Office of Space Commerce

{{Short description|Office within the NOAA}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

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The Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is an office within National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which is part of the United States Department of Commerce. It is currently one of several offices within the department that are responsible for overseeing and promoting economic activity in space. The office is small in size, and its first director was Kevin O'Connell.{{Cite web|url=https://spacenews.com/commerce-department-moves-ahead-with-space-regulatory-reforms/|title=Commerce Department moves ahead with space regulatory reforms|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=June 22, 2018|website=SpaceNews|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=August 25, 2018}} In January 2021, Mark Paese took over as acting director.{{Cite web|url=https://spacenews.com/industry-groups-advocate-for-office-of-space-commerce/|title=Industry groups advocate for Office of Space Commerce|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=March 11, 2021|website=SpaceNews|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 31, 2022}} Janice Starzyk is the current acting director of the Office of Space Commerce.

In May 2018, Wilbur Ross, the Secretary of Commerce announced plans to consolidate the Office with the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) Office to form a new administration, the Space Policy Advancing Commercial Enterprise (SPACE) Administration.{{Cite web|url=https://spacenews.com/commerce-department-to-create-space-administration/|title=Commerce Department to create "SPACE Administration"|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=May 27, 2018|website=SpaceNews|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=August 25, 2018}} The goal of the new agency would be to streamline the regulatory process.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/28/space-administration-would-streamline-federal-oversight-of-commercial-launches/|title=SPACE Administration would streamline federal oversight of commercial launches|last=Coldeway|first=Devin|date=May 28, 2018|website=Techcrunch|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=August 25, 2018}} These plans were subsequently abandoned.{{Cite web|url=https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/senate-committee-approves-space-act-but-without-a-bureau-of-space-commerce/|title=Senate Committee Approves SPACE Act, But Without a Bureau of Space Commerce|last=Smith|first=Marcia|date=November 18, 2020|website=SpacePolicyOnline.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 31, 2022}}