The trade association formerly known as the Commercial Spaceflight Federation is getting a new name, a concise mandate, and a way to support the politicians who support space.
The group will now be known as the Commercial Space Federation (CSF) to more accurately reflect its members, which include companies working in sectors ranging from spaceports to space situational awareness to EO.
“I heard we were seen as the launch trade association when 75% of member companies were not launch companies,” Dave Cavossa, who became president of CSF in June, told Payload. “Launch is very important to what we do, but…it felt like it was time to mature again, that it’s about all of commercial space.”
Industry councils: To better represent its diverse membership, CSF created six new industry councils. These will allow the organization to tailor both the info it shares with companies and its advocacy on the Hill to the priorities of specific sectors, though Cavossa acknowledged there will likely be significant overlap on things such as export control and mission authorization. The councils are:
- Launch and reentry
- Commercial LEO
- Space exploration
- Spaceports and infrastructure
- Remote sensing and analytics
- Satellite and space situational awareness
Political support: CSF is also establishing a political action committee, or PAC, that is designed to support pro-commercial space lawmakers in their reelection bids, Cavossa said, noting that having a PAC affiliated with a trade association is very common in other industries. The fund will be able to dole out contributions made by CSF employees, staff at its member companies, and PAC-to-PAC transfers from member companies’ own political funds.
“We want to make sure we’re there to support those members who step up and say we need to reduce regulation for commercial space to help it grow, we need to grow the NASA budget, we need to grow DoD budget for commercial space,” Cavossa said. “We want to go out of our way very loudly to support them.”
A new motto: CSF is unveiling its “Integrate, Compete, and Unleash” initiative—because “everybody needs something short and sweet,” Cavossa said. The initiative distills the organization’s top priorities that extend across its membership, regardless of sector.
- Integrate: Cavossa said the government should include commercial space at the very beginning of mission planning and use commercial tech and services whenever possible.
- Compete: This is a call for an open bidding process and for firm fixed-price contracts to make the government a “smarter buyer,” Cavossa said.
- Unleash: CSF will be asking officials to consider what regulations are truly needed and scrap the rest.
What’s next: Cavossa shared some of the top priorities for his member companies—and the top things he’ll be bringing to Congress and the new administration next year:
- Increasing the budget for NASA and DoD space programs
- Rewriting the FAA’s Part 450
- Modernizing export control regulations
- Eliminating duplication and cutting regulations
- Approving a mission authorization architecture
- Finalizing a plan to transition from the ISS to commercial space stations
