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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Situational Awareness 
of Flying Elements in Orbit Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 
Orbit Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND SPACE TRAF-
FIC COORDINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 
facilitate safe operations in space and encourage the devel-
opment of commercial space capabilities by acquiring and 
disseminating unclassified data, analytics, information, 
and services on space activities. 
(b) IMMUNITY.—The United States, any agencies and 
instrumentalities thereof, and any individuals, firms, cor-
porations, and other persons acting for the United States, 
including non-governmental entities, shall be immune from 
any suit in any court for any cause of action arising from 
the provision or receipt of space situational awareness 
services or information, whether or not provided in accord-
ance with this section, or any related action or omission. 
(c) ACQUISITION OF DATA.—The Assistant Secretary 
of Commerce for Space Commerce (established under sec-
tion 50702(b) of title 51, United States Code, as amended 
by section 3) is authorized to acquire— 
(1) data, analytics, information, and services, 
including with respect to— 
(A) location tracking data; 
(B) positional and orbit determination in-
formation; and 
(C) conjunction data messages; and 
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(2) such other data, analytics, information, and 
services as the Secretary of Commerce determines 
necessary to avoid collisions of space objects. 
(d) DATABASE ON SATELLITE LOCATION AND BE-
HAVIOR.—The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 
Commerce shall provide access for the public, at no 
charge, a fully updated, unclassified database of informa-
tion concerning space objects and behavior that includes— 
(1) the data and information acquired under 
subsection (c), except to the extent that such data 
or information is classified or a trade secret (as de-
fined in section 1839 of title 18, United States 
Code); and 
(2) the provision of basic space situational 
awareness services and space traffic coordination 
based on the data referred to in paragraph (1), in-
cluding basic analytics, tracking calculations, and 
conjunction data messages. 
(e) BASIC SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SERV-
ICES.—The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 
Commerce— 
(1) shall provide to satellite operators, at no 
charge, basic space situational awareness services, 
including the data, analytics, information, and serv-
ices described in subsection (c); 
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(2) in carrying out paragraph (1), may not 
compete with private sector advanced space situa-
tional awareness products, to the maximum extent 
practicable; and 
(3) not less frequently than every 3 years, shall 
review the basic space situational awareness services 
described in paragraph (1) to ensure that such serv-
ices provided by the Federal Government do not 
compete with advanced space situational services of-
fered by the private sector. 
(f) REQUIREMENTS
FOR DATA ACQUISITION
AND 
DISSEMINATION.—In acquiring data, analytics, informa-
tion, and services under subsection (c) and disseminating 
data, analytics, information, and services under sub-
sections (d) and (e), the Assistant Secretary of Commerce 
for Space Commerce shall— 
(1) leverage commercial capabilities to the max-
imum extent practicable; 
(2) prioritize the acquisition of data, analytics, 
information, and services from commercial industry 
located in or licensed in the United States to supple-
ment data collected by United States Government 
agencies, including the Department of Defense and 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; 
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(3) appropriately protect proprietary data, in-
formation, and systems of firms located in the 
United States, including by using appropriate infra-
structure and cybersecurity measures; 
(4) facilitate the development of standardization 
and consistency in data reporting, in collaboration 
with satellite owners and operators, commercial 
space situational awareness data and service pro-
viders, the academic community, and nonprofit orga-
nizations; and 
(5) encourage foreign governments to partici-
pate in unclassified data sharing arrangements for 
space situational awareness and space traffic coordi-
nation. 
(g) OTHER TRANSACTION AUTHORITY.—In carrying 
out the activities required by this section, the Secretary 
of Commerce shall enter into such contracts, leases, coop-
erative agreements, or other transactions as may be nec-
essary. 
(h) SPACE OBJECT DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘space object’’ means any object launched into space, 
or created in space, robotically or by humans, including 
an object’s component parts. 
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SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS TO OFFICE OF SPACE COMMERCE. 
(a) LOCATION OF OFFICE.—Subsection (a) of section 
50702 of title 51, United States Code, is amended by in-
serting before the end period the following: ‘‘, which, not 
later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of the 
SAFE Orbit Act of 2023, shall transition to a principal 
physical location within the Office of the Secretary of 
Commerce’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL
FUNCTIONS
OF
OFFICE.—Sub-
section (c) of such section is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting a semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) to perform space situational awareness and 
space traffic management duties pursuant to the 
SAFE Orbit Act of 2023.’’. 
(c) ASSISTANT
SECRETARY
OF
COMMERCE
FOR 
SPACE COMMERCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of such sec-
tion is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Office shall be 
headed by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space 
Commerce, who shall— 
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‘‘(1) be appointed by the President, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate; 
‘‘(2) report directly to the Secretary of Com-
merce; and 
‘‘(3) have a rate of pay that is equal to the rate 
payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 
section 5315 of title 5.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) Section 50702(d) of title 51, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(i) in the subsection heading, by strik-
ing ‘‘DIRECTOR’’ and inserting ‘‘ASSIST-
ANT SECRETARY’’; and 
(ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1), by striking ‘‘Director’’ and inserting 
‘‘Assistant Secretary’’. 
(B) Section 5315 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Assistant Secre-
taries of Commerce (11)’’ and inserting ‘‘As-
sistant Secretaries of Commerce (12)’’. 
(3) REFERENCES.—On and after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, any reference in any law 
or regulation to the Director of the Office of Space 
Commerce shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
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Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Space Com-
merce. 
Æ 
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