ISO 26900:2012 specifies three standard message formats for use in transferring spacecraft orbit information between space agencies and commercial or governmental spacecraft operators: the Orbit Parameter Message (OPM), the Orbit Mean-Elements Message (OMM), and the Orbit Ephemeris Message (OEM). Such exchanges are used for
a) pre-flight planning for tracking or navigation support,
b) scheduling tracking support,
c) carrying out tracking operations (sometimes called metric predicts),
d) performing orbit comparisons,
e) carrying out navigation operations such as orbit propagation and orbit reconstruction,
f) assessing mutual physical and electromagnetic interference among satellites orbiting the same celestial body (currently primarily Earth, Moon, and Mars),
g) performing orbit conjunction (collision avoidance) studies, and
h) developing and executing collaborative manoeuvres to mitigate interference or enhance mutual operations.
ISO 26900:2012 includes sets of requirements and criteria that the message formats have been designed to meet.