The Office of Space Commerce is finally on the cusp of beta testing its Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS), a U.S. government initiative six years in the making.
The upcoming test will be a moment of truth for TraCSS, a cloud-based system being developed to provide basic space situational awareness and space traffic coordination services for civil and commercial space operators. The TraCSS project has lagged behind initial timelines, and according to a senior OSC official, its biggest challenges lie not in the complexities of orbital tracking, but in navigating the maze of government bureaucracy.
“This is a pretty tough program,” said Janice Starzyk, deputy director of the Commerce Department’s Office of Space Commerce.
TraCSS is the linchpin for shifting space traffic coordination from the Department of Defense to Commerce, a move mandated by a 2018 presidential directive. This transition is crucial not only for fulfilling government objectives but also for fostering a vibrant commercial space services industry that can offer advanced capabilities beyond the basic, free government offerings.
Speaking at the recent Milsatcom USA conference, Starzyk said the initial version of TraCSS will rely on DoD data, and it is still unclear how the OSC will acquire and integrate commercial data. Another unsolved task is establishing universal standards for space conjunction data. Currently, warnings about potential satellite collisions can vary depending on whether they come from the DoD, the European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) or commercial entities. “From a technical perspective, we are really challenged on a daily basis as we move forward with the system,” said Starzyk.
SLOWLY TAKING SHAPE
The primary TraCSS operations center is being set up in Boulder, Colorado, and is expected to be up and running by the end of the year. The beta “Phase 1” version that selected users will be able to test…
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