Notice2025-11071
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Licensing of Private Remote-Sensing Space Systems
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 114 (Monday, June 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 114 (Monday, June 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25247-25248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11071]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Licensing of Private Remote-Sensing Space Systems
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on January 15, 2025 during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
Title: Licensing of Private Remote-Sensing Space Systems.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0174.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension and revision of a current
information collection).
Number of Respondents: 100.
Average Hours per Response: Application: 25 hours; License
Modification Request: 1 hour; Notification of Launch or Deployment of
Spacecraft, Notification of Disposal of On-Orbit Component,
Notification of Detection of Anomaly, Notification of Financial
Insolvency or Dissolution: 30 minutes each; Annual Compliance
Certification: 3 hours; Initial Contact Form: 12 minutes; and Data
Availability Notification: 10 minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,194.
Needs and Uses: This is a request for revision and extension to an
approved information collection.
The Department of Commerce (DOC), through the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Space Commerce (OSC)
Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA), has the authority
to regulate private space-based remote sensing under the Land Remote
Sensing Policy Act of 1992, 51 U.S.C. 60101 et seq. (the Act) and
regulations at 15 CFR part 960. The regulations facilitate the
development of the U.S. private remote sensing industry and thus
promote the collection and widespread availability of remote sensing
data while preserving essential U.S. national security interests and
observing international obligations.
The proposed revisions in this notice are primarily tied to the
development of a new, online platform to manage license actions called
the Commerce Licensing and Compliance System for Space (CLCSS). CLCSS
is intended to streamline the process for communications with CRSRA
regarding applications, notices, modification requests, and annual
compliance certifications. CRSRA is committed to improving the user
experience and providing a simplified license application and
management process for all licensees. The forms discussed below and
their integration with CLCSS will streamline, clarify, and expedite
paperwork submissions required to support regulation of the private
space-based remote sensing industry.
Applications are made in response to the requirements in the Act,
as amended. At present, CRSRA sends the applicant an Application Guide,
which repeats the application questions and criteria listed in Appendix
A to 15 CFR part 960 with an additional explanatory text. In the
future, the CLCSS system will incorporate these questions and response
criteria in a fillable, online form format. The application information
received is used to determine if the applicant meets the legal criteria
for issuance of a license to operate a private remote sensing space
system, i.e., the proposed system will be operated in accordance with
the Act, U.S. national security concerns and international obligations.
Application information includes information about the applicant (such
as corporate information), the launch dates of any components going to
space, and technical specifications of all components of the remote
sensing system. CRSRA has observed that relying on both the Appendix
and the Application Guide creates confusion and has led to the
submission of incomplete applications. CRSRA anticipates the fillable
format, which combines both the Application Guide and criteria in
Appendix A, will help any new applicant accurately provide the
necessary information.
If a licensee wishes to modify its license, either to reflect
changes in its business practices or technical changes to its system,
or to request different license conditions, it may submit such a
request to CRSRA and explain why the change is sought. CRSRA needs this
information to be able to keep licenses accurate and to respond to the
regulated community's needs. CRSRA is incorporating a new form called
the License Modification Form with a standard set of questions
licensees can provide for the modification request to be processed.
Licensees will identify the relevant license provisions, the requested
changes to those provisions, and the date upon which the requested
change will take effect. CRSRA anticipates this will expedite how
quickly the requests are processed and remove a moderate amount of
paperwork by clarifying what to include with a modification request.
Licensees are required to notify CRSRA when a spacecraft launches
or deploys; upon disposal of an on-orbit component of the licensed
system; upon detection of an anomaly; and upon the licensee's financial
insolvency or dissolution. The existing information collection already
allows for the collection of this information through the Licensee
Notification Form (LNF). This information is critical to fulfilling one
of the United States' key international obligations, which is to
authorize and continually supervise U.S. nationals' activities in
space. CRSRA, through its implementing regulations, requires notice
when spacecraft are deployed and disposed of so that CRSRA can
supervise the space activities of U.S. nationals. Similarly, anomalies
may indicate loss of control of a spacecraft, so CRSRA must monitor any
anomalies to meaningfully supervise the activities of U.S. nationals in
space. The approved LNF was not utilized by licensees. To provide more
useful forms and effectively integrate to CLCSS, the LNF will be broken
into the three types of notifications that licensees are required to
provide. Financial insolvency or dissolution notification are still
required under the regulation, but CRSRA has not received such
notifications and therefore will not utilize a form for these
notifications. CRSRA will accept these notifications by email or the
generic contact feature on CLCSS. This will ensure CRSRA only required
information is submitted, thereby reducing unnecessary paperwork and/or
follow-up correspondence.
Pursuant to the regulations, CRSRA requires licensees to submit an
annual compliance certification. In the certification, licensees verify
that all facts in the license remain true. Facts that must be verified
in this certification include the technical specifications of the
system and other foundational facts that CRSRA relies upon in reviewing
license applications. This information is critical to ensuring that
only those
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entities who are legally fit to obtain a license do so. In order to
integrate this process with CLCSS, CRSRA will turn the standard
verification requirement into a form. There will be no substantive
change in what information needs to be provided by licensees.
CRSRA will renew the optional Initial Contact Form (ICF) that
includes contact information and general remote sensing system
information with a few changes for clarity that include rephrasing a
few questions and removing one or two. The ICF may be submitted
electronically through the NOAA website prior to the submission of a
full application and will also be integrated into CLCSS. The ICF
information received is used to determine if the applicant is required
to submit a full application for the issuance of a license to operate a
private remote sensing space system, i.e., the proposed system falls
under the authority defined in the Act and the regulations. If NOAA
determines after reviewing the ICF that an application is not required,
the potential applicant will save 40-50 hours of paperwork by not
submitting the application.
Finally, CRSRA is renewing the optional Data Availability
Notification (DAN) which includes contact information and general data
availability information. The DAN may be submitted electronically
through the NOAA website during the application process, while an
applicant holds a license, or by any interested party. The DAN will be
integrated with CLCSS as well. The DAN information received is used to
help determine the availability of unenhanced data from a foreign or
domestic remote sensing system, which may then be compared to
unenhanced data produced by an applicant's system for the purpose of
adjusting the conditions and/or restrictions in a license. The DAN form
ensures that only required information is submitted, thereby reducing
unnecessary paperwork and/or follow-up correspondence.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
Frequency: Once per year.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, 51 U.S.C.
60101 et seq.; and 15 CFR part 960--Licensing of Private Remote Sensing
Space Systems..
This information collection request may be viewed at
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0648-0174.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2025-11071 Filed 6-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-HR-P
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