Verified facts grounded in source documentation.
The administration announced a new policy framework for mission authorization to guide how the Commerce Department, Transportation Department, and other agencies will provide authorization and continuing supervision of commercial space activities not licensed today.
The Commercial Space Act of 2023 would create a certification process for spacecraft not licensed by other agencies to be handled by the Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce.
The National Space Council released a draft legislative proposal on 2023-11-15 that would give the Departments of Transportation and Commerce authority to authorize and oversee commercial space activities not currently licensed by other agencies.
The Department of Commerce has made its first commercial data purchases for the Office of Space Commerce effort, with the purchased data covering both low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit.
In its fiscal year 2021 budget proposal submitted in February, the Commerce Department again sought to combine the Office of Space Commerce and CRSRA and requested $15,000,000 with most of the additional funding intended to implement SPD-3.
Space Policy Directive 2, signed 2018-05-24, addresses commercial space regulatory reforms including streamlined launch licensing and creation of a one-stop shop for most commercial space regulatory issues within the Commerce Department.