Lecture Invitation: Space Traffic Management

Newswise — Given worldwide launches of spacecraft, attention is being focused on the need for space traffic management " to help avoid future on-orbit collisions.

To raise awareness of this sky-high issue, the Secure World Foundation's Space Security Lunch Series will feature Dr. T.S. Kelso, one of the world's experts on space debris and space situational awareness (SSA).

Reporter's Note:

This no-charge luncheon talk will take place November 20 at the University of Colorado Boulder, University Memorial Center (UMC), in Aspen Room 285, starting at 12:00 noon.

"The need for space situational awareness is becoming more evident with each passing year. SSA, whatever its final form, will represent the information sphere supporting space traffic management, orbital debris mitigation and other activities," explains Phil Smith, Communications Director for the Colorado-based Secure World Foundation (SWF).

Smith noted that Dr. Kelso's talk will focus on an aspect of SSA that captures the greatest worry for space operators now and in the future - on-orbit collisions. The discussion will focus on two basic needs: international SSA data sharing and the need for high-fidelity data.

Despite a global economic downturn, Smith added, orbital launches are expected to increase in the coming decades.

Demand for fixed and mobile satellite services continues to grow steadily, and government-financed human spaceflight activity by the United States, Russia and China is expected to increase in low Earth orbit and beyond. Commercial piloted suborbital traffic is forecast to emerge and increase within a few years, introducing a unique variable to air and space traffic control, Smith said.

"A high fidelity, real-time or near real-time SSA will provide users with environmental and traffic information in order to sustain safe and secure operations for all," SWF's Smith said.

Dr. Kelso is Senior Research Astrodynamicist for The Center for Space Standards & Innovation (CSSI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado - a research arm of Analytical Graphics, Inc. Kelso has some thirty years experience in space education, research, analysis, acquisition, development, operations, and consulting with organizations such as: Air Force Space Command Space Analysis Center; NASA's Near-Earth Object Science Definition Team; and the Air Force Satellite Control Network.

To register for this free lunch discussion, please go to:

http://www.secureworldfoundation.org/index.php?event_id=25&edate=2008-11-20&id=71