Astroscale U.S. Comment to the Office of Space Commerce on Scope of Civil Space Situational Awareness Services
On February 27, 2023, Astroscale continued its legacy as a space sustainability thought leader by providing input to the Office of Space Commerce’s second Request for Information regarding the development of a Civil Space Situational Awareness Service. Astroscale is please to see that the overwhelming majority of the forty-five commenters supported establishment of such a service. Moreover, many commenters are aligned with Astroscale’s position that most of the proposed “free of fee” services strike a strong balance between protecting commercial interest and promoting good stewardship of Earth’s orbital environment.
Despite the welcomed alignment between operators, Astroscale, as one of only two ISAM operators, was able to provide unique input regarding how the proposed system should operate during rendezvous and proximity operations. Namely, Astroscale was the only commenter to suggest a “toggle” feature to prevent the production of false-positive conjunction messages during servicing operations. This feature is critical to ensuring that operators do not become desensitized to conjunction notices and will immediately take action to remedy any notice received.
Astroscale thanks the Office of Space Commerce for its continued dedication in developing a safer orbital environment and hopes that these Comments will assist it in building a Civil Space Situational Awareness Service that will serve owners, operators, and space infrastructure for decades to come.
Find our full Comment here.
