"The Office of Space Commerce, an office of about 50 people, exists within the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. To paraphrase its mission statement, its chief purpose is to enable a robust U.S. commercial interest in outer space. OSC has three main focus areas. First, it is the office responsible for licensing and monitoring how private U.S. companies collect and distribute orbit-based images of Earth. There are many companies launching satellites with special cameras."
"The Space Foundation, a nonprofit organization for education and advocacy of space, estimates that the global space economy rose to $613 billion in 2024, up nearly 8% from 2023, and 250 times larger than all business at farmers markets in the United States. This number includes launch vehicles, satellite hardware, and services provided by these space-based assets, such as satellite phone or internet connection."
A vivid image of a farmers market on the International Space Station captures the growing commercialization of space. The global space economy reached $613 billion in 2024, including launch vehicles, satellite hardware, and services such as satellite phone and internet. Corporate space activity expanded through the space age and led to the creation of the Office of Space Commerce to oversee and guide the industry. The OSC is a roughly 50-person office within NOAA at the Department of Commerce with a mission to enable a robust U.S. commercial interest in outer space. OSC focuses on licensing and monitoring orbit-based Earth imagery and on space advocacy.
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]