Public registry of US space objects expected to be online in weeks

A database of objects launched by the United States into space is expected to be launched  soon, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

The database stems from the government’s compliance with the 1976 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space and is meant to display space items that the U.S. has already registered with the United Nations. The database is maintained by the State Department’s Office of Space Affairs, though registries to it are sometimes reviewed by the UN Office of Space Affairs. 

NOAA is responsible for publishing that registry and has already made the data available to its employees through its environmental records management system.

“The data in the registry includes basic orbital parameters, a description of the object, and classification. The coverage includes United States low earth orbit, medium earth orbit, geosynchronous earth orbit, lunar rovers, heliocentric, and extended orbit,” states the NOAA site. 

The registry was supposed to be made public earlier this year. Still, a NOAA website shows that the data isn’t available yet — and an employee at the agency told FedScoop that it’s now expected to come online in a few weeks. 

According to the UN, about 88 percent of space objects, including satellites and landers, are logged by its registry. 

The purpose of the database, the UN says, is to help facilitate conversations around outer space law and international space issues. As Earth’s orbit, and even the lunar surface, see more activity, the database helps track which countries “bear international responsibility and liability for space objects.”