About the Office

The Office of Space Commercialization is a small, dynamic policy organization within NOAA and the Department of Commerce. It consists of a Director and a team of analysts and support staff, including:

In addition, the Office is responsible for hosting the National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing. This permanent, interagency staff is co-located with the Office of Space Commercialization at the Commerce Department headquarters (Herbert C. Hoover Building) in Washington, D.C.

Strategic Plan

Strategic plan cover The Office released a strategic plan in early 2007 that outlines its vision, mission, functions, objectives and outcomes, and plan of action based on inputs from stakeholders in the space commerce community. Download the strategic plan here.

Departmental Authority

Secretary of Commerce William Verity established the original "Office of Space Commerce" on December 2, 1988, through Department Organization Order 15-19. The Office operated within the Office of the Secretary until 1996, when Secretary Mickey Kantor moved it to the Technology Administration and renamed it the "Office of Air and Space Commercialization" (Department Organization Order 10-17). Following congressional action in 1998 (see below), the Office adopted the name "Office of Space Commercialization."

The Office moved from the Technology Administration to NOAA in 2005 to comply with additional congressional direction. The relevant Department Organizational Orders were amended to reflect the change in 2007. The Office now appears under Department Organizational Order 25-5 signed by NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher.

SECTION 9. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA AND INFORMATION SERVICE.

.10 The Office of Space Commercialization shall be the principal unit for space commerce policy activities within NOAA and the Department. The Office shall:

a. coordinate space commerce policy issues and actions within NOAA and the Department;

b. represent the Department in the development of U.S. policies and in negotiations with foreign countries to promote U.S. space commerce;

c. assist commercial space companies in their efforts to do business with the U.S. Government, and act as industry's advocate within the Executive Branch to ensure the Government meets its space-related requirements, to the maximum practical extent, with commercially available space goods and services, consistent with national security;

d. work to ensure the U.S. Government does not engage in space-related activities that preclude, deter, or compete with U.S. commercial space activities unless required by national security or public safety;

e. promote and coordinate increased U.S. private sector participation in the design and development of U.S. Government space systems and infrastructures, and encourage U.S. Government agencies to make space activities, technology, and infrastructure available for private use to the maximum practical extent;

f. seek the removal of legal, policy, and institutional impediments to space commerce;

g. collect, analyze, and disseminate information on space markets, and conduct workshops and seminars to increase awareness of opportunities to promote private sector investment in U.S. space commerce; and

h. implement the Department's responsibilities to support the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Executive Committee and its Coordination Office.

Legislative Authority

Legislation concerning the Office of Space Commercialization was enacted in 1998 (Public Law 105-309). The language appears within Title 15 of the United States Code. It was amended in 2002 (P.L. 107-305) and 2004 (P.L. 108-447).

Sec. 1511e. Office of Space Commercialization

(a) Establishment

There is established within the the Department of Commerce an Office of Space Commercialization (referred to in this section as the "Office").

(b) Director

The Office shall be headed by a Director, who shall be a senior executive and shall be compensated at a level in the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5 as determined by the Secretary of Commerce.

(c) Functions of Office; duties of Director

The Office shall be the principal unit for the coordination of space-related issues, programs, and initiatives within the Department of Commerce. The primary responsibilities of the Director, in carrying out the functions of the Office, shall include -

(1) promoting commercial provider investment in space activities by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information on space markets, and conducting workshops and seminars to increase awareness of commercial space opportunities;

(2) assisting United States commercial providers in the efforts of those providers to conduct business with the United States Government;

(3) acting as an industry advocate within the executive branch of the Federal Government to ensure that the Federal Government meets the space-related requirements of the Federal Government, to the fullest extent feasible, using commercially available space goods and services;

(4) ensuring that the United States Government does not compete with United States commercial providers in the provision of space hardware and services otherwise available from United States commercial providers;

(5) promoting the export of space-related goods and services;

(6) representing the Department of Commerce in the development of United States policies and in negotiations with foreign countries to ensure free and fair trade internationally in the area of space commerce; and

(7) seeking the removal of legal, policy, and institutional impediments to space commerce.

Additional Information

To contact the Office, please see the information below.