On October 30, OSC and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host a webinar on growing semiconductor crystals in space, featuring Jessica Frick, Ph.D., CEO of Astral Materials. Register: https://lnkd.in/e2XpvqMy
Office of Space Commerce
Government Administration
Washington, District of Columbia 11,943 followers
Helping U.S. businesses use the unique medium of space to benefit our economy
About us
The Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is the principal unit for space commerce policy activities within the Department of Commerce. Its mission is to foster the conditions for the economic growth and technological advancement of the U.S. commercial space industry. OSC is also responsible for licensing commercial remote sensing space systems and for fielding the Traffic Coordination System for Space, #TraCSS.
- Website
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https://www.space.commerce.gov/
External link for Office of Space Commerce
- Industry
- Government Administration
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Washington, District of Columbia
- Type
- Government Agency
- Founded
- 1988
- Specialties
- public policy, regulation, space, space situational awareness, international cooperation, space commerce, advocacy, space sustainability, and spaceflight safety
Locations
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Primary
1401 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20230, US
Employees at Office of Space Commerce
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Mariel Borowitz
Associate Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology
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Jason Kim
Chief of Staff at DOC’s Office of Space Commerce
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Ethan Baumann
Systems Engineering Lead for the Office of Space Commerce’s Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS)
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Gabriel Swiney
Director of Space Policy, Advocacy, and International
Updates
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Intern Insight #5 by OSC’s student intern Chad McElroy: This week, I attended the book launch for the second edition of John J. Klein’s Space Warfare: Strategy, Principles, and Policy, hosted by the Elliott School of International Affairs. There, I gained a deeper understanding on how the commercialization of space has made ideas of national security in the space domain much more complicated. On one hand, commercialization has opened the door to innovative collaborations while also allowing new nations to realize the benefits of space. On the other hand, recent conflicts have revealed the challenges that public-private partnerships face when supporting military operations. As more and more commercial satellites provide data to armed forces across the world, strategists are faced with a concerning question: Could those spacecraft and their operators be considered “combatants” under the laws of conflict? Ultimately, the answer to this question has many implications for how the military will evaluate potential commercial partnerships and how the U.S. will respond to threats against commercial assets supporting the American warfighter.
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Today in Italy, OSC staff joined other delegates to the Strategic USA-Italy Space Dialogue in a site visit to Telespazio's Fucino Space Centre, one of the world's largest command and control sites for civilian satellites.
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Saturday in Milan, OSC's Richard DalBello will speak about space traffic coordination for sustainability at the UN/IAF Workshop on Space Technologies for Socio-Economic Benefit, hosted by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana.
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The latest Ex Terra Podcast features our own Christine Joseph on the launch of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) v1.0! Listen as she discusses how the system will support spaceflight safety while advancing the state of the art in space situational awareness (SSA). #TraCSSstar
On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Thomas Patton talks with Christine Joseph, Policy Advisor to NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration currently supporting the TraCSS program. NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is developing the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) to provide basic space situational awareness (SSA) data and services to civil and private space operators and to support spaceflight safety, space sustainability, and international coordination...https://lnkd.in/dkGtGbiG
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The Strategic USA-Italy Space Dialogue kicked off today in Rome with the U.S. Department of State and Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) leading bilateral discussions on civil space cooperation. The Office of Space Commerce engaged in talks on space situational awareness (SSA) data sharing, space regulations, commercial LEO destinations, and third-party space engagements. #SpaceDiplomacy
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The Office of Space Commerce is heading to Rome and Milan for the Strategic USA-Italy Space Dialogue (Oct 10-14), UN/IAF Workshop on Space Technology for Socio-Economic Benefits (Oct 11-13), and the International Astronautical Congress #IAC2024 (Oct 14-18). #SpaceDiplomacy
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Today the World Economic Forum published a guest article by OSC’s Mariel Borowitz and Richard DalBello arguing that there must be a set of global information sharing principles for space situational awareness (SSA) providers and satellite operators. These principles, which include data sharing across SSA providers, operator-provided notices of maneuvers, and publicly shared conjunction notices, are essential to space traffic coordination for safety and sustainability. The article amplifies a recent paper on this topic by the WEF’s Global Future Council on the Future of Space. https://lnkd.in/e2ec7Bh3 #SpaceTrafficCoordination
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The Office of Space Commerce was proud to partner with AIAA and Moriba Jah to support the 2024 Diverse Dozen programming at ASCEND. It is one of several efforts that we have implemented at the direction of our Deputy Secretary Don Graves to foster greater diversity and equity in the U.S. space economy. For industry, inclusion means larger talent pools and broader perspectives that can advance innovation.
Astrodynamicist | Space Environmentalist | MacArthur Fellow | National Geographic Explorer | TED Fellow | Global Space Evangelist | Professor | Spacecraft Navigator | Co-Founder & Chief Scientist | CorrFRSE
I wanted to take a moment here to highlight these words from my co-presenter at this year's Ascend 2024, Jason Kim. He nailed it—we need to bring more people from diverse backgrounds into the space economy conversation. It's not enough to just inspire the next generation; we need them to see themselves as part of the solution. This means making sure women, people of color, and all underrepresented voices are seen, heard, and leading in space. Booya! 🤙🏾
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Intern Insight #4 By OSC’s student intern Chad McElroy: Space sustainability is a hot topic in the space industry and at the U.S. Department of Commerce as well. This week, while supporting a DOC-wide meeting on the topic, I gained a greater understanding of two international forums leading discussions on space governance and space sustainability: the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), also part of the UN. COPUOS encourages international cooperation on peaceful space activities, including the establishment of norms for the use of outer space and the implementation of UN space treaties such as the Outer Space Treaty, Rescue and Return Agreement, Liability Convention, and Registration Convention. COPUOS brings a level of legitimacy to norms and best practices that no other body can match, and has become the primary multilateral forum discussing issues like non-interference, lunar operations, and space resources. On the other hand, the ITU manages issues related to space-based communications and radio spectrum usage among its 193 member states and nearly 900 members of various sectors, including academia and private companies. In addition to managing frequency allocations and standards, the ITU facilitates the international assignment of spacecraft to geostationary orbit “slots.” As issues such as orbital load capacity continue to be discussed, the allocation of increasingly scarce orbits is becoming an important policy consideration for space sustainability – not just in GEO, but in LEO and even cislunar space. Not all space objects are comsats, but almost all use radio communications, so frequency regulation is a way for governments to “touch” the vast majority of space objects. Through organizations like COPUOS and ITU, nations and sectors are coming together to ensure space remains accessible and usable into the future.