilities and foreign ownership1 control1 or influence2 and 7ii7 that achieve compliance with applicable ,department of ,defense cybersecurity and authorization requirements2 7,c7 resilience and mission assurance capabilities1 including redundancy1 failover1 operation in degraded or contested environments1 and rapid reconstitution or replacement capabilities2 7,d7 protections against cyber1 electronic warfare1 counterspace1 and other nonkinetic threats2 7,e7 secure telemetry1 tracking1 and command links and associated command-and-control systems1 including authenticated command uplinks1 encrypted telemetry and data links1 anti-spoofing and anti-jamming protections1 resilient cryptographic key management1 protected timing and navigation inputs1 and secure software and firmware update mechanisms2 7,f7 protections for associated ground systems1 mission operations centers1 terrestrial network connections1 software supply chains1 and user access interfaces1 including segmentation1 continuous monitoring1 access controls1 encryption1 and resilience against cyber intrusion1 disruption1 and unauthorized access2 and 7,g7 protections to ensure workload isolation1 tenant separation1 and data sovereignty for sensitive or classified information processed1 stored1 or transmitted through orbital data center services1 including safeguards against unauthorized cross-tenant1 cross-domain1 or provider access4 7#f7 ,integration and interoperability ,the ,secretary shall ensure that any orbital data center services evaluated under the pilot program are interoperable with existing ,department of ,defense command1 control1 communications1 and intelligence systems4 7#g7 ,consultation ,in carrying out the pilot program1 the ,secretary1 acting through the ,director of the ,defense ,innovation ,unit1 shall consult with-- 7,a7 the ,assistant ,secretary of ,defense for ,space ,policy2 7,b7 service acquisition executives 7as defined in section #aja of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code72 7,c7 the ,space ,force and other military departments with potential operational interest or transition pathways2 7,d7 the ,national ,reconnaissance ,office2 7,e7 the ,national ,geospatial-,intelligence ,agency2 and 7,f7 such other individuals and organizations as the ,secretary considers appropriate4 7#h7 ,briefing ,not later than ,december #ca1 #bjbh1 the ,secretary shall provide the congressional defense committees 7as defined in section #aja of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code7 with a briefing on-- 7,a7 execution of the pilot program2 7,b7 operational use cases evaluated2 7,c7 lessons learned from operational employment2 7,d7 recommendations regarding future acquisition or operational use of orbital data center services2 7,e7 cybersecurity risks1 insider threat vulnerabilities1 and mitigation measures2 7,f7 resilience against counterspace threats and contested space environments2 7,g7 commercial provider risks1 including supply chain and foreign ownership concerns2 and 7,h7 recommendations for security1 resilience1 and acquisition requirements for any future program of record4 7c7 ,termination ,the authority to carry out the pilot program under this section shall terminate on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 7d7 ,orbital data center defined ,in this section1 the term orbital data center means a space-based computing1 data storage1 or networking capability1 including #a or more spacecraft1 hosted payloads1 or distributed orbital architectures1 designed primarily to provide persistent1 scalable1 or shared in-orbit processing1 analysis1 storage1 fusion1 routing1 or dissemination of data as a distinct operational capability1 rather than as a function ancillary to the primary mission of a spacecraft1 prior to transmission to terrestrial or other external infrastructure1 including to reduce latency1 mitigate bandwidth constraints1 improve operational resilience1 or support time-sensitive missions4