Space commerce official says TraCSS work continues despite budget uncertainty

A federal official overseeing a Department of Commerce system to prevent satellite collisions said that platform is making progress, as several House lawmakers questioned whether the agency’s fiscal 2027 budget request provides sufficient funding for that work.

During a Wednesday hearing before the space- and aeronautics-focused subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Office of Space Commerce Director Taylor Jordan said the agency is continuing work on the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) with fiscal 2026 appropriations. 

That includes onboarding satellite operators and containerizing its code, while simultaneously exploring options for the program’s future structure and funding, Jordan said.

“The question is not should we provide [space situational awareness] data, it’s how do we do that as a federal government?” Jordan said in response to questions about sufficient funding from Rep. Valerie Foushee, D-N.C., the ranking member of the subcommittee. 

The inquiries about the funding and status of the system — primarily from subcommittee Democrats — came after the Trump administration fiscal 2027 budget request sought $11 million for OSC. That’s a roughly 80% decrease from its enacted level of $52.5 million in 2026. 

“Inexplicably, the administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request does not propose funding to continue the TraCSS project. Don’t we have to worry about the potential [of] collision in space, especially as orbits become increasingly congested?” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the ranking member of the full committee, asked in her opening statement.

The TraCSS tool is designed to provide space situational awareness data to support safe spaceflight, specifically preventing events like satellite collisions. While President Donald Trump’s administration has sought funding cuts for OSC in its second term, the program is the result of a 2018 Trump directive.

Absence of funding for the Commerce office has, in the past, led to widespread industry pushback. A previous request to slash funding for that office in fiscal 2026 drew ire of multiple space, satellite, and defense companies, who argued the lack of support could put missions at risk.

Despite decreased funding requests for fiscal 2027 and no mention of TraCSS, Jordan told lawmakers the budget does allow for continuation of the program. “In the FY 27 president’s budget request for the Office of Space Commerce, we do continue the work of our TraCSS system,” Jordan said to Foushee. 

Per Foushee’s inquiry, there are currently 62 pilot users and more than 11,000 satellites for the program.

Discussions about TraCSS were a secondary line of inquiry in a hearing that was primarily about OSC’s proposal for a centralized certification process for space commerce. Other exchanges about TraCSS revealed the agency is exploring various options for structure and financial backing.

In response to questions from Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., Jordan suggested the agency is weighing whether the program could be a contractor-owned model, a data-as-a-service solution, or a government system. Meanwhile on funding, Jordan told lawmakers the agency is exploring a fee-based system or other type of collaboration with industry. 

Jordan also told Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., there’s room for conversations with industry about functions for TraCSS that would expand on its initial mission. 

“So the basic function of the system we’re creating is collision avoidance. Are there other capabilities that could be built on top of that? Sure, there could be,” Jordan said. He added that he’s open to conversations about that question with industry and the interagency community. 

“Should the federal government provide additional services on top of the basic safety services, or should that be left to the private sector as well to provide those capabilities on top of the existing platform that we’re creating?” Jordan said.

In response to the hearing, an industry source who spoke to FedScoop anonymously to be more candid, said Jordan’s comments echo what industry has been hearing for months about alternative funding models and program structures. 

Commercial entities are waiting on the agency to make a decision to clear up the uncertainty about the program’s future, the source said. They added that they’re hopeful a decision will get made in time for the fiscal 2028 budget submission, but cautioned that even that window will close soon. 

The industry source also noted that while the program is considered to be in a pilot phase still, it is essentially operational. OSC could claim that achievement by calling it operational, and it’s not clear why they haven’t, the source said.