Key Points
- Hundreds of companies, including SpaceX and Amazon, are fighting proposed budget cuts that would end a space traffic control program.
- The program, called TraCSS, is designed to be a civilian system to prevent satellites from colliding in orbit.
- Companies believe a basic safety system is a government responsibility and that the U.S. will lose its leadership role without it.
- The Pentagon currently handles space tracking, but the Trump administration initiated the transition to a civilian agency.
Hundreds of U.S. companies, from major names like SpaceX and Amazon to smaller startups, are urging Congress to preserve a crucial government program: an air traffic control system for space. They are pushing back against a White House budget proposal that would effectively kill the project.
The plan involves an 84% budget cut to the Office of Space Commerce, a small federal agency. This would shut down its Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS. The system is designed to track thousands of satellites and pieces of space junk, helping to prevent disastrous collisions in Earth’s increasingly crowded orbit.
In a joint letter, 450 companies warned senators that without this system, operating in space would become riskier and more expensive. They argued it could even force American companies to move their operations overseas.
Experts also warn that if the U.S. scraps its system, it will lose its leadership role in setting global safety rules. Other powers, like Europe and China, are already developing their traffic control systems.
The budget document argues that private companies can manage space traffic independently. However, the industry strongly disagrees, stating that a basic safety service like this is a fundamental job for the government.
Ironically, the move to create a civilian space traffic system was initiated by the first Trump administration to alleviate the burden on the Pentagon. The Pentagon has long tracked space objects, but both the military and the industry agree that a civilian agency should handle this safety role to avoid mixing military and civilian interests.
