The Office of Space Commerce is an office within
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which is part of the
United States Department of Commerce. It is currently one of several offices within the department that are responsible for overseeing and promoting
economic activity in space. The office is small in size, and its first director was Kevin O'Connell.[1] In January 2021, Mark Paese took over as acting director.[2] As of May 9, 2022, Richard DalBello is the current director of the Office of Space Commerce.[3]
In May 2018,
Wilbur Ross, the
Secretary of Commerce announced plans to consolidate the Office with the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office to form a new
administration, the Space Policy Advancing Commercial Enterprise (SPACE) Administration.[4] The goal of the new
agency would be to streamline the regulatory process.[5] These plans were subsequently abandoned.[6]