The Trump administration has proposed to slash the Office of Space Commerce budget from $65 million to $10 million in fiscal year 2026 and completely end funding for the civilian space traffic control program, TraCSS. This has sparked resistance from more than 450 industry companies and the US Space Force Command, Arc Technica reports.
Seven industry associations representing more than 450 companies have sent letters to Congress urging the preservation of TraCSS. The signatories include SpaceX, Amazon, OneWeb, Iridium, SES, Planet Labs, Intelsat and other satellite megaconstellation operators who see the project's premature end as a threat.
TraCSS (Traffic Coordination System for Space) is designed to collect and process data on satellite and space debris movements from various sources — government and commercial — and send warnings about collision risks. The system entered beta testing in 2023 and was scheduled to launch in 2026. It is currently operating with over 1,000 satellites, and recently announced integration with over 7,000 Starlink devices.
The US Space Force now sends out collision warnings daily, at up to a million messages a day. The command has repeatedly expressed a desire to transfer this function to a civilian agency in order to focus on military missions, including responding to potential threats from hostile satellites.
Former head of Space Operations Command, Colonel Raj Agarwal, said that abandoning TraCSS risks mixing military and civilian missions. According to him, the civilian structure should take care of safe traffic, while the defense forces should protect national security.
Instead, the White House budget justification states that private industry is already capable of providing similar services: from free basic surveillance to paid ones.
In response, industry associations warn that if space control returns to the military, it will not only increase the burden on the army, but could also undermine international trust in the United States in the formation of space norms.
The Office of Space Commerce is part of the US Department of Commerce and has existed since the 1980s. The first version of the TraCSS system was initiated back in 2018 during Trump's first term. The administration now considers it unnecessary.