The U.S. Department of Commerce plays a significant role in the space industry through its Office of Space Commerce (OSC). The OSC is responsible for fostering the economic growth and technological advancement of the U.S. commercial space industry by coordinating policy, streamlining regulations, and providing space situational awareness services, including the development of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS). The Department also works to promote U.S. space products and services internationally, supporting companies like SpaceX in securing contracts and modernizing space-related export controls through the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Key partners include NASA, NOAA, and various international entities.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The appropriations bill rejected the Commerce Department’s proposal to merge the two offices and instead kept the Office of Space Commerce and CRSRA separate and located within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Luxembourg signed an agreement with the U.S. Commerce Department in May 2019.
Under Space Policy Directive 3, the Department of Defense is still required to maintain the authoritative satellite catalog that forms the foundation of the catalog the Department of Commerce will maintain.
Kevin O’Connell, director of the Office of Space Commerce, set a goal to transition commercial conjunction analysis and notification to the Department of Commerce by 2024.
The OADR will serve as a marketplace for new SSA providers to offer value-added services and the government will continue to provide basic space traffic management services for free after responsibility shifts to the Commerce Department no later than 2024.
The Commerce Department’s Space Policy Directive 3 initiative includes creating an open architecture data repository (OADR) to combine Air Force data with commercial and allied sources.
The National Space Council instructed the Commerce Department to report, within 90 days, on commercial space activities not regulated by U.S. agencies and to work with the Department of Transportation to provide a roadmap enabling current and evolving U.S. commercial space activities to receive authorization under appropriate federal regulatory frameworks.
President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive 3 in June 2018 directing the Defense Department to give the publicly releasable portion of its space situational awareness data to the Commerce Department.
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 Department of Commerce and NASA argued that allowing use of the 24 gigahertz band for 0.005 kg services could create interference with satellite observations of water vapor used in weather forecasting.
An industry day about the planned export-control reviews will take place on 2019-04-17 at Commerce Department headquarters in Washington.
At the National Space Council meeting in Huntsville, Alabama on 2019-03-26, the Commerce Department committed to join the State Department for a two-day Space Enterprise Summit in Washington to address space industry competitiveness.
Space Policy Directive 3, signed by President Trump in June 2018, set in motion plans to give the Department of Commerce responsibilities for providing safety information to civil and commercial satellite operators for space traffic management.
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 released its 2020 budget plan on 2019-03-25.
The Commerce Department worked with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Space Council, and other federal entities to create the spectrum report.
The Commerce Department report mentioned the FCC’s C-band proceeding and WRC-19 but did not advocate for the satellite industry-led C-band plan nor address FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly’s reservations about international opposition at WRC-19.
The Satellite Industry Association provided strong support for the Commerce Department spectrum report on 2019-03-26.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai rejected an invitation from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in a 2019-03-11 letter that emphasized the Trump Administration’s commitment to rolling out 0.005 kg quickly.