The chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has introduced a legislation to formally authorize the Department of Commerce in charge of providing Space Situational Awareness (SSA) data to civil, commercial, and international space operators.
The Bill also seeks to elevate the Office of Space Commerce from an office within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to a Bureau led by an assistant secretary reporting directly to the Secretary of Commerce, and authorizes $15 million for the Bureau for FY 2021.
On October 21, US Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss), introduced the Space Preservation and Conjunction Emergency (SPACE) Act that codifies Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3) for transferring the responsibility from Department of Defense (DoD) to the Department of Commerce (DOC), the committee said in a statement.
“This level of funding would be sufficient to start building the data repository, hire the appropriate staff, and begin an initial operational capability,” the statement said.
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The background
The Trump Administration had issued SPD-3, the National Space Traffic Management Policy,in June last year, shifting the responsibility for providing SSA data to satellite operators from DoD to DOC. However, Congress is yet to codify it in law or provide necessary budget.
“Over the past two decades, space debris has created a more dangerous environment for our astronauts and satellites in orbit,” Wicker said in a statement. “The SPACE Act would empower the Department of Commerce to track this debris and issue collision warnings by leveraging its technical expertise and partnerships with the private sector. This legislation is critical to keeping low Earth orbit safe for exploration and protecting our satellite infrastructure.”
In August, a Congress-commissioned panel under the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) reaffirmed that the Office of Space Commerce at the Department of Commerce was the best suited civil agency to perform such tasks. The report, urged Congress to immediately enact the authorities and appropriations required for OSC to carry out this critical mission.
SSA data is used to inform satellite operators of potential conjunctions or collisions with another passing satellite or piece of debris, allowing operators to maneuver if possible. DoD currently provides SSA services and issues collision warnings to satellite operators around the world. Under this directive, these responsibilities would be transferred to DOC.
Why Space debris is a concern
The growing number of space objects, either operating satellites or space debris, is becoming worrisome especially in low Earth orbit. ESA estimates the total number of Space objects in Earth orbit around 29,000 for sizes larger than 10 cm, 670,000 for sizes larger than 1 cm and more than 170 million for sizes larger than 1 mm!
Last month only, the International Space Station (ISS) had to carry out an emergency avoidance maneuver to avoid a potential collision with an “unidentified object”. The incident saw NASA chief Jim Bridenstine tweeting his frustration while making a case for space traffic management.
“The Space Station has maneuvered 3 times in 2020 to avoid debris. In the last 2 weeks, there have been 3 high concern potential conjunctions. Debris is getting worse! Time for Congress to provide @CommerceGov with the $15 mil requested by @POTUS for the Office of Space Commerce,” Bridenstine tweeted. Earlier, the ISS had conducted two maneuvers – on April 19 and July 3 — to avoid potential collisions.
“Space may appear endless, but opportunities to safely place and maintain an object in Earth’s orbit are not. The risk of collisions between objects in Space is very real, and major collisions have already occurred,” wrote Michael Dominguez, former senior Defense Department official who served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force and DOD Executive Agent for Space. Even one collision can produce a dangerous debris field that can cripple a range of critical capabilities upon which we depend, such as global communications and navigation, and endanger the astronauts stationed in the International Space Station. In addition, the financial consequences could be monumental.
Dominguez was chair of the five-member NAPA panel which also had former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and former NRO Director Martin Faga.
