To promote space safety and provide for policy, planning, and agency roles and responsibilities for the transition to a civil space situational awareness capability of certain space situational awareness activities, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · September 13, 2023
Referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
This bill shifts responsibility for providing space situational awareness services from the Department of Defense to the Department of Commerce. Space situational awareness involves tracking and characterizing objects in orbit, including satellites and debris, and providing information that helps prevent collisions in space. The legislation authorizes approximately $140 million in funding for the Department of Commerce and NASA over fiscal years 2024 and 2025 to support this transition. It requires federal agencies to develop a detailed transition plan within six months and establish a working group to oversee the shift, with a deadline of December 31, 2026 for the Department of Commerce to publicly deploy these services. The bill also mandates research into improving space situational awareness, development of cybersecurity protections, and studies on international cooperation and space traffic coordination, affecting both government agencies and the commercial space industry.
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