Space Situational Awareness
Commerce Department outlines plans for basic space traffic management service
The Commerce Department has outlined the services it proposes to offer free of charge to satellite operators from the space traffic management system it is developing.
Senate passes orbit debris cleanup bill
The Senate passed legislation that would direct NASA to establish a program to remove orbital debris, but supporters of the bill will have to try again in the next Congress to enact it.
Growth of SSA systems could create problems for satellite operators
The growth of space situational awareness (SSA) capabilities worldwide, intended to better track satellites and debris in orbit, could instead create confusion for satellite operators, one official warned.
First NorthStar SSA satellites to launch in 2023 by Virgin Orbit
NorthStar Earth and Space, a company planning a constellation of satellites to collect space situational awareness data, will launch its first satellites in mid-2023 with Virgin Orbit.
War in Ukraine shifts priorities among European government agencies
The war in Ukraine has prompted European civil and military space to revise budgets, programs, and policies to fortify launch capabilities and meet emerging needs.
China looked at putting a monitoring satellite in retrograde geostationary orbit via the moon
China appears to have considered boosting its space situational awareness capabilities by placing a satellite in a retrograde orbit out at the geostationary belt.
Guetlein: improved space domain awareness essential for national security
With space essential to military operations, better understanding of what objects are in orbit and the threats they may pose is “foundational” for space security, a Space Force general said.
Commerce and Defense Departments sign agreement on space traffic management cooperation
The Departments of Commerce and Defense have signed an agreement to cooperate on transferring responsibility for civil and commercial space traffic management.
Getting SSA off the ground
Investors are funding orbital solutions for tracking space objects.
U.S., South Korea agree to cooperate on space situational awareness for military purposes
The SSA pact is part of a broader space security agreement reached between John D. Hill, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and missile defense, and Cho Yong-geun, the South Korean defense ministry’s director of North Korea policy, during the April 25 session of the Space Cooperation Working Group (SCWG) in Washington
