Space Situational Awareness Conference

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.”