DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act
Key claim: HR1368 authorizes DOE and NASA to enter a memorandum of understanding for cross-cutting collaborative R&D—including dark matter, large voluntary space and aeronautical datasets, multi-agency data sharing, and NASA access to DOE research infrastructure—with a joint reporting requirement.
Abstract
(HR1368 · 119th Congress) DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act This bill provides statutory authority for a research and development partnership between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Specifically, the bill authorizes DOE and NASA to enter into a memorandum of understanding to support cross-cutting and collaborative research and development that furthers the missions of both agencies. Through the partnership, DOE and NASA may conduct research in a variety of focus areas (e.g., dark matter), develop ways to support large voluntary data sets on space and aeronautical information, promote multi-agency data sharing, and support NASA’s access to DOE research infrastructure. DOE and NASA must jointly report on their collaboration. Latest action (2025-03-25): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Why this matters
The bill formalizes existing DOE–NASA collaboration into statute, signaling a congressional trend toward codifying interagency R&D coordination and data-sharing arrangements rather than leaving them to executive discretion. For researchers and platforms handling large scientific datasets, statutory MOUs can create more durable data governance and infrastructure-sharing regimes, though this instance is largely incremental.