TraCSS visual. Photo: NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce

NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) placed new orders for commercial space situational awareness (SSA) data and services. NOAA placed orders with all companies participating in its pathfinder program COMSPOC, Kayhan Space, LeoLabs, Slingshot Aerospace, and SpaceNav. 

This is the second Consolidated Pathfinder order for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS), which is a commercial pathfinder project to support space situational awareness (SSA) services. TraCSS is part of a years-long effort for OSC to take over SSA services from the U.S. Department of Defense. 

The new orders bring the total amount that OSC is spending over the course of the Consolidated Pathfinder to $15.5 million. It also extends the pathfinder’s live data collection period to June 30, 2024.

OSC said the extension allows the team and pathfinder companies to gather additional data, improve performance and conduct analysis. The pathfinder’s primary goal is to validate metrics for the operational TraCSS system. 

“Today’s announcement is a positive development towards ensuring the U.S. Traffic Coordination System for Space meets the safety needs of the growing space economy,” commented LeoLabs CEO Tony Frazier. “LeoLabs is proud to deliver our commercial expertise, data, and services to this monumental effort to rapidly deploy a U.S. civil space traffic coordination system.”