Office of Space Commerce

May this Thanksgiving bring you a sense of peace and gratitude. #HappyThanksgiving

CONTRACT AWARD: OSC announces the selection of Slingshot Aerospace to provide the Presentation Layer for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (#TraCSS). This $5.3 million effort includes provisioning a new TraCSS.gov website and user experience to enable widespread access to space situational awareness (SSA) data and services. Read more: https://lnkd.in/edCMqA7T

OSC's Richard DalBello and Mariel Borowitz are at the World Economic Forum's newly launched Saudi Arabia Centre for Space Futures in Riyadh, joining global partners to brainstorm solutions for space sustainability. This event took place on the sidelines of the International Telecommunication Union’s International Forum on #ConnectingfromtheSkies.

#NEWS: Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce has finalized two separate awards under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. The Department awarded BAE Systems Electronic Systems, a business unit of BAE Systems, Inc., up to $35.5 million in direct funding, and awarded Rocket Lab, the parent company of space power provider SolAero Technologies Corp., up to $23.9 million in direct funding. https://lnkd.in/eGQVxwz7

The video recording and materials from our November 19 #TraCSS listening session are available at https://lnkd.in/e7GhnnFj We will accept written feedback on the presented information through December 3, 2024.

Monday at the Saudi Arabia Centre for Space Futures, OSC's Richard DalBello and Mariel Borowitz will join a World Economic Forum roundtable discussion on next steps for global space data sharing and traffic coordination to address the risk of space debris. #SpaceTrafficCoordination

Intern Insight #11 by OSC’s student intern Chad McElroy: In September, I was fortunate enough to attend the American Bar Association’s Aviation & Aerospace Law Conference and hear a keynote speech by Gabriel Swiney, OSC’s Policy, Advocacy, and International Division (PAID) Director. I was previously unaware that the issue of insurance was a crucial, ongoing discussion in the field of space policy. Commercial enterprises often purchase insurance for their missions to mitigate the financial risks of spaceflight. For the government, on the other hand, “insurance” is essentially provided by the American taxpayer via replacement missions. I learned there are a moderate number of insurance providers supporting a market of about $500 million for insuring commercial satellites. However, as programs such as NASA’s Commercial LEO Destinations ramp up, commercial entities are expected to manufacture spacecraft that are more expensive than ever. There may be single-launch commercial missions costing over $1 billion. This imbalance of supply and demand presents an issue not only for commercial enterprises seeking to insure their missions, but also for Congress and government agencies who may seek to support the space insurance industry.

"We need multilateral cooperation in its many forms... to set the stage for space activities. We need a basic understanding of how we can work together -- be it sharing information, providing mutual support in times of crisis, managing new and possibly dangerous technology, or establishing norms for trade." –Rose Croshier of the Office of Space Commerce, speaking virtually at the Africa Space Generation workshop on capacity building for sustainable development #AFSGW2024 | Space Generation Advisory Council

Now #hiring: Future Capabilities Lead for TraCSS. Perform systems engineering functions related to the identification of future needs, overseeing fundamental and applied research to explore new capabilities, and overseeing development, testing, and transition of new capabilities for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) Space Situational Awareness (SSA) mission. GS-13/14 equivalent. On-site. Apply by Dec 3: https://lnkd.in/g4cBmzRf

Tomorrow OSC's Christine Joseph addresses the #AuSDASTM2024 conference, highlighting progress on our Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) and opportunities for international coordination of space situational awareness (SSA) data. #SpaceTrafficCoordination