Leaving Orbit on Autopilot
U.S. Space Traffic Coordination Under Threat
A vital system meant to keep satellites safe and orbits orderly is currently at risk of stalling out just as launch activity surges past historic highs. With funding in limbo and responsibility ping-ponging between agencies, there’s a real possibility that the world’s busiest space nation could lose its lead in managing orbital traffic.
Let’s dive in.
In This Issue
Space traffic coordination’s threat of derailment
These are the Most Concerning Pieces of Space Debris
Port Canaveral fishermen worry about increasing rocket launches, debris
How SpaceX's rocket diplomacy backfired in the Bahamas
UK launches tender for mission to clean up space and safeguard vital services
Astroscale’s New Patent Transforms Space Debris Removal
Space Weather’s Bottom-Line Risks
Space traffic coordination’s threat of derailment
The long awaited Department of Commerce’s TraCSS program (short for Traffic Coordination System for Space) is supposed to take over the job of tracking satellites and space debris from the Department of Defense by 2026. It’s a critical upgrade, especially as thousands of new satellites crowd Earth’s orbits. But now, thanks to a mix of technical delays, internal shuffling, and a surprising White House proposal to eliminate future funding, TraCSS is teetering on the edge.
The biggest shock came when the Biden administration’s FY2025 budget suggested zeroing out funding for the program, just as it’s supposed to gear up for launch. That raised immediate red flags in the space industry. Companies large and small depend on accurate, accessible tracking data to avoid collisions and manage operations. Without a functioning TraCSS, commercial satellite operators would be forced to rely on outdated or incomplete data from fragmented global sources.
Congress appears to agree. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have moved to restore tens of millions in funding, signaling bipartisan support for keeping the program alive. But concerns persist. A protest over TraCSS’s user interface contract, leadership shakeups, and slow rollout of its pilot system have all contributed to a growing sense of uncertainty. Meanwhile, international competitors and private firms are making strides in space situational awareness, and the U.S. risks falling behind.
These are the Most Concerning Pieces of Space Debris
Not all orbital junk is created equal. According to experts, a handful of large, long-lived debris, such as defunct satellites, rocket stages, collision fragments, and even tools lost during EVAs, pose an outsized risk to current space operations. These high-priority objects are ranked by expert teams based on mass, orbital lifetime, collision probability, and potential to trigger cascades like the Kessler Syndrome.
For operators, targeting these select items could offer the biggest return on investment in active debris removal. Cleaning up even a few of them could significantly reduce future collision risk, protect high-value assets like the ISS, and help stabilize congested low Earth orbits. Given the tens of thousands of trackable debris pieces, and millions more too small but still hazardous, prioritization is the only way to make cleanup scalable and feasible.
Port Canaveral fishermen worry about increasing rocket launches, debris
With Cape Canaveral on track to break 100 annual launches and SpaceX eyeing up to 190 more per year, including massive Starship launches, fishing vessels are repeatedly pushed out of key offshore areas due to maritime safety zones. These restrictions can wipe out entire days of work, costing fishers thousands in lost income and damaging expensive equipment when they snag space debris in their nets.
Groups like the Southeastern Fisheries Association are now pushing for compensation programs from Congress or SpaceX to cover economic losses and gear damage. Shrimpers, crabbers, and fin fishers report increasingly frequent encounters with underwater rocket remnants, disrupting operations and raising seafood prices all the way from the docks to dinner plates. Fishermen are also calling for solutions like dedicated vessel transit corridors during peak seasons to mitigate the disruption.
The issue isn’t just local frustration, it’s an emerging policy debate. While the Air Force acknowledges potential interruptions, their environmental impact statements downplay the overall effect, calling it “minimal.” Locals like restaurateur Laurilee Thompson fiercely disagree, saying these changes are significant and personal for families who’ve worked these waters for generations. And with federal agencies like the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council now looking into the cumulative impact, it’s clear this rocket-fishing conflict is just getting started.
How SpaceX's rocket diplomacy backfired in the Bahamas
In related news, SpaceX’s push to secure rocket booster landings in the Bahamas has run into problems after repeated Starship explosions scattered debris across the islands, sparking safety, and even sovereignty concerns. The original deal, signed in early 2023, promised Falcon 9 landings in Bahamian waters, a $1 million donation to the University of the Bahamas, and $100,000 per landing fees. But it also drew scrutiny for its lack of transparency and reports that SpaceX offered free Starlink terminals to the Bahamian defense force as a sweetener, something the government now firmly denies.
The March Starship failure, which rained debris across Ragged Island just weeks after a similar disaster affected Turks and Caicos, pushed Bahamian officials to hit pause. Local residents, fishermen, and environmental advocates are uneasy about the risks of falling debris, pollution, and secretive negotiations with Musk’s company. Even within the government, the deal has been described as “polarizing,” with officials now demanding stricter environmental reviews and clearer regulatory processes before any Falcon 9 boosters touch down.
For SpaceX, there’s a lot at stake. Landing boosters in the Bahamas would allow Falcon 9 rockets to carry heavier payloads and expand launch cadence from Florida. But the company’s Starship stumbles are complicating that diplomatic balancing act.
The Bahamas is not alone though. Mexico is weighing legal action over contamination from Starship launches near its border, and environmentalists across the Caribbean are concerned about risks to fragile marine ecosystems.
UK launches tender for mission to clean up space and safeguard vital services
The UK Space Agency has launched a £75.6 million open tender for its first Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission. The mission aims to retrieve and safely de-orbit two defunct UK-licensed satellites using advanced British robotic and autonomous navigation technology. Once captured, these non-functional satellites will be guided into Earth's atmosphere to burn up harmlessly.
Backed by the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, the mission transitions from grant-based funding to competitive procurement, aiming to unlock private-sector investment and create high-skilled jobs across the UK.
A single supplier will be awarded a five-year R&D contract, targeting launch by the end of 2028.
Astroscale’s New Patent Transforms Space Debris Removal
Astroscale has been granted a U.S. patent for a groundbreaking multi-object debris removal system that could overhaul how we clean up Earth orbit. Instead of retiring a debris removal servicer after one job, this system lets it play tag team. One spacecraft captures debris and hands it off mid-orbit to another “shepherd” vehicle for disposal, then heads off to catch the next target.
Cost and scalability have been the biggest bottlenecks in active debris removal, and Astroscale’s approach could make cleanup more efficient, more reusable, and way more commercially viable.
Space Weather’s Bottom-Line Risks
NASA’s TRACERS mission (short for Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in July 2025 and will fly as twin spacecraft through Earth’s magnetic poles. Its goal will be to study magnetic reconnection, a key space weather process that can unleash charged solar particles into Earth’s atmosphere, sparking geomagnetic storms that threaten satellites and power grids. By making over 3,000 measurements during its year-long journey, TRACERS will help scientists map how solar wind interacts with our planet’s magnetosphere in real time.
Events like the May 2024 geomagnetic storm caused over $500 million in economic damage, especially by disrupting GPS-dependent precision agriculture. TRACERS will feed directly into more accurate orbital drag prediction models, helping commercial satellite operators, aviation systems, telecommunications providers, and power utilities plan for and mitigate the impacts of extreme space weather. NASA has committed to releasing TRACERS data in near-real-time under its open data policy.
Interesting Posts & Videos
In this fascinating interview, Dr. Mansur Tisaev breaks down the promise of air-breathing ion engines, a propulsion system that could redefine sustainable spaceflight. Unlike traditional ion engines that rely on stored propellant, these systems collect particles from the upper atmosphere and ionize them to generate thrust. This means satellites could operate indefinitely in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) without carrying fuel, minimizing both cost and orbital debris, with the added benefit that when the engine fails, the satellite naturally reenters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up within weeks, leaving no space junk behind.
In a recent blog post, Sustain Space argues that satellite modularity is a breakthrough enabler for a circular space economy. By designing spacecraft with standardized, swappable components, the industry can move toward a circular space economy, one where satellites are no longer single-use, but repairable and upgradable, cutting both costs and debris.
Noah DeMar has open-sourced Tensorgator, a CUDA-accelerated orbit propagator designed to handle massive satellite constellations with lightning speed. Check it out here.
Gregory Vialle shared a satirical take on how to guarantee the Kessler Syndrome becomes reality, listing seven “strategies” like banning debris cleanup, monopolizing LEO, defunding weather satellites, and even crashing the ISS without backing replacements XD
Conferences & Webinars
ISAM Days 2025 - 16–17 September 2025 ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Space Debris Hackathon - 08-10 October 2025, Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Potsdam, Germany
The 7th Summit for Space Sustainability - October 22-23, 2025
Centre de Conférences Pierre Mendès France, Paris
Thanks for reading.
Until next time!