DoD, Commerce award space monitoring contracts for pilot civil service

DoD, Commerce award space monitoring contracts for pilot civil service
DoD, Commerce award space monitoring contracts for pilot civil service

The joint DoD-Commerce SSA pilot launched Dec. 5 and will run for two months.

Space Command, Commerce to stage commercial space tracking pilot this fall

Space Command, Commerce to stage commercial space tracking pilot this fall
Space Command, Commerce to stage commercial space tracking pilot this fall

The Commerce Department doesn’t simply want to replicate what DoD does now in providing space situational awareness data to industry, but go beyond to provide “a technologically superior product,” said Richard DalBello, head of DoC’s Commercial Space Office.

EXCLUSIVE: DoD-Commerce yet to hash out review of commercial space data sharing

EXCLUSIVE: DoD-Commerce yet to hash out review of commercial space data sharing
EXCLUSIVE: DoD-Commerce yet to hash out review of commercial space data sharing

Traditionally, DoD and the Intelligence Community — as well as some US allies — have been leery about revealing the position of US national security satellites, because they wish to conceal their activities and characteristics.

House appropriators advance commercial space tracking with funding bump

House appropriators advance commercial space tracking with funding bump
House appropriators advance commercial space tracking with funding bump

The $87 million in funding for the Commerce office is a step in the direction of implementing the long-stalled plan to transfer authority for tracking non-military spacecraft to a civil agency.

SPACECOM, Commerce wrapping up framework accord on space surveillance

SPACECOM, Commerce wrapping up framework accord on space surveillance
SPACECOM, Commerce wrapping up framework accord on space surveillance

The MoA will be followed by a set of annexes that include how the Defense Department will share funds, personnel and/or technology to help the Office of Space Commerce stand up a civil structure for space situational awareness (SSA). 

Space Force Calls For ‘Trash Trucks’ For All The Orbiting Junk

Space Force Calls For ‘Trash Trucks’ For All The Orbiting Junk
Space Force Calls For ‘Trash Trucks’ For All The Orbiting Junk

Active debris removal is “definitely a need, and I think there is a use case for industry to get after that as a service-based opportunity,” said Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt.

White House Unveils New Space Policy, But Does It Matter?

White House Unveils New Space Policy, But Does It Matter?
White House Unveils New Space Policy, But Does It Matter?

“I just think it’s a little too late for trying to have a stamp on something. It is just trying to say that they did something,” said veteran space policy wonk Erin Neal.

SIA Calls For Space Traffic Rules ASAP

SIA Calls For Space Traffic Rules ASAP
SIA Calls For Space Traffic Rules ASAP

SIA says there could be as many as 107,671 satellites on orbit by 2029. There are now slightly fewer than 3,000.

Commerce Should Take DoD Space Safety Mission: Study

Commerce Should Take DoD Space Safety Mission: Study
Commerce Should Take DoD Space Safety Mission: Study

“The DoD system is not scalable to meet the demands of a growing number of objects in space and to deal with an increasing number of space operators,” the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) report says.

FCC Reconsiders Tightening 25-Year Deadline For Space Junk Disposal

FCC Reconsiders Tightening 25-Year Deadline For Space Junk Disposal
FCC Reconsiders Tightening 25-Year Deadline For Space Junk Disposal

“Putting non-maneuverable cubesats into LEO in densely populated orbits … is like putting go-carts on the freeway. Nobody would do that,” says Viasat’s John Janka.

DoD, Industry Press FCC To Stop Vote On Space Debris Regs

DoD, Industry Press FCC To Stop Vote On Space Debris Regs
DoD, Industry Press FCC To Stop Vote On Space Debris Regs

The independent FCC seemingly “wrote these proposed rules mostly (if not entirely) in a vacuum, potentially failing to ensure White House directions in Space Policy Directives 1-through-4 were fully accounted for,” said one USG official with an eye on the debate.

Commerce Pursues Space Tracking Role Despite Cuts

Commerce Pursues Space Tracking Role Despite Cuts
Commerce Pursues Space Tracking Role Despite Cuts

O’Connell said that the “silver lining” to the near miss of two defunct US satellites over Pittsburg on Jan. 29 is that “people are beginning to realize that these near misses are taking place much more frequently.”

New Space Debris Rules Stalled By Year-Long Interagency Spat

New Space Debris Rules Stalled By Year-Long Interagency Spat
New Space Debris Rules Stalled By Year-Long Interagency Spat

“Of all people, it’s the ‘space warmongers’ doing the most to try to sustain the (space) environment,” one DoD official said.

As DoD Seeks Smallsats, FCC Eases Licensing

As DoD Seeks Smallsats, FCC Eases Licensing
As DoD Seeks Smallsats, FCC Eases Licensing

“I see no reason why a satellite the size of a shoebox, with the life expectancy of a guinea pig, should be regulated the same way as a spacecraft the size of a school bus that will stay in orbit for centuries,” says FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.