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Space: The Final Frontier for Standards
Wrapped snugly in a custom container, seven carefully chosen materials left Earth on Aug. 24, 2025, traveling at 17,500 mph. Nestled at the top of a Falcon 9 rocket, house dust, freeze-dried human liver and …
Category: Space Industrial Base
The National Space Policy emphasizes the importance of sustaining a healthy and robust U.S. space industrial base. It directs federal agencies to “help ensure the availability of space-related industrial capabilities in support of critical government functions” and to “establish standards, seek to create opportunities for the current space workforce, and implement measures to develop, maintain, and retain skilled space professionals, including engineering and scientific personnel and experienced space system developers and operators, in government and commercial workforces.”
The Department of Commerce is involved in various efforts to monitor and improve the health of the U.S. space industrial base.
NASA Seeks Feedback on Civil Space Technology Shortfalls
Background: NASA is refining its strategy for prioritizing technology investments to evolve into a stronger and more resilient tech base for civil space. NASA has identified a list of 32 technology shortfalls – technology areas requiring further …
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OSC Seeks Input Regarding U.S.-India Space Commerce
The Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is seeking U.S. stakeholder perspectives and feedback regarding the regulation and competitiveness of U.S. space businesses in the Indian market. This information will support U.S. government preparation for the …
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President Trump Signs Executive Order on Ensuring American Space Superiority
On December 18, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order that sets a bold vision for an America First space policy, ensuring the United States leads the world in space exploration, security, and commerce. …
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OSC & CCIA Host “Shaping the Future of Space” Roundtable Discussion
On September 2nd, the NOAA Office of Space Commerce (OSC) and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) convened a “Shaping the Future of Space” roundtable event, bringing together leaders in government and the U.S. …
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Breaking Ground on Space Research: OSC & NIST Partner with Rhodium Scientific to Study Space-Flown Reference Materials
In the early morning hours of Sunday, August 24, 2025, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center. Onboard this NASA Commercial Resupply Services-33 flight was a wide array of reference materials – …
OSC Hosts Circular Space Economy Seminar
Today, the NOAA Office of Space Commerce kicked off the second seminar in our “Circular Space Economy” series, co-hosted with the National Institute of Standards and Technology. For more information about this event, visit the …
OSC Strengthens Partnerships at Space Symposium 2025
From April 7 – 10, the Office of Space Commerce attended the 2025 Space Symposium as part of a NOAA delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for International and Space Affairs Juan Caro and …
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Commerce Announces CHIPS Awards Supporting Space and Defense Industries
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce has finalized two separate awards under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. The Department awarded BAE Systems Electronic Systems, a …
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OSC Publishes Space Industry Technical Standards Compendium
The Office of Space Commerce has published a compendium of space industry technical standards, including standards relevant to space situational awareness and space traffic coordination. To foster economic growth and technological advancement of the U.S. …
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Remarks from SATELLITE 2023 Luncheon
On March 15, 2023, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves delivered the Wednesday luncheon keynote speech at the SATELLITE 2023 conference in Washington, D.C. He provided an update on the Commerce Department’s progress in implementing …
Commerce, NASA Begin U.S. Civil Space Industrial Base Assessment
Today, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced it is conducting a comprehensive assessment of the U.S. civil space industrial base in partnership with NASA and NOAA. The Office of Space Commerce …
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Space Commerce in DOC’s Strategic Plan for 2022-2026
Cover of the DOC Strategic Plan for 2022-2026
Today, the Department of Commerce released its updated Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. Strategic Objective 1.7 of the plan is to “Advance U.S. leadership in the global commercial space industry.” View the strategic plan (16 MB …
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Executive Order on Small Modular Reactors for Defense and Space
On January 12, 2021, President Trump issued Executive Order 13972 on Promoting Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration. View order at federalregister.gov The Executive Order will further revitalize the U.S. nuclear energy …
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President Trump Issues New National Space Policy
Today, the White House released President Donald Trump’s National Space Policy providing direction for all United States space activities. View policy at archives.gov (1.3 MB PDF) View White House fact sheet View statement from the President …
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President Signs Space Cybersecurity Policy Directive
Today, President Donald J. Trump issued Space Policy Directive-5 (SPD-5), the Nation’s first comprehensive cybersecurity policy for space systems. View SPD-5 at archives.gov View fact sheet at archives.gov (PDF) SPD-5 establishes key cybersecurity principles to …
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Results of U.S. Space Industry “Deep Dive” Assessment
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has completed its analysis of the data collected through its “Deep Dive” survey of the U.S. space industrial base. BIS has begun publishing publicly available reports …
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President Issues New Space Transportation Policy
On November 21, President Obama signed an updated National Space Transportation Policy providing guidance to federal departments and agencies on the development and use of commercial and governmental space transportation systems. The goal of the …
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NASA Industrial Base Study Results
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security released its report on the “National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Human Space Flight Industrial Base in the Post-Space Shuttle/Constellation Environment.” The report’s representative survey sample consists …
Survey of NASA Industrial Base for Shuttle and Constellation
In July 2010, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) initiated an assessment of the U.S. industrial base that supports NASA. The goal is to understand the impacts resulting from both the retirement …
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New Presidential Space Policy
Today, President Obama issued a National Space Policy directive providing comprehensive guidance for all government activities in space, including the commercial, civil, and national security space sectors. The new policy leans farther forward in support …
NRO Industrial Base Report to Congress
On June 25, 2010, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) submitted a report to Congress on the health of the U.S. space industrial and supplier base. The report identifies many challenges faced by the second and …
2010 International Commercial Remote Sensing Symposium
March 3-5, 2010 Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, D.C. The Office of Space Commercialization partnered with the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) to organize this international symposium on satellite-based commercial remote sensing. …
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Defense Industrial Base Assessment of the U.S. Space Industry
In 2007, the National Security Space Office (NSSO) and the Air Force partnered with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to conduct a comprehensive survey of the U.S. space industrial base. The …
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