118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3658
AN ACT
To promote space situational awareness and space traffic coordination and to modify the functions and leadership of the Office of Space Commerce, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Situational Awareness of Flying Elements in Orbit Act
or the SAFE Orbit Act
.
Space situational awareness and space traffic coordination
In general
The Secretary of Commerce shall facilitate safe operations in space and encourage the development of commercial space capabilities by acquiring and disseminating unclassified data, analytics, information, and services on space activities.
Immunity
The United States, any agencies and instrumentalities thereof, and any individuals, firms, corporations, and other persons acting for the United States, including nongovernmental entities, shall be immune from any suit in any court for any cause of action arising from the provision or receipt of space situational awareness services or information, whether or not provided in accordance with this section, or any related action or omission.
Acquisition of data
The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce (established under section 50702(b) of title 51, United States Code, as amended by section 3) is authorized to acquire—
data, analytics, information, and services, including with respect to—
location tracking data;
positional and orbit determination information; and
conjunction data messages; and
such other data, analytics, information, and services as the Secretary of Commerce determines necessary to avoid collisions of space objects.
Database on satellite location and behavior
The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce shall provide access for the public, at no charge, a fully updated, unclassified database of information concerning space objects and behavior that includes—
the data and information acquired under subsection (c), except to the extent that such data or information is classified or a trade secret (as defined in section 1839 of title 18, United States Code); and
the provision of basic space situational awareness services and space traffic coordination based on the data referred to in paragraph (1), including basic analytics, tracking calculations, and conjunction data messages.
Basic space situational awareness services
The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce—
shall provide to satellite operators, at no charge, basic space situational awareness services, including the data, analytics, information, and services described in subsection (c);
in carrying out paragraph (1), may not compete with private sector space situational awareness products, to the maximum extent practicable; and
not less frequently than every 3 years, shall review the basic space situational awareness services described in paragraph (1) to ensure that such services provided by the Federal Government do not compete with space situational awareness services offered by the private sector.
Requirements for data acquisition and dissemination
In acquiring data, analytics, information, and services under subsection (c) and disseminating data, analytics, information, and services under subsections (d) and (e), the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce shall—
leverage commercial capabilities to the maximum extent practicable;
prioritize the acquisition of data, analytics, information, and services from commercial industry located in or licensed in the United States to supplement data collected by United States Government agencies, including the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
appropriately protect proprietary data, information, and systems of firms located in the United States, including by using appropriate infrastructure and cybersecurity measures, including measures set forth in the most recent version of the Cybersecurity Framework, or successor document, maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology;
facilitate the development of standardization and consistency in data reporting, in collaboration with satellite owners and operators, commercial space situational awareness data and service providers, the academic community, nonprofit organizations, and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
encourage foreign governments to participate in unclassified data sharing arrangements for space situational awareness and space traffic coordination.
Other transaction authority
In carrying out the activities required by this section, the Secretary of Commerce shall enter into such contracts, leases, cooperative agreements, or other transactions as may be necessary.
Space object defined
In this section, the term space object means any object launched into space, or created in space, robotically or by humans, including an object’s component parts.
Office of Space Commerce
Definitions
In general
Section 50701 of title 51, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
Definitions
In this chapter:
Assistant Secretary
The term Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce.
Bureau
The term Bureau means the Bureau of Space Commerce established under section 50702.
Orbital debris
The term orbital debris—
means—
any human-made space object orbiting Earth that—
no longer serves an intended purpose;
has reached the end of its mission; or
is incapable of safe maneuver or operation; and
a rocket body and other hardware left in orbit as a result of normal launch and operational activities; and
includes fragmentation debris produced by failure or collision of human-made space objects.
Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce.
Space object
The term space object means any object launched into space or created in space robotically or by humans, including the component parts of such an object.
Space situational awareness
The term space situational awareness means—
the identification, characterization, tracking, and the predicted movement and behavior of space objects and orbital debris; and
the understanding of the space operational environment.
Space traffic coordination
The term space traffic coordination means the planning, assessment, and coordination of activities to enhance the safety, stability, and sustainability of operations in the space environment.
.
Clerical amendment
The table of sections for chapter 507 of title 51, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 50701 and inserting the following:
50701. Definitions.
.
Transition of Office to Bureau
Subsection (a) of section 50702 of title 51, United States Code, is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: , which, not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be elevated by the Secretary of Commerce from an office within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to a bureau reporting directly to the Office of the Secretary of Commerce
.
Additional functions of Bureau
Subsection (c) of such section is amended—
in paragraph (4), by striking ; and
and inserting a semicolon;
in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and
; and
by adding at the end the following:
to perform space situational awareness and space traffic management duties pursuant to the SAFE Orbit Act.
.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce
In general
Subsection (b) of such section is amended to read as follows:
Assistant Secretary
The Bureau shall be headed by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce, who shall—
be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate;
report directly to the Secretary of Commerce; and
have a rate of pay that is equal to the rate payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5.
.
Conforming amendments
Section 50702(d) of title 51, United States Code, is amended—
in the subsection heading, by striking Director
and inserting Assistant Secretary
; and
in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking Director
and inserting Assistant Secretary
.
Section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking Assistant Secretaries of Commerce (11)
and inserting Assistant Secretaries of Commerce (12)
.
References
On and after the date of the enactment of this Act, any reference in any law or regulation to the Director of the Office of Space Commerce shall be deemed to be a reference to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Commerce.
Transition report
In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that sets forth transition and continuity of operations plans for the functional and administrative transfer of the Office of Space Commerce from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to a bureau reporting to the Office of the Secretary of Commerce.
Goal
The goal of transition and continuity of operations planning shall be to minimize the cost and administrative burden of establishing the Bureau of Space Commerce while maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the functions and responsibilities of the Bureau of Space Commerce, in accordance with this section and the amendments made by this section.
Appropriate committees of Congress defined
In this subsection, the term appropriate committees of Congress means—
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
Passed the Senate December 21 (legislative day, December 16), 2024.
Secretary