Office of Space Commerce
Senate appropriators frustrated with lack of progress on civil space traffic management
Senate appropriators, frustrated with the lack of progress by the Commerce Department on space traffic management, are threatening to withhold other funding until it gets detailed plans from the agency.
Senators push for action on space traffic management
Members of a Senate space subcommittee argued that the Commerce Department was not doing enough to implement policies on space traffic management (STM) or staffing the office responsible for it.
Op-ed | Commerce Department, NOAA ensuring U.S. remains a world leader in space commerce
Space traffic management stuck in gridlock? The U.S. Commerce Department and NOAA say they will be ready this fall to "lay out procurement strategies, organizational framework, and governance approach for civilian space situational awareness services."
Op-ed | NOAA is stalling U.S. space traffic management
Rather than move forward with efforts to work with industry on space traffic management solutions, the Commerce Department is funding studies of topics that in some cases were addressed in a report last year by NAPA, risking both U.S. leadership in the field and space safety generally.
Op-ed | Getting Serious About the Office of Space Commerce
After three years of an active push to increase the role of the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) in promoting and enabling commercial space activities, that vision is beginning to revert to the way things used to be. Immediate intervention is needed by the new leadership at the Department of Commerce to prevent a complete loss of progress and yet another delay in reshaping U.S. efforts to support and leverage the burgeoning commercial space sector.
Industry groups advocate for Office of Space Commerce
Three space industry groups are asking the Commerce Department to commit to continued support and funding for the Office of Space Commerce.
Lawmakers ask Biden administration to keep oversight committees in the loop on space activities
Reps. Frank Lucas and Brian Babin, who oversee civil and commercial space, expressed concerns about the administration's push for international regulation of space activities.
Omnibus spending bill funds Commerce Department space traffic management work
The Commerce Department will be able to accelerate it work on space traffic management after Congress provided the agency with most, but not all, the funding it requested for that effort.
House Space Force Caucus co-chair voices concern about orbital debris, supports Commerce assuming debris-tracking role
U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), a co-chair of the recently established House Space Force Caucus, said Oct. 28 that orbital debris is a major threat to a prosperous space economy and that better space situational awareness is crucial to protecting the sector.
Senate bill would assign space traffic management work to Commerce Department
The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee introduced a bill Oct. 21 to formally give the Commerce Department space traffic management (STM) responsibilities, but the funding required to carry out that work remains uncertain.
Webinar Replay | Space Traffic Management: Why Commerce, Why Now, What’s Next
Office of Space Commerce Director Kevin O'Connell and former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe join SpaceNews Oct. 13 to discuss what's next in the effort to improve civil space traffic management.
Industry supports giving space traffic management work to Commerce Department
Companies and organizations in the space industry support the recommendations of a recent report that the Commerce Department handle civil space traffic management, but say it’s more important that the government settle on an agency and move forward.
Report endorses giving Commerce Department responsibility for space traffic management
A report commissioned by Congress agreed with the administration that the Commerce Department is the best agency to handle civil space traffic management (STM) responsibilities.
House spending bill rejects Office of Space Commerce funding increase
A spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee July 14 once again rejects an administration proposal to combine the Office of Space Commerce with another office and increase its budget to perform space traffic management work.
Commerce Department hopes study will free up funding for space traffic management work
Two years after a space policy directive gave it responsibility for space traffic management, the Commerce Department says it is making progress on implementing that policy as it continues to seek additional funding from Congress.
Commerce Department seeks big funding boost for Office of Space Commerce
The Commerce Department is once again requesting a large budget increase for its Office of Space Commerce in order to work on space traffic management activities after Congress rejected a similar request last year.
Commerce Department moves ahead on space traffic management work despite limited budget
The head of the Commerce Department office with the mandate, but not the money, for civil space traffic management says he hopes the recent near-miss involving two satellites will help provide more attention to the issue.
Commerce Department to develop new estimate of the size of the space economy
An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce is developing its own estimate of the size of the space industry, the most authoritative effort to date to measure space’s role in the broader economy.
Spending bill highlights ongoing debate on Commerce Department’s role in space traffic management
Language in a fiscal year 2020 spending bill suggests that Congress is unlikely to act soon on the future of the Office of Space Commerce or the Commerce Department’s proposed role in handing civil space traffic management.
U.S. Space Command eager to hand over space traffic duties to Commerce Department
Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting said the transfer of space traffic management responsibilities can't happen until Commerce gets the necessary resources.
