Experts to Convene on Space Traffic Control Concerns

Newswise — The recent collision between spacecraft and close encounters with orbital debris by the crew of the International Space Station has heightened interest in taking new steps in space traffic control.

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is the theme to be addressed by leading experts attending Improving Our Vision III, to be held March 23-24 at Intelsat Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

This two-day event is being sponsored by a partnership between Secure World Foundation, Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies, the Center for Defense Information, the George C. Marshall Institute and Intelsat.

"Space Situational Awareness is one of the most important space issues of our time," said Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation.The conference will bring together representatives of the U.S. military, civil space agencies, satellite companies and non-governmental organizations.

"The objective of the meeting is to find a way forward toward a more open way to provide crucial SSA awareness information to space system operators," Dr. Williamson said.

This month's conference is the third in a series. The first meeting was held in London in 2007 at Inmarsat Headquarters, with the first conference taking place in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2006.

Data sharing

Among topics to be spotlighted at this year's event will be discussion of the U.S. Air Force Phase 3 of Commercial and Foreign Entities " which is slated to provide advanced services to satellite operators.

The program also includes a demonstration by the Center for Space Standards & Innovation of its SOCRATES-GEO data center that uses owner-operated-provided data to provide greatly improved accuracy and reduces false alarms.

This timely gathering of international authorities will turn their attention to the growing challenges in the space environment, policy imperatives of safe and responsible behavior, as well as the prospect for international cooperation in SSA.

Secure World Foundation (SWF) believes that an SSA system needs to be international in both its creation and operations, noted Brian Weeden, SWF's Technical Consultant. Accurate tracking of all objects in Earth orbit requires a geographically distributed network of both radar and optical telescopes.

"Such a network is very expensive to create and maintain, and only the United States has thus far developed one," Weeden pointed out. "And while the United States' space surveillance network does provide the most complete SSA data in the world, it still has significant limitations due to the lack of coverage in areas where the United States does not have a presence."

In addition to global sensor coverage, an international civil SSA system must also include data from commercial satellite owner-operators: these entities have data on the locations of their satellites more accurate than any ground-based sensor could obtain.

"The key to making such a system work is in the data sharing model," Weeden said.

Meeting information

Improving Our Vision III is being held at:

Intelsat Headquarters3400 International Drive, NWWashington, D.C.

Please note that Chatham House rules of non-attribution will apply, and all discussions will be on an unclassified level.

Due to security, media wishing to attend must contact:

Phil Smith, SWF Communications DirectorEmail: [email protected]Phone: (303) 554-1560

Secure World Foundation is a private operating foundation dedicated to the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples.

SWF engages with academics, policy makers, scientists and advocates in the space and international affairs communities to support steps that strengthen global space security. It promotes the development of cooperative and effective use of space for the protection of Earth's environment and human security.

The Foundation acts as a research body, convener and facilitator to advocate for key space security and other space related topics and to examine their influence on governance and international development.