Supporting the Traffic Coordination System for Space.

Summary

T-Minus Space Daily: Supporting the Traffic Coordination System for Space
Hosted by N2K Networks
Release Date: August 9, 2025

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Introduction to TRAKS Funding Issue

In the August 9, 2025 episode of T-Minus Space Daily, host Maria Varmazas delves into the precarious state of the Office of Space Commerce and its pivotal Traffic Coordination System for Space, commonly known as TRAKS. The episode begins with an overview of recent budget proposals threatening the future of TRAKS:

Maria Varmazas [00:54]: "June 2025, NOAA's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal planned to gut the Office of Space Commerce and terminate federal funding for the traffic coordination system for Space, better known as TRAKS. Without a credible, well-resourced civilian authority, does the United States risk losing its leadership role in shaping the future of space?"

This declaration sets the stage for a critical discussion on the implications of defunding TRAKS and the potential ramifications for U.S. leadership in space governance.

Industry Response and Advocacy

Maria Varmazas hosts Audrey Schaefer, Vice President of Strategy and Policy at Slingshot Aerospace, to explore the industry's reaction to the proposed budget cuts. Schaefer provides an insider perspective on the significance of TRAKS and the industry's mobilization to defend its funding:

Audrey Schaefer [02:47]: "Earlier this year we'd heard rumors that potentially the administration might be looking to defund the program and essentially revert a lot of the responsibilities for traffic coordination back to the Defense Department."

Schaefer highlights the industry's unified stance against the proposed cuts, emphasizing the collective action taken by over 450 companies across seven industry associations to advocate for the restoration of funding:

Audrey Schaefer [04:30]: "We organized a letter by seven industry associations representing more than 450 companies, pretty much the entire US space industry and more, advocating to restore that funding."

This concerted effort underscores the critical role that TRAKS plays in maintaining the infrastructure necessary for effective space traffic management.

Government's Position and Rationale

The episode examines the administration's reasoning behind the proposed budget cuts, with Schaefer expressing confusion and skepticism regarding the justification provided:

Audrey Schaefer [06:04]: "There is of course a rationale in the budget justifications, but to be candid, it's kind of confusing and I can't really say that I fully understand it."

Schaefer speculates that the administration may believe that a combination of Department of Defense (DoD) data and private sector technologies could suffice in managing space traffic. However, she argues that this approach overlooks the necessity of a dedicated civilian authority to integrate and standardize various data sources and operational protocols.

Audrey Schaefer [06:13]: "It seems to imply that they in fact think that a combination of free DoD data and private sector technology can meet the need."

Components of TRAKS and Slingshot's Role

The discussion transitions to the technical framework of TRAKS and the integral role of Slingshot Aerospace in its development. Schaefer outlines the multifaceted architecture of TRAKS, emphasizing data acquisition, analytics, and user interface design:

Audrey Schaefer [10:18]: "TRACKS will have a number of different components. Primarily the guts of it, if you will, are the data and the analytics that they use to predict when two objects in space might come close enough to result in a potential collision."

Slingshot Aerospace contributes through its network of ground-based optical telescopes that track space objects from low Earth orbit to cislunar space. This commercial data complements the existing DoD sensors, which are primarily designed for missile warning and high-interest object tracking rather than comprehensive space traffic management.

Audrey Schaefer [11:00]: "Commerce using that DoD data is fine as a starting point, but they're really going to need that additional commercial data as the space object population grows."

She further explains the necessity of data fusion and conjunction assessments to accurately predict and mitigate potential collisions, underscoring the importance of integrating multiple data sources for a robust traffic coordination system.

AI Innovation: Talos

A significant highlight of the episode is the introduction of Slingshot Aerospace's latest AI-driven initiative, Talos. Schaefer elaborates on Talos as an autonomous AI agent designed to enhance space operations training and simulation:

Audrey Schaefer [13:07]: "We just announced Talos, the thinking agent for logical operations and strategy, which is an autonomous AI-powered agent."

Drawing an analogy to the popular game Mario Kart, Schaefer illustrates how Talos functions as intelligent adversaries or training partners in simulated space operations scenarios:

Audrey Schaefer [13:58]: "If you think about Mario Kart and... the other cars really being agentic AI. So they are, you know, they are trained to know how to drive on the road, to know how to shoot off shells... and really to make your job a little more difficult to win the race."

Talos serves multiple roles, including acting as a co-pilot providing operational recommendations, simulating adversarial satellite behavior for defense training, and serving as an educational tool to teach the fundamentals of space operations. Schaefer mentions collaboration with the U.S. Space Force, enhancing training exercises and war games with more realistic and scalable adversary simulations.

Audrey Schaefer [14:17]: "Talos is exactly like that. It's an AI agent that we can train for a number of different space operations to be either a co-pilot... or an adversary in a training scenario..."

Conclusion and Industry Alignment

As the episode draws to a close, Schaefer emphasizes the widespread industry support for maintaining funding for the Office of Space Commerce and TRAKS. She expresses optimism following the Senate and House draft bills that, although not restoring full funding to previous levels, demonstrate significant legislative backing to continue the mission:

Audrey Schaefer [16:14]: "I'm really pleased to see that Congress took note of that support, and I really hope that the funding is continued through the final appropriations and TRAKS stays on track."

Schaefer reiterates the consensus across the U.S. space industry, encompassing diverse companies and verticals, advocating for sustained governmental support to ensure the continued development and operational capability of TRAKS.

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Key Takeaways

• Budget Cuts Threaten TRAKS: The proposed reduction in funding for the Office of Space Commerce poses a significant risk to TRAKS, potentially undermining U.S. leadership in space traffic management.

• Unified Industry Advocacy: Over 450 companies across seven industry associations have collectively advocated against the budget cuts, highlighting the essential role of TRAKS in space operations.

• Need for Civilian Authority: Experts argue that solely relying on DoD data and private sector technology is insufficient, stressing the importance of a dedicated government function to integrate and standardize space traffic coordination.

• Technical Framework of TRAKS: TRAKS relies on comprehensive data acquisition, advanced analytics, and user-friendly interfaces to predict and mitigate potential space collisions, with significant contributions from commercial entities like Slingshot Aerospace.

• Innovative AI Solutions: The introduction of Talos represents a leap forward in using AI to enhance space operations training, simulation, and defense preparedness.

• Positive Legislative Signs: Despite initial setbacks, draft bills from the Senate and House indicate bipartisan support to preserve and fund the Office of Space Commerce, ensuring the continuation of TRAKS.

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This episode of T-Minus Space Daily provides an in-depth analysis of the current challenges facing space traffic coordination in the United States, the industry's proactive response to governmental budgetary decisions, and the innovative technologies driving the future of space operations.

Transcript

[Maria Varmazas]

You're listening to the N2K space network.

[David Moulton]

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[Audrey Schaefer]

In.

[Maria Varmazas]

June 2025, NOAA's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal planned to gut the Office of Space Commerce and terminate federal funding for the traffic coordination system for Space, better known as tracks. Without a credible, well resourced civilian authority, does the United States risk losing its leadership role in shaping the future of space?

[Audrey Schaefer]

Foreign.

[Maria Varmazas]

This is T minus Deep Space. I'm Maria Varmazes. The future of TRACKS is up in the air. I spoke to Audrey Schaefer, vice president of strategy and policy at Slingshot Aerospace.

[Audrey Schaefer]

Which is a space data and AI company that serves the space domain awareness and space operations market, about why so.

[Maria Varmazas]

Many commercial companies like Slingshot support a federal space traffic system.

[Audrey Schaefer]

I've worked in the space industry for really my entire career, going on about 20 years at this point. I spent most of that time working for the US government, primarily in the Pentagon, working on space policy, but also at the White House as well as the State Department. So I've really just seen kind of all aspects of space policy.

[Maria Varmazas]

That's wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Audrey, for joining me today. And we're talking about policy today and goodness gracious, it's been busy in the space world lately. One of the hot topics in our world has been tracks. And depending on when we've been recording and what's been going on, things have been changing. So I figure so people know what's going on as time of this recording. Can you get me up to speed a little bit on what's been going on with Tracks?

[Audrey Schaefer]

Yeah, absolutely. It has been kind of a wild couple of months when it comes to the Department of Commerce's efforts to stand up a space traffic coordination system, which of course is called tracs. You know, earlier this year we'd heard heard rumors that potentially the administration might be looking to defund the program and essentially revert a lot of the responsibilities for traffic coordination back to the Defense Department. And in fact, those rumors were confirmed a little over a month ago when the administration released the final details of their FY26 budget request for the Department of Commerce, they proposed taking the Office of Space Commerce's budget from 65 million all the way down to 10 million, really leaving only enough money to do just kind of bare bones policy and regulatory work. This really kind of galvanized the industry to demonstrate its support not only for the Office of Space Commerce as a really important partner to the commercial space industry, but also specifically for the civil space traffic coordination mission. As you and I'm sure most of your listeners know, there's a reason that the Department of Commerce was charged with creating civil space traffic coordination. This is a mission that historically was done by the Defense Department, even though it's really not an inherently military function. And in fact, it was the first Trump administration that put the policy in place that would transition space traffic coordination from DoD to Commerce. And so it was not only, you know, kind of a head scratcher to think that the second Trump administration wanted to undo policy established in the first Trump administration, but at this point, you know, really because of progress made during the Biden administration, the track system is almost up and running. I mean, they've actually made incredible progress in the last two years when they finally did receive funding, and they're already in a beta testing phase and just months from becoming operational in early July, industry is seeing these proposed cuts. Organize a letter by seven industry associations representing more than 450 companies, pretty much the entire US space industry and more, advocating to restore that funding. And anyway, to make a long story short, here we are now. We've seen both the Senate and the House have put out draft bills funding the Office of Space Commerce, not quite at the same level as last year, but certainly far from zero. The Senate recommended providing the Office of space Commerce with $60 million, so just a few million dollars short from last year and explicitly provided direction not to cancel the tracks program. And the House recommended $50 million, which of course is a bit lower, but still far from zero, and, you know, essentially to continue the mission.

[Maria Varmazas]

The rug pull of the funding for this was definitely a head scratcher. Indeed. I remember when the news dropped, a lot of us just were very confused. So I'm wondering if, just to get a sense of, I hate to ask you to be like the devil's advocate, but what was the argument that the administration was making for why TRACKS didn't need to. I. This is the part where did they say what their reasoning was?

[Audrey Schaefer]

Yeah, you know, there is of course a rationale in the budget justifications, but to be candid, it's kind of confusing and I can't really say that I fully understand it.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah.

[Audrey Schaefer]

And so I don't really want to put words in their mouth, but it seems to imply that they in fact think that a combination of, you know, free DoD data and private sector technology can meet the need. And while certainly I think there is a very important role for the private sector for companies like Slink Shot to provide space traffic coordination services, that doesn't obviate the need for a US government function that actually brings in private sector capabilities and builds the world class civil space traffic coordination system. One of the main arguments actually that we have been using when we talk about why it's so important to have this government system is actually US leadership. If you think about the history of air traffic control and the fact that the US had such a strong role in shaping that international system, the result is that international air traffic control in countries all over the world was largely built on U.S. standards. And in fact, the default language of air traffic control worldwide is English. So for the very same reasons, we need this US government system so the US can really go toe to toe with other countries like China and the European Union, who themselves have or are establishing their own version of tracks so that we can make sure that the future of space traffic coordination is built on the best practices of U.S. space operations, whether those are commercial or government.

[Maria Varmazas]

We'll be right back.

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[Maria Varmazas]

So let's talk a little bit about what actually goes into building Tracks and all the different layers, for lack of better terminology. And I know that you all are very much involved in that, so can you walk me through some of that?

[Audrey Schaefer]

Absolutely. So Tracks will have a number of different components. Primarily the guts of it, if you will, are the data and the analytics that they use to predict when two objects in space might come close enough to result in a potential collision. If you think about the contributions of the private sector, certainly the Commerce Department has been keen to purchase commercial space object tracking data. So you know Slingshot Aerospace has a worldwide network of ground based optical telescopes doing uncued and cued detection and tracking of objects all the way from low earth orbit up into cislunar space. And the Department of Commerce will need data like that. Now of course, the DoD also has a network of sensors that it uses to track objects in space, and that is what Commerce used to create the initial version of Tracks. But the reality is that DoD network was really built for a different purpose. Actually, historically the network, most of it was built for missile warning, which is completely different. But even in the more modern investments, the sensors that DOD wants are those that really provide a detailed view of the objects that are potentially threatening. So what we call high interest objects or potential threats, DoD doesn't necessarily need to track the tens of thousands of objects in space that are really just going about their business day to day, staying in their orbital slot, not really causing any harm to anybody or even having the potential to cause harm. It's a very different function to scan the sky all the time and just watch out for where things are, versus to key in on a few key things and really understand everything you can about them. In any case, Commerce using that DoD data is fine as a starting point, but they're really going to need that additional commercial data as the space object population grows. Likewise, you need to do something with that data. You need to derive the insights you need to fuse the data from multiple sources. You need to do the conjunction assessment to see where the objects are going to be in the future and whether they're going to run into each other. And that of course is also where commercial comes in. And of course, the last, if I could just. The last piece of the puzzle which you alluded to is what we call presentation services or the user interface. So think the ux, the design that individual satellite operators use to interact with. And this is where Slingshot Aerospace won the contract last year to really build that interactive experience.

[Maria Varmazas]

As you're talking about, you know, being able to understand all these, these unique events, like potentially a conjunction event, that kind of a thing. AI comes to mind as a, as.

[Audrey Schaefer]

A, something that I hear a lot about.

[Maria Varmazas]

And I know that you all just announced actually something that's AI related that.

[Audrey Schaefer]

Feels like a sort of a, maybe somewhat related here.

[Maria Varmazas]

So I didn't want to give it away. I wanted to ask you about that. If you could tell me more about what you all just announced that is AI related, that feels like it would slot in nicely here.

[Audrey Schaefer]

Yeah, thanks, Maria. So we just announced Talos, the thinking agent for logical operations and strategy, which is an autonomous AI powered agent. So think agentic AI that's designed to mimic realistic satellite behavior in training and simulation environments. So if you think about learning how to conduct space operations, this AI system essentially is your training buddy. Imagine actually there's someone in our company that likes to use a Mario Kart example. If I could.

[Maria Varmazas]

I absolutely can.

[Audrey Schaefer]

If you think about Mario Kart and you're. Let's just say you're Mario and you're playing in, you know, you're doing the Grand Prix, right? It's just you, you know, playing, playing on your, on your console. You know, there are seven other cars, you know, who you're racing against in the game. And now Mario Kart is not AI enabled, but perhaps one day it will be.

[Maria Varmazas]

Maybe one day.

[Audrey Schaefer]

Yeah, that's right. Think about all those other cars really being agentic AI. So they are, you know, they are trained to know how to drive on the road, to know how to shoot off shells, to know where the shortcuts are, and really to make your job, you know, a little more difficult to win the race. And so Talos is exactly like that. It's an AI agent that we can train for a number of different space operations to be either a co pilot for someone who's looking for recommendations on how to operate their satellite, or an adversary in a training scenario where you're learning how to protect and defend yourself, or even just an educational tool to help learn the fundamentals of how to conduct space operations. We have worked with the US Space Force on Talos, engaging with their Space Aggressor squadron, who are the humans who are trained to be essentially adversary satellite operators. And historically they essentially go to war games and exercises and pretend to be red, if you will, and challenge Guardians to respond to their tactics and their procedures. And Talos can essentially augment those kinds of humans to really expand the scale of simulated adversaries and frankly, make these scenarios more realistic. So when we think about Talos in a national security context, we're really helping Guardians, Space Force Guardians, prepare for potential space war fighting.

[Maria Varmazas]

That's fascinating. The future is now, as you're describing that. That is really fascinating. And now I'm thinking about Mario Kart 2, so that analogy absolutely works on me. I want to make sure if there's anything else that you wanted to mention, I want to be sensitive to time. The floor is yours. Is there anything that you wanted to talk about that I didn't ask about that you wanted to mention? Over to you.

[Audrey Schaefer]

Yeah. Thanks, Maria. Well, first, just thanks so much again for having me on. And what I think I'd leave us with in this conversation, really focused mostly on tracks, is just how much industry alignment is behind continuing the funding for the Office of Space Commerce and continuing to have this civil space traffic management mission. I think I said earlier in the discussion that this letter we organized was signed essentially by all the major US Space industry associations and more, just demonstrating that there's really consensus across big companies, small companies, traditional, non traditional, every sort of vertical within the space market to maintain the funding for this program. And so I'm really pleased to see that Congress took note of that support, and I really hope that the funding is continued through the final appropriations and Trax stays on track.

[Maria Varmazas]

That's T minus Deep Space. Brought to you by N2K CyberWire. We'd love to know what you think of this podcast. Your feedback ensures we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like our show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to spacen2k.com we're proud that N2K CyberWire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector, from the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies, N2K helps space and cybersecurity professionals grow, learn and stay informed. As the nexus for discovery and connection, we bring you the people, the technology and the ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn [e-mail] N2K's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester, with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ivan. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I am your host, Maria Varmazas. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.

[Audrey Schaefer]

Sam.