The U.S. Coast Guard plays a vital role in the space industry by ensuring maritime safety and security during space launches and recovery operations. They collaborate with organizations like the Space Force, NASA, and commercial launch providers to establish and enforce safety zones, manage maritime traffic, and provide search and rescue support. Their activities include regulating maritime support vessels, overseeing hazard response, and protecting mariners from potential hazards during launches and reentries. The Coast Guard's responsibilities also extend to space-related shipping, particularly concerning the transport of rocket assemblies and fuels.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The SARSAT Mission Control Center at NOAA’s Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland sends distress location information to Rescue Coordination Centers operated by the U.S. Air Force for land rescues and by the U.S. Coast Guard for water rescues.
Teledyne FLIR Defense was awarded a $48,700,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide Maritime Forward Looking Infrared (MARFLIR) II sensors and multiple variants of SeaFLIR 280-HD surveillance systems for use by the United States Coast Guard.
The U.S. Coast Guard is working to refine maritime restriction zones for launches and to improve communication of those zones to ships.
A U.S. Coast Guard notice to mariners published 2021-12-08 lists a planned launch between 5 and 8 p.m. Eastern on 2021-12-22 with backup dates of 2021-12-23 and 2021-01-08–10.
Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded an expanded role as systems integrator for C5ISR and control systems on the U.S. Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter by Eastern Shipbuilding Group.
Key beneficiaries of SatTrack include civil defense agencies, police, port authorities, coast guards, transport authorities, coastal surveillance bodies, and fisheries ministries.
The combination of the Martin UAV V-BAT and the Kongsberg MIDAS system will allow Coast Guard vessels to expand their surveillance range for search and rescue missions and iceberg movement surveillance without manned aircraft.
Deployment of multiple MetOcean iSLDMB buoys in a suspected event location reduces the number of Coast Guard SAR vessels, aircraft, and personnel required to respond.
MetOcean Telematics has been awarded a five-year blanket purchase agreement to supply the United States Coast Guard with the Iridium Self Locating Datum Marker Buoy (iSLDMB).
Virgin Orbit has backup launch dates of 2021-01-17, 2021-01-24, and 2021-01-31 according to U.S. Coast Guard notices to mariners.
A 2020-11-24 Local Notice to Mariners by the U.S. Coast Guard states that Virgin Orbit will conduct hazardous operations offshore from San Nicolas Island, California between 2020-12-18 and 2020-12-21 during a four-hour window that opens at 1 p.m. Eastern.
The V-BAT supports the U.S. Army's Future Tactical UAS program, SOUTHCOM/JIATF-S, the U.S. Marine Corps with an expeditionary unit, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
In June 2019, fourteen maritime organizations sent a letter to the U.S. Coast Guard urging the commandant to raise jamming and spoofing of GPS and other systems with the International Maritime Organization.
Invited witnesses for the 2020-05-06 hearing include Dana Deasy, the Pentagon’s chief information officer; Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering; Thad Allen, former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; and Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations and commander of U.S. Space Command.
A U.S. Coast Guard Local Notice to Mariners issued 2020-02-05 included a notice of a rocket launch from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska scheduled for 2020-02-21 between 3:30 and 7:00 p.m. Eastern and stated that the launch window would be available daily through 2020-03-01.
The FAA’s 2025-10-17 letter also cited the lack of an agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard to issue notices to mariners for launches and the lack of a coastal consistency review submitted to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The Coast Guard has about 86,000 personnel and about 2,000 personnel in its headquarters.