Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 120 / Thursday, June 21, 2018 / Presidential Documents 28969 

Space Policy Directive–3 of June 18, 2018 

National Space Traffic Management Policy 

Memorandum for the Vice President[,] the Secretary of State[,] the Secretary of Defense[,] the Secretary of Commerce[,] the Secretary of 

Transportation[,] the Secretary of Homeland Security[,] the Director of 

National Intelligence[,] the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget[,] the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs[,] the 

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration[,] 

the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy[,] the Deputy 

Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism[, 

and] the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 

Section 1. Policy. For decades, the United States has effectively reaped 

the benefits of operating in space to enhance our national security, civil, 

and commercial sectors. Our society now depends on space technologies 

and space-based capabilities for communications, navigation, weather forecasting, and much more. Given the significance of space activities, the 

United States considers the continued unfettered access to and freedom 

to operate in space of vital interest to advance the security, economic prosperity, and scientific knowledge of the Nation. 

Today, space is becoming increasingly congested and contested, and that 

trend presents challenges for the safety, stability, and sustainability of U.S. 

space operations. Already, the Department of Defense (DoD) tracks over 

20,000 objects in space, and that number will increase dramatically as new, 

more capable sensors come online and are able to detect smaller objects. 

DoD publishes a catalog of space objects and makes notifications of potential 

conjunctions (that is, two or more objects coming together at the same 

or nearly the same point in time and space). As the number of space 

objects increases, however, this limited traffic management activity and architecture will become inadequate. At the same time, the contested nature 

of space is increasing the demand for DoD focus on protecting and defending 

U.S. space assets and interests. 

The future space operating environment will also be shaped by a significant 

increase in the volume and diversity of commercial activity in space. Emerging commercial ventures such as satellite servicing, debris removal, in-space 

manufacturing, and tourism, as well as new technologies enabling small 

satellites and very large constellations of satellites, are increasingly outpacing 

efforts to develop and implement government policies and processes to 

address these new activities. 

To maintain U.S. leadership in space, we must develop a new approach 

to space traffic management (STM) that addresses current and future operational risks. This new approach must set priorities for space situational 

awareness (SSA) and STM innovation in science and technology (S&T), 

incorporate national security considerations, encourage growth of the U.S. 

commercial space sector, establish an updated STM architecture, and promote 

space safety standards and best practices across the international community. 

The United States recognizes that spaceflight safety is a global challenge 

and will continue to encourage safe and responsible behavior in space 

while emphasizing the need for international transparency and STM data 

sharing. Through this national policy for STM and other national space 


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strategies and policies, the United States will enhance safety and ensure 

continued leadership, preeminence, and freedom of action in space. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this memorandum, the following 

definitions shall apply: 

(a) Space Situational Awareness shall mean the knowledge and characterization of space objects and their operational environment to support safe, 

stable, and sustainable space activities. 

(b) Space Traffic Management shall mean the planning, coordination, and 

on-orbit synchronization of activities to enhance the safety, stability, and 

sustainability of operations in the space environment. 

(c) Orbital debris, or space debris, shall mean any human-made space 

object orbiting Earth that no longer serves any useful purpose. 

Sec. 3. Principles. The United States recognizes, and encourages other nations 

to recognize, the following principles: 

(a) Safety, stability, and operational sustainability are foundational to space 

activities, including commercial, civil, and national security activities. It 

is a shared interest and responsibility of all spacefaring nations to create 

the conditions for a safe, stable, and operationally sustainable space environment. 

(b) Timely and actionable SSA data and STM services are essential to 

space activities. Consistent with national security constraints, basic U.S. 

Government-derived SSA data and basic STM services should be available 

free of direct user fees. 

(c) Orbital debris presents a growing threat to space operations. Debris 

mitigation guidelines, standards, and policies should be revised periodically, 

enforced domestically, and adopted internationally to mitigate the operational 

effects of orbital debris. 

(d) A STM framework consisting of best practices, technical guidelines, 

safety standards, behavioral norms, pre-launch risk assessments, and onorbit collision avoidance services is essential to preserve the space operational environment. 

Sec. 4. Goals. Consistent with the principles listed in section 3 of this 

memorandum, the United States should continue to lead the world in creating 

the conditions for a safe, stable, and operationally sustainable space environment. Toward this end, executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall 

pursue the following goals as required in section 6 of this memorandum: 

(a) Advance SSA and STM Science and Technology. The United States 

should continue to engage in and enable S&T research and development 

to support the practical applications of SSA and STM. These activities 

include improving fundamental knowledge of the space environment, such 

as the characterization of small debris, advancing the S&T of critical SSA 

inputs such as observational data, algorithms, and models necessary to improve SSA capabilities, and developing new hardware and software to support data processing and observations. 

(b) Mitigate the effect of orbital debris on space activities. The volume 

and location of orbital debris are growing threats to space activities. It 

is in the interest of all to minimize new debris and mitigate effects of 

existing debris. This fact, along with increasing numbers of active satellites, 

highlights the need to update existing orbital debris mitigation guidelines 

and practices to enable more efficient and effective compliance, and establish 

standards that can be adopted internationally. These trends also highlight 

the need to establish satellite safety design guidelines and best practices. 

(c) Encourage and facilitate U.S. commercial leadership in S&T, SSA, 

and STM. Fostering continued growth and innovation in the U.S. commercial 

space sector, which includes S&T, SSA, and STM activities, is in the national 

interest of the United States. To achieve this goal, the U.S. Government 

should streamline processes and reduce regulatory burdens that could inhibit 

commercial sector growth and innovation, enabling the U.S. commercial 


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sector to continue to lead the world in STM-related technologies, goods, 

data, and services on the international market. 

(d) Provide U.S. Government-supported basic SSA data and basic STM 

services to the public. The United States should continue to make available 

basic SSA data and basic STM services (including conjunction and reentry 

notifications) free of direct user fees while supporting new opportunities 

for U.S. commercial and non-profit SSA data and STM services. 

(e) Improve SSA data interoperability and enable greater SSA data sharing. 

SSA data must be timely and accurate. It is in the national interest of 

the United States to improve SSA data interoperability and enable greater 

SSA data sharing among all space operators, consistent with national security 

constraints. The United States should seek to lead the world in the development of improved SSA data standards and information sharing. 

(f) Develop STM standards and best practices. As the leader in space, 

the United States supports the development of operational standards and 

best practices to promote safe and responsible behavior in space. A critical 

first step in carrying out that goal is to develop U.S.-led minimum safety 

standards and best practices to coordinate space traffic. U.S. regulatory agencies should, as appropriate, adopt these standards and best practices in 

domestic regulatory frameworks and use them to inform and help shape 

international consensus practices and standards. 

(g) Prevent unintentional radio frequency (RF) interference. Growing orbital 

congestion is increasing the risk to U.S. space assets from unintentional 

RF interference. The United States should continue to improve policies, 

processes, and technologies for spectrum use (including allocations and 

licensing) to address these challenges and ensure appropriate spectrum use 

for current and future operations. 

(h) Improve the U.S. domestic space object registry. Transparency and 

data sharing are essential to safe, stable, and sustainable space operations. 

Consistent with national security constraints, the United States should 

streamline the interagency process to ensure accurate and timely registration 

submissions to the United Nations (UN), in accordance with our international 

obligations under the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into 

Outer Space. 

(i) Develop policies and regulations for future U.S. orbital operations. 

Increasing congestion in key orbits and maneuver-based missions such as 

servicing, survey, and assembly will drive the need for policy development 

for national security, civil, and commercial sector space activities. Consistent 

with U.S. law and international obligations, the United States should regularly assess existing guidelines for non-government orbital activities, and 

maintain a timely and responsive regulatory environment for licensing these 

activities. 

Sec. 5. Guidelines. In pursuit of the principles and goals of this policy, 

agencies should observe the following guidelines: 

(a) Managing the Integrity of the Space Operating Environment. 

(i) Improving SSA coverage and accuracy. Timely, accurate, and actionable 

data are essential for effective SSA and STM. The United States should 

seek to minimize deficiencies in SSA capability, particularly coverage 

in regions with limited sensor availability and sensitivity in detection 

of small debris, through SSA data sharing, the purchase of SSA data, 

or the provision of new sensors. 

New U.S. sensors are expected to reveal a substantially greater volume 

of debris and improve our understanding of space object size distributions 

in various regions of space. However, very small debris may not be sufficiently tracked to enable or justify actionable collision avoidance decisions. 

As a result, close conjunctions and even collisions with unknown objects 

are possible, and satellite operators often lack sufficient insight to assess 

their level of risk when making maneuvering decisions. The United States 

should develop better tracking capabilities, and new means to catalog such 


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debris, and establish a quality threshold for actionable collision avoidance 

warning to minimize false alarms. 

Through both Government and commercial sector S&T investment, the United 

States should advance concepts and capabilities to improve SSA in support 

of debris mitigation and collision avoidance decisions. 

(ii) Establishing an Open Architecture SSA Data Repository. Accurate and 

timely tracking of objects orbiting Earth is essential to preserving the 

safety of space activities for all. Consistent with section 2274 of title 

10, United States Code, a basic level of SSA data in the form of the 

publicly releasable portion of the DoD catalog is and should continue 

to be provided free of direct user fees. As additional sources of space 

tracking data become available, the United States has the opportunity 

to incorporate civil, commercial, international, and other available data 

to allow users to enhance and refine this service. To facilitate greater 

data sharing with satellite operators and enable the commercial development of enhanced space safety services, the United States must develop 

the standards and protocols for creation of an open architecture data 

repository. The essential features of this repository would include: 

• Data integrity measures to ensure data accuracy and availability; 

• Data standards to ensure sufficient quality from diverse sources; 

• Measures to safeguard proprietary or sensitive data, including national 

security information; 

• The inclusion of satellite owner-operator ephemerides to inform orbital 

location and planned maneuvers; and 

• Standardized formats to enable development of applications to leverage 

the data. 

To facilitate this enhanced data sharing, and in recognition of the need 

for DoD to focus on maintaining access to and freedom of action in space, 

a civil agency should, consistent with applicable law, be responsible for 

the publicly releasable portion of the DoD catalog and for administering 

an open architecture data repository. The Department of Commerce should 

be that civil agency. 

(iii) Mitigating Orbital Debris. It is in the interest of all space operators 

to minimize the creation of new orbital debris. Rapid international expansion of space operations and greater diversity of missions have rendered 

the current U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices 

(ODMSP) inadequate to control the growth of orbital debris. These standard 

practices should be updated to address current and future space operating 

environments. The United States should develop a new protocol of standard practices to set broader expectations of safe space operations in the 

21st century. This protocol should begin with updated ODMSP, but also 

incorporate sections to address operating practices for large constellations, 

rendezvous and proximity operations, small satellites, and other classes 

of space operations. These overarching practices will provide an avenue 

to promote efficient and effective space safety practices with U.S. industry 

and internationally. 

The United States should pursue active debris removal as a necessary longterm approach to ensure the safety of flight operations in key orbital regimes. 

This effort should not detract from continuing to advance international 

protocols for debris mitigation associated with current programs. 

(b) Operating in a Congested Space Environment. 

(i) Minimum Safety Standards and Best Practices. The creation of minimum 

standards for safe operation and debris mitigation derived in part from 

the U.S. Government ODMSP, but incorporating other standards and best 

practices, will best ensure the safe operation of U.S. space activities. 

These safety guidelines should consider maneuverability, tracking, reliability, and disposal. 

The United States should eventually incorporate appropriate standards and 

best practices into Federal law and regulation through appropriate rulemaking 


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or licensing actions. These guidelines should encompass protocols for all 

stages of satellite operation from design through end-of-life. 

Satellite and constellation owners should participate in a pre-launch certification process that should, at a minimum, consider the following factors: 

• Coordination of orbit utilization to prevent conjunctions; 

• Constellation owner-operators’ management of self-conjunctions; 

• Owner-operator notification of planned maneuvers and sharing of satellite orbital location data; 

• On-orbit tracking aids, including beacons or sensing enhancements, if 

such systems are needed; 

• Encryption of satellite command and control links and data protection 

measures for ground site operations; 

• Appropriate minimum reliability based on type of mission and phase 

of operations; 

• Effect on the national security or foreign policy interests of the United 

States, or international obligations; and 

• Self-disposal upon the conclusion of operational lifetime, or owneroperator provision for disposal using active debris removal methods. 

(ii) On-Orbit Collision Avoidance Support Service. Timely warning of 

potential collisions is essential to preserving the safety of space activities 

for all. Basic collision avoidance information services are and should 

continue to be provided free of direct user fees. The imminent activation 

of more sensitive tracking sensors is expected to reveal a significantly 

greater population of the existing orbital debris background as well as 

provide an improved ability to track currently catalogued objects. Current 

and future satellites, including large constellations of satellites, will operate 

in a debris environment much denser than presently tracked. Preventing 

on-orbit collisions in this environment requires an information service 

that shares catalog data, predicts close approaches, and provides actionable 

warnings to satellite operators. The service should provide data to allow 

operators to assess proposed maneuvers to reduce risk. To provide onorbit collision avoidance, the United States should: 

• Provide services based on a continuously updated catalog of satellite 

tracking data; 

• Utilize automated processes for collision avoidance; 

• Provide actionable and timely conjunction assessments; and 

• Provide data to operators to enable assessment of maneuver plans. 

To ensure safe coordination of space traffic in this future operating environment, and in recognition of the need for DoD to focus on maintaining 

access to and freedom of action in space, a civil agency should be the 

focal point for this collision avoidance support service. The Department 

of Commerce should be that civil agency. 

(c) Strategies for Space Traffic Management in a Global Context. 

(i) Protocols to Prevent Orbital Conjunctions. As increased satellite operations make lower Earth orbits more congested, the United States should 

develop a set of standard techniques for mitigating the collision risk 

of increasingly congested orbits, particularly for large constellations. Appropriate methods, which may include licensing assigned volumes for constellation operation and establishing processes for satellites passing through 

the volumes, are needed. The United States should explore strategies 

that will lead to the establishment of common global best practices, including: 

• A common process addressing the volume of space used by a large 

constellation, particularly in close proximity to an existing constellation; 

• A common process by which individual spacecraft may transit volumes 

used by existing satellites or constellations; and 


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• A set of best practices for the owner-operators of utilized volumes 

to minimize the long-term effects of constellation operations on the space 

environment (including the proper disposal of satellites, reliability standards, and effective collision avoidance). 

(ii) Radio Frequency Spectrum and Interference Protection. Space traffic 

and RF spectrum use have traditionally been independently managed processes. Increased congestion in key orbital regimes creates a need for improved and increasingly dynamic methods to coordinate activities in both 

the physical and spectral domains, and may introduce new interdependencies. U.S. Government efforts in STM should address the following 

spectrum management considerations: 

• Where appropriate, verify consistency between policy and existing national and international regulations and goals regarding global access to, 

and operation in, the RF spectrum for space services; 

• Investigate the advantages of addressing spectrum in conjunction with 

the development of STM systems, standards, and best practices; 

• Promote flexible spectrum use and investigate emerging technologies 

for potential use by space systems; and 

• Ensure spectrum-dependent STM components, such as inter-satellite 

safety communications and active debris removal systems, can successfully 

access the required spectrum necessary to their missions. 

(iii) Global Engagement. In its role as a major spacefaring nation, the 

United States should continue to develop and promote a range of norms 

of behavior, best practices, and standards for safe operations in space 

to minimize the space debris environment and promote data sharing and 

coordination of space activities. It is essential that other spacefaring nations 

also adopt best practices for the common good of all spacefaring states. 

The United States should encourage the adoption of new norms of behavior 

and best practices for space operations by the international community 

through bilateral and multilateral discussions with other spacefaring nations, and through U.S. participation in various organizations such as 

the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, International 

Standards Organization, Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems, 

and UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. 

Sec. 6. Roles and Responsibilities. In furtherance of the goals described 

in section 4 and the guidelines described in section 5 of this memorandum, 

agencies shall carry out the following roles and responsibilities: 

(a) Advance SSA and STM S&T. Members of the National Space Council, 

or their delegees, shall coordinate, prioritize, and advocate for S&T, SSA, 

and STM, as appropriate, as it relates to their respective missions. They 

should seek opportunities to engage with the commercial sector and academia 

in pursuit of this goal. 

(b) Mitigate the Effect of Orbital Debris on Space Activities. 

(i) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Administrator), in coordination with the Secretaries of State, 

Defense, Commerce, and Transportation, and the Director of National Intelligence, and in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), shall lead efforts to update the U.S. Orbital 

Debris Mitigation Standard Practices and establish new guidelines for 

satellite design and operation, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. 

(ii) The Secretaries of Commerce and Transportation, in consultation with 

the Chairman of the FCC, will assess the suitability of incorporating these 

updated standards and best practices into their respective licensing processes, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. 

(c) Encourage and Facilitate U.S. Commercial Leadership in S&T, SSA, 

and STM. The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretaries 

of Defense and Transportation, and the NASA Administrator, shall lead 


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efforts to encourage and facilitate continued U.S. commercial leadership 

in SSA, STM, and related S&T. 

(d) Provide U.S. Government-Derived Basic SSA Data and Basic STM 

Services to the Public. 

(i) The Secretaries of Defense and Commerce, in coordination with the 

Secretaries of State and Transportation, the NASA Administrator, and 

the Director of National Intelligence, should cooperatively develop a plan 

for providing basic SSA data and basic STM services either directly or 

through a partnership with industry or academia, consistent with the 

guidelines of sections 5(a)(ii) and 5(b)(ii) of this memorandum. 

(ii) The Secretary of Defense shall maintain the authoritative catalog of 

space objects. 

(iii) The Secretaries of Defense and Commerce shall assess whether statutory and regulatory changes are necessary to effect the plan developed 

under subsection (d)(i) of this section, and shall pursue such changes, 

along with any other needed changes, as appropriate. 

(e) Improve SSA Data Interoperability and Enable Greater SSA Data Sharing. 

(i) The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretaries of 

State, Defense, and Transportation, the NASA Administrator, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall develop standards and protocols for 

creation of an open architecture data repository to improve SSA data 

interoperability and enable greater SSA data sharing. 

(ii) The Secretary of Commerce shall develop options, either in-house 

or through partnerships with industry or academia, assessing both the 

technical and economic feasibility of establishing such a repository. 

(iii) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that release of data regarding 

national security activities to any person or entity with access to the 

repository is consistent with national security interests. 

(f) Develop Space Traffic Standards and Best Practices. The Secretaries 

of Defense, Commerce, and Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary 

of State, the NASA Administrator, and the Director of National Intelligence, 

and in consultation with the Chairman of the FCC, shall develop space 

traffic standards and best practices, including technical guidelines, minimum 

safety standards, behavioral norms, and orbital conjunction prevention protocols related to pre-launch risk assessment and on-orbit collision avoidance 

support services. 

(g) Prevent Unintentional Radio Frequency Interference. The Secretaries 

of Commerce and Transportation, in coordination with the Secretaries of 

State and Defense, the NASA Administrator, and the Director of National 

Intelligence, and in consultation with the Chairman of the FCC, shall coordinate to mitigate the risk of harmful interference and promptly address any 

harmful interference that may occur. 

(h) Improve the U.S. Domestic Space Object Registry. The Secretary of 

State, in coordination with the Secretaries of Defense, Commerce, and Transportation, the NASA Administrator, and the Director of National Intelligence, 

and in consultation with the Chairman of the FCC, shall lead U.S. Government efforts on international engagement related to international transparency 

and space object registry on SSA and STM issues. 

(i) Develop Policies and Regulations for Future U.S. Orbital Operations. 

The Secretaries of Defense, Commerce, and Transportation, in coordination 

with the Secretary of State, the NASA Administrator, and the Director of 

National Intelligence, shall regularly evaluate emerging trends in space missions to recommend revisions, as appropriate and necessary, to existing 

SSA and STM policies and regulations. 

Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: 


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(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, 

or the head thereof; or 

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable 

law and subject to the availability of appropriations. 

(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right 

or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by 

any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, 

its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

(d) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized and directed to publish 

this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, June 18, 2018 

[FR Doc. 2018–13521 

Filed 6–20–18; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3510–07–P 


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