The U.S. Office of Space Commerce (OSC), operating within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which is part of the Department of Commerce, is the primary entity responsible for fostering the economic growth and technological advancement of the U.S. commercial space industry. Its key activities include policy advocacy, regulation of private remote sensing space systems, and the provision of space situational awareness services, notably through the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS). OSC works with various government agencies like NASA and international organizations such as ESA to promote U.S. space commerce and ensure compliance with regulations. The OSC aims to advance U.S. leadership in the global commercial space sector by removing regulatory barriers and promoting U.S. space products/services.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
NOAA must provide the congressional committees a detailed spending plan for the Office of Space Commerce funds within 45 days of enactment and a five-year strategic plan for OSC within 90 days of enactment.
The Office of Space Commerce is developing an open architecture data repository (OADR) that will be part of its efforts to take over civil space traffic management responsibilities in 2024.
The Office of Space Commerce developed a five-year budget to support initial OADR operations in 2024 and full operations in 2025.
The Office of Space Commerce will hire a deputy director as a Senior Executive Service position to provide continuity between administrations.
Funding for the Office of Space Commerce in fiscal year 2021 was $10,000,000.
The Office of Space Commerce operated with limited staff led by an acting administrator as of the reporting period.
Space Policy Directive 3 in 2018 assigned civil space traffic management to the Commerce Department through its Office of Space Commerce.
The 2021-11-29 Senate letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo questioned progress appointing a new director for the Office of Space Commerce, a position that has been vacant since the beginning of the Biden administration.
The Office of Space Commerce launched a pilot open architecture data repository designed to combine space situational awareness data from government and commercial sources and will share it with stakeholders over the next few months.
The Department of Commerce plans to request increased funding in its 2022-10-01 budget request to increase staffing for the Office of Space Commerce.
The Senate appropriations report withholds a quarter of the $29,500,000 allocated for executive leadership at NOAA until the Office of Space Commerce strategic report is delivered.
Senate appropriators offered $20,000,000 for the Office of Space Commerce in the report accompanying their version of the fiscal year 2022 commerce, justice and science spending bill.
The House version of the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill offers $10,000,000 for the Office of Space Commerce without the Senate’s funding-withholding provision.
The $20,000,000 offered by Senate appropriators for the Office of Space Commerce is double the $10,000,000 the office received in 2021 and requested for 2022.
NOAA is evaluating alternatives for the organizational placement of the Office of Space Commerce, including merging it with NOAA’s Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs office, and is preparing an analysis of alternatives.
As head of the Office of Space Commerce, Kevin O’Connell led the Commerce Department’s efforts to take over civil space traffic management functions that were previously under the Department of Defense.
Kevin O’Connell, who led the Office of Space Commerce from 2018 until the end of the Trump administration in January, attributed delays on the OADR and other SPD-3 elements to insufficient funding and a very small office budget.
The Office of Space Commerce had been without a director for nearly 10 years prior to Kevin O’Connell’s selection in 2018 and operated with a very small budget and staff.
Congress provided funding to the Office of Space Commerce in its fiscal year 2021 spending bill to begin work on OADR pilot projects.
The SPACE Act incorporated into S. 1260 directs the Office of Space Commerce to handle civil space traffic management.