I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6385 

To promote space situational awareness and space traffic coordination and 

to modify the functions and leadership of the Office of Space Commerce, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2023 

Mr. KEAN of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To promote space situational awareness and space traffic 

coordination and to modify the functions and leadership 

of the Office of Space Commerce, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Situational Awareness 

5 of Flying Elements in Orbit Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 

6 Orbit Act of 2023’’. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 6385 IH

1 SEC. 2. SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND SPACE TRAF2 FIC COORDINATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 

4 facilitate safe operations in space and encourage the devel5 opment of commercial space capabilities by acquiring and 

6 disseminating unclassified data, analytics, information, 

7 and services on space activities. 

8 (b) IMMUNITY.—The United States, any agencies and 

9 instrumentalities thereof, and any individuals, firms, cor10 porations, and other persons acting for the United States, 

11 including non-governmental entities, shall be immune from 

12 any suit in any court for any cause of action arising from 

13 the provision or receipt of space situational awareness 

14 services or information, whether or not provided in accord15 ance with this section, or any related action or omission. 

16 (c) ACQUISITION OF DATA.—The Assistant Secretary 

17 of Commerce for Space Commerce (established under sec18 tion 50702(b) of title 51, United States Code, as amended 

19 by section 3) is authorized to acquire— 

20 (1) data, analytics, information, and services, 

21 including with respect to— 

22 (A) location tracking data; 

23 (B) positional and orbit determination in24 formation; and 

25 (C) conjunction data messages; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 6385 IH

1 (2) such other data, analytics, information, and 

2 services as the Secretary of Commerce determines 

3 necessary to avoid collisions of space objects. 

4 (d) DATABASE ON SATELLITE LOCATION AND BE5 HAVIOR.—The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 

6 Commerce shall provide access for the public, at no 

7 charge, a fully updated, unclassified database of informa8 tion concerning space objects and behavior that includes— 

9 (1) the data and information acquired under 

10 subsection (c), except to the extent that such data 

11 or information is classified or a trade secret (as de12 fined in section 1839 of title 18, United States 

13 Code); and 

14 (2) the provision of basic space situational 

15 awareness services and space traffic coordination 

16 based on the data referred to in paragraph (1), in17 cluding basic analytics, tracking calculations, and 

18 conjunction data messages. 

19 (e) BASIC SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SERV20 ICES.—The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 

21 Commerce— 

22 (1) shall provide to satellite operators, at no 

23 charge, basic space situational awareness services, 

24 including the data, analytics, information, and serv25 ices described in subsection (c); 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 6385 IH

1 (2) in carrying out paragraph (1), may not 

2 compete with private sector advanced space situa3 tional awareness products, to the maximum extent 

4 practicable; and 

5 (3) not less frequently than every 3 years, shall 

6 review the basic space situational awareness services 

7 described in paragraph (1) to ensure that such serv8 ices provided by the Federal Government do not 

9 compete with advanced space situational services of10 fered by the private sector. 

11 (f) REQUIREMENTS FOR DATA ACQUISITION AND

12 DISSEMINATION.—In acquiring data, analytics, informa13 tion, and services under subsection (c) and disseminating 

14 data, analytics, information, and services under sub15 sections (d) and (e), the Assistant Secretary of Commerce 

16 for Space Commerce shall— 

17 (1) leverage commercial capabilities to the max18 imum extent practicable; 

19 (2) prioritize the acquisition of data, analytics, 

20 information, and services from commercial industry 

21 located in or licensed in the United States to supple22 ment data collected by United States Government 

23 agencies, including the Department of Defense and 

24 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 6385 IH

1 (3) appropriately protect proprietary data, in2 formation, and systems of firms located in the 

3 United States, including by using appropriate infra4 structure and cybersecurity measures; 

5 (4) facilitate the development of standardization 

6 and consistency in data reporting, in collaboration 

7 with satellite owners and operators, commercial 

8 space situational awareness data and service pro9 viders, the academic community, and nonprofit orga10 nizations; and 

11 (5) encourage foreign governments to partici12 pate in unclassified data sharing arrangements for 

13 space situational awareness and space traffic coordi14 nation. 

15 (g) OTHER TRANSACTION AUTHORITY.—In carrying 

16 out the activities required by this section, the Secretary 

17 of Commerce shall enter into such contracts, leases, coop18 erative agreements, or other transactions as may be nec19 essary. 

20 (h) SPACE OBJECT DEFINED.—In this section, the 

21 term ‘‘space object’’ means any object launched into space, 

22 or created in space, robotically or by humans, including 

23 an object’s component parts. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 6385 IH

1 SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS TO OFFICE OF SPACE COMMERCE. 

2 (a) LOCATION OF OFFICE.—Subsection (a) of section 

3 50702 of title 51, United States Code, is amended by in4 serting before the end period the following: ‘‘, which, not 

5 later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of the 

6 SAFE Orbit Act of 2023, shall transition to a principal 

7 physical location within the Office of the Secretary of 

8 Commerce’’. 

9 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS OF OFFICE.—Sub10 section (c) of such section is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

12 inserting a semicolon; 

13 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 

14 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(6) to perform space situational awareness and 

17 space traffic management duties pursuant to the 

18 SAFE Orbit Act of 2023.’’. 

19 (c) ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR

20 SPACE COMMERCE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of such sec22 tion is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Office shall be 

24 headed by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 

25 Commerce, who shall— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 6385 IH

1 ‘‘(1) be appointed by the President, by and with 

2 the advice and consent of the Senate; 

3 ‘‘(2) report directly to the Secretary of Com4 merce; and 

5 ‘‘(3) have a rate of pay that is equal to the rate 

6 payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

7 section 5315 of title 5.’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (A) Section 50702(d) of title 51, United 

10 States Code, is amended— 

11 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik12 ing ‘‘DIRECTOR’’ and inserting ‘‘ASSIST13 ANT SECRETARY’’; and 

14 (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 

15 (1), by striking ‘‘Director’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’. 

17 (B) Section 5315 of title 5, United States 

18 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Assistant Secre19 taries of Commerce (11)’’ and inserting ‘‘As20 sistant Secretaries of Commerce (12)’’. 

21 (3) REFERENCES.—On and after the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act, any reference in any law 

23 or regulation to the Director of the Office of Space 

24 Commerce shall be deemed to be a reference to the 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 6385 IH

1 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Com2 merce. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB