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Hundreds of US space companies are sounding an urgent alarm over the government’s proposal to cut funding for a planned space traffic co-ordination system designed to prevent collisions in orbit.
Seven trade organisations representing more than 450 US space-related companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, sent a letter to congressional leaders warning that slashing funding by nearly 85 per cent for the Office of Space Commerce would jeopardise safety in space.
“This is an issue of the greatest concern,” said Tom Stroup, head of the Satellite Industry Association, which represents the world’s biggest operators and manufacturers and was one of the letter’s signatories.
“It would be one thing if the industry were growing at the rate of 10 years ago, when we were putting a handful of satellites into space. Instead we are adding thousands. It is an especially risky time.”
Concerns are growing globally over the rapid expansion of so-called mega constellations such as Elon Musk’s Starlink, which in five years has put more than 7,000 satellites into low Earth orbit to provide connectivity to the remotest places on the planet.
Amazon has begun launching its own broadband constellation, Project Kuiper, which aims to have 3,000 satellites in orbit, while Chinese companies are planning at least two constellations with a combined 26,000 satellites.
Managing this traffic to avoid collisions is becoming increasingly complex. Hugh Lewis, professor of astronautics at the University of Southampton, recently calculated that the number of Starlink manoeuvres has increased by 200 per cent in the six months to the end of May over the previous six months.
In the letters, which were also shared with defence secretary Pete Hegseth and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, organisations representing satellite manufacturers and operators, space tracking companies and defence and security groups, warn of the risks of defunding the OSC and its Traffic Coordination System for Space, known as Tracss.
The letters state: “Without funding for space traffic co-ordination, US commercial and government satellite operators would face greater risks — putting critical missions in harm’s way, raising the cost of doing business, and potentially driving US industry to relocate overseas.”
The OSC budget last year was about $65mn. Congress has proposed cutting this to $10mn next year.
The OSC was months away from fully deploying Tracss, which is in beta testing with a number of satellite operators. It has been working towards this since 2018, but Congress did not authorise funding for the system until 2023.
In the 2026 budget proposal, the government said the delay in implementing Tracss meant the private sector had now “proven that they have the capability and the business model to provide civil operators with space situational awareness and space traffic management data”.
The White House on Tuesday said: “Private sector solutions at this point look significantly more promising and efficient to address Tracss purpose.”
Several industry executives said it was far too early for the government to step away.
Stroup said: “They are looking to private industry to take on the whole role [of space traffic co-ordination] but no one has been identified to do that or indeed [identified] the funding for that.”
Industry executives were also exercised by the budget implication that the US government could cede all responsibility for the service.
Audrey Schaffer, vice-president at Slingshot Aerospace, a space tracking company, said: “Tracss is a space traffic co-ordination system akin to the air traffic control that the Federal Aviation Administration runs for the airline industry in the US.”
Without a space traffic co-ordination capability, the US would have less influence in setting global standards for the safe operation in space, she said.
Additional reporting by James Politi in Washington
