During Wednesday's Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing, Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) questioned Jared Isaacman, the nominee to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, about space traffic management efforts.
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NewsTranscript
00:01Thank you. Senator Young.
00:03Well, thank you both for being here today.
00:06Mr. Isaacson, Isaacman, rather.
00:10U.S. economy, national defense, infrastructure,
00:13they all rely on satellites extensively these days for GPS,
00:18for weather, for communications purposes,
00:22for surveillance, and much more.
00:25So a collision or a loss of key satellites could result in
00:31even catastrophic national security and economic costs.
00:38As you know, the TRACS system,
00:41Traffic Coordination System for Space, was launched in 2024.
00:46It's being developed to provide situational awareness data
00:51across civil, military, and commercial sectors.
00:55Mr. Isaacman, if confirmed,
00:58how would you ensure that NASA coordinates
00:59with Department of Commerce and DOD
01:03on space situational awareness
01:06and space traffic management efforts?
01:10Senator, thank you very much for the question.
01:13This is a subject that I'm pretty passionate about.
01:16My two missions to space,
01:18the number one risk we faced was from orbital debris.
01:21For starters, I think NASA absolutely will play a role
01:25as this new frontier continues to open,
01:28and ideally we have lots of space stations
01:30and lots of activity
01:31and a great flourishing economic environment in space.
01:34I believe all of the information that we can gather
01:37from our assets on space debris
01:39should be funneled into a single mission control
01:41that has the ultimate situational awareness.
01:44But I have to say also,
01:45the biggest threat, Senator,
01:47is what we can't track.
01:48What is so tiny,
01:49the millimeter-sized objects
01:51at orbital velocity
01:52that can shred a satellite or a spacecraft.
01:55And in that respect,
01:56we have to stop adding to the problem.
01:58The United States is very good
02:00at not adding to the problem.
02:01I can't say that's the same
02:02for some of our geopolitical rivals, sir.
02:04Maybe you could speak with a little more specificity
02:11about the gravity of the problem.
02:15Paint the picture for those
02:16who might be watching these proceedings
02:18about how extensive this challenge has become,
02:23and I'll just let you take it from there.
02:26Senator, absolutely.
02:29A lot of people think of
02:30whether it's a discarded second stage in orbit
02:33or a defunct satellite as the problem.
02:36We know where they are,
02:37and we can have trajectories that avoid them.
02:39The issue is the speck of paint
02:42that falls off that satellite
02:44that's now traveling at 17,500 miles an hour
02:47and can collide with another object
02:49going 17,500 miles an hour.
02:52I had an opportunity to visit the NASA facility,
02:55the White Sands Missile Range,
02:56and see what a one- and two-millimeter
02:58piece of aluminum does
02:59at near-orbital velocities,
03:01and I can tell you what it penetrates through
03:03is pretty, it's eye-opening to say the least.
03:06It is an issue.
03:07We certainly need to do all we can
03:09to avoid any sort of kinetic conflict
03:11in low-Earth orbit,
03:12to stop adding to the problem,
03:13and again, I think the United States
03:15does a fantastic job at doing this.
03:17We need to work really hard
03:18to make sure others,
03:19maybe less responsible actors,
03:21don't add to the problem.
03:22Well, I'd like to work with you
03:23on this challenge,
03:24should you be confirmed,
03:25as I believe you will be.
03:26So, clearly, you're conversant in it,
03:29and it sounds like you'll be prioritizing this.
03:32Ms. Trustee, the FCC's International Bureau,
03:37Telecom, and Analysis Division, TAD,
03:41issues licenses to own and operate submarine cables
03:45and associated landing stations
03:47in the United States.
03:49Commercial undersea telecom cables
03:51carry approximately 99%
03:54of transoceanic digital communication,
03:57serving as a physical backbone
03:59for our internet.
04:01Since 2022, Russia has stepped up
04:04its attacks on this infrastructure.
04:06In 2023, Yiping-3,
04:10a Chinese tanker
04:11that had previously departed a Russian port,
04:14cut two Baltic Sea cables.
04:17You know, incidents like this,
04:19we're reading about them
04:20on a regular basis these days.
04:22Ms. Trustee,
04:23what steps is the FCC's TAD office taking
04:26to protect undersea cable infrastructure
04:28and the sensitive data
04:30and information transmitted
04:31across undersea cables every day?
04:36Thank you, Senator, for the question.
04:38I think this is such an important issue.
04:39I focused a lot on it
04:41during my time
04:41on the Armed Services Committee.
04:43This is such an important part
04:44of our critical infrastructure,
04:45and I think we need to do more to secure it.
04:48As you mentioned,
04:49the FCC works closely
04:51with Team Telecom
04:52to review and approve
04:53undersea cable applications.
04:55I think we can promote more transparency
04:57in our foreign ownership
04:59in these undersea cables
05:00so we have a better sense
05:01of what the risks might be.
05:03I also think we should try
05:04to promote more U.S.-led
05:05undersea cable projects
05:06so that we can eliminate
05:07the risks entirely.
05:10In addition to that,
05:11I think exploring the diversification
05:14of undersea cable routes
05:16to ensure that there's
05:17no single point of failure
05:18to the extent
05:20an undersea cable is disrupted.
05:23But I think as a protective measure,
05:25we should work on strengthening
05:26our disaster recovery
05:28and emergency response plans
05:29given that some of these cables
05:31are so vulnerable to exploitation.
05:33But if I'm confirmed, Senator,
05:34this would be a priority of mine.
05:36My office will follow up with you
05:38on some of your answers
05:39for further elaboration,
05:41but I do get the sense
05:42you're very much dialed into this.
05:44I'll just make one last comment
05:46knowing that we have colleagues waiting.
05:48Setting standards, Ms. Trustee,
05:50at the FCC
05:52through international governing bodies
05:54is increasingly important.
05:57I think we have been outflanked
05:59over the years
05:59by the Chinese in particular,
06:01but also by others.
06:03And we need to develop
06:05a unified position here
06:07at the federal level
06:08between the FCC and state
06:11and NTIA
06:12and various other entities
06:15so that we can prioritize
06:17this moving forward.
06:18So we'll follow up
06:19with a question for the record
06:20about that as well.
06:23Mr. Chairman?
06:26Senator Duckworth?
06:27Thank you, Mr. Chairman.