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Office of Space Commerce

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Office of Space Commerce
Agency overview
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States

TheOffice of Space Commerce(OSC) is an office withinNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationwhich is part of theUnited States Department of Commerce.It is currently one of several offices within the department that are responsible for overseeing and promotingeconomic activityin space. The office is small in size, and its first director was Kevin O'Connell.[1]In January 2021, Mark Paese took over as acting director.[2]As of May 9, 2022, Richard DalBello is the current director of the Office of Space Commerce.[3]

In May 2018,Wilbur Ross,theSecretary of Commerceannounced plans to consolidate the Office with the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) Office to form a newadministration,the Space Policy Advancing Commercial Enterprise (SPACE) Administration.[4]The goal of the newagencywould be to streamline the regulatory process.[5]These plans were subsequently abandoned.[6]

Traffic Coordination System for Space

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The Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) is the OSC's civilspace traffic coordinationsystem. When fully operational, TraCSS will enhancespace situational awarenessby providing frequentconjunctiondata messages to satellite operators. TraCSS entered phase 1.0 beta testing on September 30, 2024, with nine operators participating in the testing phase:The Aerospace Corporation,Eutelsat OneWeb,Georgia Tech,Intelsat,Iridium,Maxar,NOAA,Planet LabsandTelesat.[7]

TraCSS is intended to replace theUnited States Space Surveillance Network's Space-Track service by the end of 2025.[7]

References

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  1. ^Foust, Jeff (June 22, 2018)."Commerce Department moves ahead with space regulatory reforms".SpaceNews.RetrievedAugust 25,2018.
  2. ^Foust, Jeff (March 11, 2021)."Industry groups advocate for Office of Space Commerce".SpaceNews.RetrievedJanuary 31,2022.
  3. ^Leslie, John (April 27, 2022)."NOAA's Office of Space Commerce gets new director".
  4. ^Foust, Jeff (May 27, 2018)."Commerce Department to create" SPACE Administration "".SpaceNews.RetrievedAugust 25,2018.
  5. ^Coldeway, Devin (May 28, 2018)."SPACE Administration would streamline federal oversight of commercial launches".Techcrunch.RetrievedAugust 25,2018.
  6. ^Smith, Marcia (November 18, 2020)."Senate Committee Approves SPACE Act, But Without a Bureau of Space Commerce".SpacePolicyOnline.com.RetrievedJanuary 31,2022.
  7. ^abFoust, Jeff (September 30, 2024)."Commerce begins beta tests of space traffic coordination system".SpaceNews.RetrievedOctober 2,2024.