BREMEN, Germany — The White House has unveiled its long-awaited proposal for regulating novel commercial space activities, splitting those responsibilities between the Commerce and Transportation Departments.
The National Space Council released a draft bill or “legislative proposal” Nov. 15 that would give the two departments the authority to authorize and oversee activities not currently licensed by other agencies, like launches, satellite communications and commercial remote sensing. Such oversight is required to comply with the “authorization and continuing supervision” provision of Article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty.
Rather than giving that authority to a single agency, the proposal would divide those responsibilities between two departments, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Commerce (DOC).
DOT, through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, would handle oversight of human spaceflight activities beyond its current role in launch and reentry. It would license all other human spaceflight activities, including commercial space stations and missions to the moon and other celestial bodies. That office would also regulate in-space transportation, such as orbital transfer vehicles, through a new “in-space transportation license.”
DOC’s Office of Space Commerce, which handles commercial remote sensing regulations, would expand its oversight to other uncrewed spacecraft not regulated by DOT. That would include the emerging field of in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) and debris removal.
That office is also developing a civil space traffic coordination system, taking over that work from the Defense Department. The proposed bill would formally authorize that work and direct the two departments to take space sustainability into account as part of the licensing process. The bill also requires the departments to coordinate with other agencies…
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