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.
The Space Frontier Act calls for reforms of commercial launch and remote sensing regulations, extends authorization of the International Space Station through 2030, and elevates the Office of Space Commerce within the Commerce Department to the Bureau of Space Commerce led by an assistant secretary.
The Commerce Department’s fiscal year 2020 budget request sought to combine the Office of Space Commerce and the Office of Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs and move them from NOAA to the office of the Secretary of Commerce as part of an overall $10,000,000 request for the office.
The House bill retained the Office of Space Commerce and the Office of Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs as separate entities within NOAA and funded each office at $1,800,000.
The Office of Space Commerce plans, in partnership with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies, to assume no later than 2024 responsibility to provide conjunction analysis and other basic space flight safety services to civil and commercial users.
Space Policy Directive 2, signed by President Trump in May 2018, directed regulatory reforms ranging from launch to commercial remote sensing and consolidated much of that regulatory oversight in the Department of Commerce and its Office of Space Commerce.
The Commerce Department’s Office of Space Commerce could develop industry data and sensible metrics to support institutional investment in the space sector.
S. 3277 renames the Office of Space Commerce within the Commerce Department as the Bureau of Space Commerce to be led by an Assistant Secretary for Space Commerce.
Kevin O'Connell began his tenure as director of the Office of Space Commerce six weeks before 2018-08-20.
The Office of Space Commerce's advocacy role includes international efforts to ensure American companies have fair market access and domestic efforts to provide companies fair and rigorous treatment as the U.S. government develops its own space capabilities.
NASA will work with the Secretary of Transportation to support launch licensing reform and with the Commerce Department on consolidation of other regulatory activity within the Office of Space Commerce.
The National Space Council approved a set of recommendations for commercial space regulation at its 2018-02-21 meeting that include consolidating regulation within the Office of Space Commerce and giving that office oversight of non-traditional commercial space activities.
H.R. 2809 provides for automatic approval of commercial remote sensing license applications if the Office of Space Commerce does not make a determination at the end of the 90-day review period.