H.R. 3697 — RAVES Reporting Act of 2025

This section directs the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation and in consultation with the Department of State's Office of Space Affairs and the Small Business Administration's Small Business Development Center, to conduct a study and publish guidance on converting abandoned factories, space centers, and military bases in rural areas into space-related manufacturing facilities and space complexes, not later than one year after enactment of this Act. The study and guidance must address 14 specified elements, including (1) average and state-by-state conversion costs; (2) terrestrial space manufacturing needs; (3) environmental and sustainability concerns; (4) local economic impacts; (5) required workforce technical skills and education; (6) collaboration potential with community colleges; (7) artificial intelligence effects on workforce development; (8) number of abandoned rural factories and military bases as of 2025; (9) rural community development potential; (10) private-sector funding and incentives; (11) national security implications, including for U.S. adversaries and Space Command; (12) estimated conversion timelines; (13) input from NASA collaborators on space manufacturing; and (14) analysis of the rural U.S. aerospace industry, including best practices. The Secretary must submit the study and guidance to Congress and includes definitions for "abandoned" (out of use or underutilized for at least five years with no restart or repurpose plans), "factory" (industrial manufacturing facility), "rural area" (outside cities or towns with populations greater than 50,000 or contiguous urbanized areas), and "space complex" (buildings for spacecraft, instruments, technologies, or space testing and launching).