Overview

• The White House’s FY2026 budget proposal would slash NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce funding from $65 million to $10 million, effectively terminating the Traffic Coordination System for Space.
• More than 450 companies across seven industry associations have petitioned lawmakers to reverse the cuts to preserve a free civilian service for collision alerts.
• TraCSS, launched in 2018 and in beta testing since 2024, centralizes data from the Department of Defense and private operators to coordinate low Earth orbit traffic.
• Experts caution that dismantling the civilian program would hand space situational awareness back to the Pentagon, blurring safety functions with military objectives.
• Analysts warn that without a U.S. civilian coordinator, global space traffic management could splinter and cede leadership to China and Europe amid growing orbital congestion.