SSA Coordination in Focus at 69th Session of UN COPUOS

In June, staff from the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) – including OSC’s Director of Policy, Advocacy, and International Affairs, Gabriel Swiney, and Head of International SSA Coordination, Dr. Mariel Borowitz, participated as members of the United States Delegation at the 69th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

A major highlight of OSC’s technical engagement was a presentation delivered by Dr. Borowitz on behalf of the United States, providing an overview of and status update on TraCSS (the Traffic Coordination System for Space).

OSC is developing TraCSS to provide basic space situational awareness (SSA) data and services to U.S. and foreign civil and private space operators in support of spaceflight safety. Earlier this year, TraCSS began onboarding foreign “National Government Accounts,” a major milestone toward realizing the Office’s “Vision for Global Space Situational Awareness Coordination.”

View OSC’s COPUOS presentation:

SSA Expert Group Presents Draft Recommendations

During this year’s COPUOS session, the “Expert Group on Space Situational Awareness of the Working Group on the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities,” (SSA Expert Group) presented draft recommendations on operational information sharing parameters identified as minimal requirements to prevent collisions in space.

The SSA Expert Group, established in 2025, is focused on studying approaches to enhance international cooperation and information exchange regarding space traffic.

The draft recommendations presented at the 69th COPUOS session included:

• Recommendation 1: Encourage spacecraft operators to share their contact information with appropriate SSA systems

• Recommendation 2: Encourage spacecraft operators to share, on a voluntary and mutually accepted basis, their orbital information and satellite attributes with existing SSA systems and/or other operators on a national, regional and/or international level, as appropriate.

According to the Expert Group’s workplan, the group will finalize, consolidate, and present its recommendations throughout 2027.

Read the Expert Group’s draft recommendations:

For more information about the 69th Session of UN COPUOS, visit the Committee’s webpage here.

For more information about the “Expert Group on Space Situational Awareness,” visit the Expert Group’s webpage here.