OSC & EUSST Study Opportunities for International SSA Information Sharing
Goal is to Minimize Delivery of Conflicting Data
At the 2025 AMOS Conference, the Office of Space Commerce’s Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) program and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) program published a joint study that advances our understanding of these issues through a case study of information sharing cooperation between the two systems. This is the latest in a series of joint studies between the two programs focused on advancing international SSA cooperation, a goal of the Office of Space Commerce’s Vision for Global SSA Coordination.
There are multiple independent national and regional space situational awareness systems around the world. These systems use sensors to track objects in space, estimate their present and expected future location, and identify any close approaches between two objects that could potentially result in a collision.
Advanced warning of these potential collisions allows spacecraft operators to determine whether it is necessary to carry out a maneuver to avoid a potential collision and coordinate with counterpart operators, if necessary. These services are essential to global spaceflight safety and sustainability.
However, each of these systems uses different data sources and different algorithms and processes, and thus, they can be expected to produce at least somewhat different solutions.
To minimize the extent to which spacecraft operators receive conflicting information, it is important to facilitate coordination and information sharing among these systems. However, there are many questions about what international coordination could or should entail. What types of information should be shared, and why? What are the highest priorities for information sharing and coordination? What procedures might be needed to enable coordination?
Looking Forward
Coordination between EU SST and TraCSS is an important first step, but to support global spaceflight safety, it is important to expand coordination to other SSA providers around the world. The overall goals and processes described here with respect to cooperation between EU SST and TraCSS also apply to other SSA systems. Improved transparency, compatibility, and interoperability among independent systems would help to ensure spacecraft operators receive more consistent guidance on spaceflight safety issues and events. It would also facilitate improved coordination among spacecraft operators.