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ARTICLE · 25 AUGUST 2026

Office Of Space Commerce Opens Pilot For Novel Space Mission Authorizations

K&L Gates
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The US Department of Commerce's Office of Space Commerce is launching a pilot program to test a streamlined mission authorization process for novel in-space activities, inviting operators to participate by October 2026. This initiative, combined with the White House's new National Space Transportation Policy targeting over 1,000 annual launches by 2030, represents a significant federal effort to reduce regulatory barriers and expand commercial space infrastructure.

United StatesGovernment, Public Sector
Varun M. Jain
Varun M. Jain
Finch Fulton
Finch Fulton
Michael S. Heard Snow
Michael S. Heard Snow
Jasper G. Noble
Jasper G. Noble

The US Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is inviting US space operators to help test a proposed, streamlined mission authorization process for novel in-space activities. Under a notice published in the Federal Register on 20 August 2026, interested operators can submit expressions of interest by 5 October 2026.1 Selected missions will participate in a pilot of OSC’s proposed “Space Commerce Certification” (SCC), which is intended to coordinate federal review of activities not clearly or straightforwardly governed by existing regulatory frameworks.2

The pilot moves OSC’s mission authorization initiative into a practical testing phase. It also arrives alongside National Security Presidential Memorandum 17 (NSPM-17), the White House’s new National Space Transportation Policy, which directs federal agencies to expand launch and reentry capacity, improve access to infrastructure, support spectrum availability, and strengthen the US space transportation industrial

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