Secure World: Axing TraCSS Jeopardizes Space Economy Growth
The Commerce Department's FY 2026 budget request threatens the continued growth of the space economy and U.S. leadership in promoting safe and responsible space use, the Secure World Foundation wrote Thursday. The budget proposal would greatly reduce funding for the…
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Office of Space Commerce and kill its Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS). The foundation said commercial space situational awareness (SSA) providers can't fill all the gaps left by ending TraCSS. While commercial SSA providers have developed observation and tracking capabilities and advanced analytics to assess possible conjunctions, it's questionable whether space safety should be delegated to the private sector, Secure World said. Many commercial SSA services are designed for DOD requirements and missions, so it's unclear whether they will be appropriate for civil and commercial space safety needs, it said. The U.S. government has freely provided space safety data to all operators globally since 2009 because it benefited the U.S. to have a stable, predictable space environment, the group noted. That, in turn, promoted the U.S. as a leading space power, and TraCSS would help the country maintain that position, it added.