The Department of Commerce (DOC) has provided funding to the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to conduct a study to determine which agency should be in charge of civil space traffic management work. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross expects the NAPA study to be completed in the next two months, SpaceNews reported Friday.
“We’re hopeful that it will help Congress to clarify the direction going forward, and we’re quite optimistic that, as a result, we’ll get the budgetary relief we need in order to really fulfill the mission,” Ross said.
He said the department will immediately work on the mission once Congress allocates the funding to Commerce based on the NAPA study.
“We’re operating on the thesis that, ultimately, we will get the funding and we want to have the minimum delay from the time we get the funding until the time when we can be fully operational with the open architecture platform,” Ross added.
Ross also shared his insights on Analytical Graphics’ space traffic management efforts.
