DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act

What it does

• •Authorizes the Department of Energy and NASA to conduct collaborative research and development activities in areas including propulsion systems, quantum information sciences, high energy physics, earth sciences, space-based solar energy transmission, and radiation health effects.
• •Permits DOE and NASA to make competitive awards to entities including Federal agencies, National Laboratories, universities, and nonprofits to support cross-cutting research projects aligned with both agencies' missions.
• •Requires DOE and NASA to coordinate activities through memoranda of understanding and interagency agreements, and to facilitate data sharing and access to research infrastructure between the agencies.
• •Mandates a report to Congress within two years detailing coordination activities, technical capability expansions, achievements, and recommendations for future collaboration.

Why it matters

• •Formalizes and authorizes joint research efforts between two major federal agencies in critical technology areas such as nuclear propulsion, quantum computing, and climate science that support both defense and civilian missions.
• •Establishes merit-based competitive award processes to leverage complementary capabilities and infrastructure of DOE and NASA, potentially accelerating innovation in shared research priorities.
• •Requires documentation of outcomes and future opportunities to demonstrate accountability and inform continued interagency coordination on clean energy and space technologies.

Who is affected

• •The Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration and their respective components and National Laboratories.
• •Institutions of higher education, nonprofit research institutions, and other entities eligible to compete for joint DOE-NASA awards.
• •Congress, specifically the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and Senate Committees on Energy and Natural Resources and Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

What happens next

The bill was passed by the House on March 24, 2025, and referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on March 25, 2025, where it awaits consideration.