The Office of Space Commerce’s Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS, has announced the significant expansion of its cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, with SpaceX.
Enhancing TraCSS With Collision Avoidance Technology
OSC said Tuesday the CRADA, initially revealed in January 2024, will integrate Launch Collision Avoidance, or LCOLA, screenings into the ongoing collaborative work on advanced screening techniques.
The expansion will empower both the OSC and SpaceX to leverage modern tools to develop advanced approaches to LCOLA screening. This initiative supports the objectives outlined in the Space Policy Directive-3, which stresses the need to accelerate the development of advanced space situational awareness technologies.
Furthermore, TraCSS is working on onboarding SpaceX as a beta user. This step is in anticipation of the system’s scheduled production launch in January 2026.
Under the CRADA, In February 2024, SpaceX oversees the development of the automated collision avoidance technology. OSC is tasked with conducting an astrodynamics evaluation of the software, including satellite conjunction evaluation screenings.
