November 2013 - London Institute of Space Policy and Law London Institute of Space Policy and Law November 2013 - London Institute of Space Policy and Law

Archive for November, 2013

Space Situational Awareness Presentations

Friday, November 29th, 2013

ISPL Advisor Professor Richard Crowther spoke at a recent conference on space situational awareness, along with Professor Sa’id Mosteshar, ISPL’s Director. The conference took place on 13 and 14 November 2013.

The conference, Space Situational Awareness 2013, addressed political and technical issues, with speakers including experts from across Europe and the USA. The program aimed to facilitate discussion and debate about the business, political and technical challenges of SSA. It also aimed to inform about SSA in advance of the scheduled meeting of European heads of state in December to review their common security and defence position.

Sa’id addressed Legal Issues Critical to SSA. His presentation and the written version may be viewed in our Research & Publications archive.

Richard addressed the conference on Outlining The Best Practice Initiatives Being Delivered With Space Situational Awareness. He will also participate in a panel: Given Recent Developments In The World Of Space Situational Awareness – Where Are We Now? Exploring Current And Global SSA Capabilities And Programmes, as well as a session of round-table discussions. Richard is Chief Engineer, UK Space Agency.

For some background on SSA, ESA’s SSA program, and the EU proposals for a new space policy, see our earlier news item.

Emerging Topics in Space Law

Thursday, November 28th, 2013

ISPL Faculty members Professor Dempsey and Dr Jakhu report that the the Institute of Air and Space Law of McGill University will present a seminar on emerging space issues in May, 2014 in Melbourne. Professor Paul Dempsey is Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law, and Dr Ram Jakhu is Associate Professor.

The Seminar will take place on Wednesday May 7, 2014 at the Annual Air Law Conference of the Aviation Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (ALAANZ). The conference will run from May 7 to 9, 2014.

ALAANZ was established in 1980, with the aim of developing the practice of the law affecting the aviation industry and the exchange of information about aviation law. ALAANZ has some 350 members in Australia, New Zealand and other countries. There are branches in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. For more information about ALAANZ see their website.

For more information about the McGill Seminar and their other events, contact Ram at ram.jakhu@mcgill.ca.

Space Commerce Presentations

Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

ISPL Faculty member Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Professor Sa’id Mosteshar, ISPL Director, addressed the International Space Commerce 2013 Summit in London on 29 October 2013.

Tanja is President of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) and Deputy Director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden Law School. She spoke about Regulation of small satellite under international and national space law. Her presentation covered the following areas.

Benefits and concerns of small satellites
International space law applicable to small satellites
Tendencies in national regulation of small satellites, with a focus on Europe
Considerations in the UN and ITU
Prospects for adequate regulation of small satellites

Sa’id’s talk was entitled Managing conflict: The laws and regulations of commercial participation in space. He addressed regulation and compliance, policy formulation and implementation, security and access, and considered some topical issues including debris mitigation and remediation, earth observation, ownership change and on-orbit service, and exploitation of resources. He considered the future legal framework and briefly discussed international solutions, guidelines and best practice.

For more information about the conference, including sponsors and other speakers, download the agenda here.

Space Situational Awareness Conference

Thursday, November 7th, 2013

ISPL speakers will participate in a conference on SSA next week. Professor Richard Crowther, and Professor Sa’id Mosteshar will address the conference on 13 and 14 November 2013.

The conference, Space Situational Awareness 2013, includes presentations on political and technical issues by experts from across Europe and the USA. Topics will include space debris mitigation and removal, current launch capabilities, security policy, financial and political considerations in establishing a global SSA system, space weather, and collaboration between satellite operators through the Space Data Association. The program will provide a forum for discussion and debate about the business, political and technical challenges of SSA. The event aims to inform about SSA in advance of the scheduled meeting in December of European heads of state, when they will review their common security and defence position.

Richard is Chief Engineer, UK Space Agency and an ISPL Advisor. He will address the conference on Outlining The Best Practice Initiatives Being Delivered with Space Situational Awareness. He will also participate in a panel: Given Recent Developments in the World of Space Situational Awareness – Where Are We Now? Exploring Current and Global SSA Capabilities and Programmes. He will also participate in a session of round-table discussions.

Sa’id is ISPL’s Director. He will speak about Legal Issues Critical to SSA.

“The overall objective of space situational awareness (SSA) is to identify the location of every object orbiting the Earth, why it is there, what it is doing, and to predict what it will be doing in the future. Its aim is to track and understand what exactly is in orbit from either space or from the ground. This knowledge enables the management of space assets and the exercise of a level of control over the space environment.”

Also attending the conference will be Valentino Quaggiato, MPhil candidate at ISPL and Astrium engineer, along with Dr Andrew Brearley, ISPL researcher and frequent rapporteur.

For more information, see the conference website.

For the complete video, visit the NASA JSC Gallery

Some background on SSA and the EU Proposals:

ESA’s SSA program

The European Union’s announcement for a proposed new space policy, which addresses investment in R&D, financing, skills, access to space, and SSA:

“Space is at the service of the European citizens. Many of the systems and services that are today essential for our well-being and security depend directly or indirectly on space. Without being aware, European citizens rely on space technologies when they use their mobile phones, make financial transactions, take an airplane, watch the weather forecast or look for the nearest restaurant using their cars’ navigation system. Space has become part of our daily lives. The Commission therefore proposes a new space policy to meet the challenges of today’s world.”

“The Commission proposes to provide an organisational framework to support the setting up and operation of a space surveillance and tracking (SST) service at European level… The SST would be built on existing national assets and expertise. It would define a data policy which takes into account national security interests and which allows the monitoring and hence the protection of space infrastructures, in order to ensure the sustainability of space activities in Europe.”

Further information about the proposed SST service.

“Avoiding collisions in space

The growing number of satellites and amounts of space debris makes the risk of collision a serious threat to the sustainable operation of space infrastructure. Around 16,000 objects which orbit the Earth are larger than 10 cm, and between 300,000 and 600,000 are larger than 1 cm. An object larger than 1 cm hitting a satellite will at least damage or destroy sub-systems or instruments on board, and a collision with an object larger than 10 cm will destroy the satellite. There is also a risk to ground-based infrastructures and citizens security from the re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere of in-active satellites and discarded sections of rockets.

The most conservative estimates put the potential economic loss for European satellite operators due to collisions – or costly and risky manoeuvres to move their satellites out of the way – at € 210 million per year. The economic loss on the ground due to the disruption of applications and services that rely on the data of lost or damaged satellites cannot be quantified, but implies a significantly higher figure.

In order to mitigate the risks of collision and uncontrolled re-entries it is necessary to monitor satellites and space debris so that satellite operators and public authorities can be alerted in good time. The Commission proposes a programme to support EU Member States that own radars and telescopes capable of monitoring satellites and space debris or relevant data centres, to bring together their capacities and offer for the first time a European space surveillance and tracking (SST) service.”