WASHINGTON — The Office of Space Commerce defended its proposal for a mission authorization scheme for novel space activities, arguing it would provide certainty for companies while limiting regulatory burdens.
The office released in March its proposal for oversight of commercial space activities not currently licensed by agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission. The proposal offered a voluntary “Space Commerce Certification” for companies to demonstrate their activities comply with laws and treaties.
The proposal is designed to reduce uncertainty for companies planning what are widely called novel space activities, ranging from satellite servicing to commercial space stations, that are not clearly regulated.
“The current licensing regime is not designed to address them,” said Taylor Jordan, director of the office, referring to novel space activities at a July 15 hearing of the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee. “U.S. regulations simply do not offer a clear path to ‘yes’ for novel activities. Instead, they risk trapping our industry in an endless maze.”
The office’s mission authorization proposal would turn the office into a front door for companies planning novel space activities, collecting information about them from the companies and then reviewing it in coordination with other agencies.
“The cornerstone of our proposal is the creation of a certification that is intended to unify existing regulatory pathways into a clear, straightforward, centralized process,” he said.
The incentive for companies to take this voluntary approach would be the ability to use the certification to satisfy requirements from other agencies, such as a payload review for an FAA launch license or an orbital debris mitigation plan for an FCC license.
“If we can provide a streamlining of the different regulations, where a company would put in one application to us, it could help satisfy portions of the FAA’s and FCC’s obligations for their own work,” he said.
“If we can provide the additional confidence and streamlined effort that industry is looking for, we are confident that they will use this voluntary system,” he added.
Jordan said the proposal is informed by his office’s work in licensing commercial remote sensing satellite systems. That includes a dispute resolution process should agencies raise issues during the review process and timelines for reviews.
Members of the subcommittee agreed on the need for a mission authorization system, a topic that has been discussed for years. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, chairman of the full committee, noted the House approved legislation nearly a decade ago that included a mission authorization regime, but it failed to pass the Senate.
“We must provide the regulatory certainty that companies need,” said Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., chairman of the space subcommittee. “Failing to do so would slow investment, slowing innovation and undermining American leadership.”
“We have not yet landed on a solution and we need to do that,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., ranking member of the full committee. “I believe we ought to advance a commercial space industry that contributes to the public good and a strong economy. Clarity about who regulates specific activities is needed.”
Jordan said the mission authorization proposal is awaiting approval by the White House but has the support of the organizations that would be involved in interagency reviews.
Should the White House approve the proposal, he said the Office of Space Commerce would put out a call for applications from industry to test the new process.
“We intend to look at mature technologies and mature missions, and really focus on what is near operations in space,” he said. “From there, we will put our application into the interagency. We will work with them on how we get to yes through that process.”
TraCSS concerns
Some members used the 90-minute hearing, with Jordan as the sole witness, to bring up another program run by his office, the Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS. It is a civil space situational awareness, or SSA, system the office has been developing to take over work currently performed by the Space Force to warn satellite operators of potential collisions.
The White House’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal included virtually no funding for TraCSS. It would instead “containerize the beta version of TraCSS for historical reference” while exploring alternative mechanisms, such as user fees, to fund the system.
“How does the Office of Space Commerce propose to provide operators and regulators with independent and reliable collision warnings for orbital debris data before and after a mission is certified?” asked Rep. Valerie Foushee, D-N.C., ranking member of the space subcommittee.
He said the office is working on “the trade space of how that program will move forward in the future,” including user fees or other collaboration with industry.
He vowed that TraCSS would continue in some form even if the program is not funded through appropriations. “The question is not should we provide SSA data, it’s how do we do that as the federal government.”
Related
Read the original article here