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Secure World Foundation Newsletter
April 2019
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Insight - Making Sense of Trump’s Space Force
By Brian Weeden, Director of Program Planning
On June 18, 2018, President Trump directed the creation of a “Space Force” as the United State’s sixth military service. Though the announcement was a surprise to nearly everyone, including most of the leadership in the Department of Defense, the underlying issues and concerns were not. The U.S. national security space community has been grappling with how best to organize itself for nearly two decades. The debate began in earnest with the Rumsfeld Commission Report in January 2001, but was sidelined with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the last few years, growing counterspace threats from Russia, China, and others have increased the urgency for accelerating the development of new capabilities and improving the resilience of its space systems. In late 2016, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) reignited the space reorganization debate in Congress and began a legislative push for creating a Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force.
As is often the case with a policy ad lib by President Trump, the announcement kicked off a surge of media and public interest. It was the first time most people had heard of these issues and the aggressive rhetoric President Trump used to describe the Space Force led many to believe it was made up on the spot or involved a Hollywood-version of space warfare with starships and Buck Rogers. This created opportunities for SWF and other experts to weigh in and explain that it was a real issue, but also quite different than what most presumed: more robots and radio frequency jamming than soldiers and explosions in space...continue reading.
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Events
Mar 12, 2019
Workshop Examines Economic, Business, and Public Private Partnerships Questions for Lunar Space Resources Utilization
The Secure World Foundation, the SDA Bocconi School of Management-Space Economy Evolution Lab, and the George Washington University Space Policy Institute co-organized an invite-only one day workshop in Milan, Italy where participants undertook a wide-ranging discussion of the state of government and commercial partnerships focused on development of space resources utilization in the lunar context. Topics considered during the workshop included current government and commercial program status, a review of scientific data on lunar resources, presentation of several macro-level market studies examining space resources potential, a review of policy and legal considerations, and discussion of risks and uncertainties in space resources focused business plans.
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Staff Activities and Presentations
Mar 22, 2019
SWF Staff Participate at Global Space Congress
SWF staff were active participants in the Global Space Congress, hosted in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, by the UAE Space Agency. This gathering of over 700 participants highlighted the role that the Middle East and Africa can play in the evolution of the space domain. Washington Office Director Victoria Samson spoke on a panel on threats to the security and stability of space, focusing specifically on the role that multilateral fora can have on moving these discussions forward and realizing tangible plans of action for state actors to take. She also moderated a panel on space sustainability, where participants talked about the importance of norms of behavior and the role of the commercial sector in ensuring that space is usable to all over the long-term. Director of Strategic Partnerships Tiffany Chow also was in attendance.
Mar 25, 2019
SWF Contributes to Group on Earth Observations
Director of Space Applications Krystal Wilson represented SWF at the 13th GEO Programme Board meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The group worked to review inputs to the 2020-2022 GEO Work Programme and gave feedback planning for April GEO Data Technology Workshop in Vienna, Austria and the November GEO‐XVI Plenary and 2019 Ministerial in Canberra, Australia. The group also made final plans for the 2019 GEO Symposium to be held May 27-29 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mar 26, 2019
Models for Industry and Government Cooperation in Space Exploration Policy Discussed at UNOOSA Workshop in Jordan
Director of Private Sector Programs Ian Christensen gave a presentation entitled "Civil Society Participation in Space Exploration Policy: An NGO's Experience With the Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group" at the United Nations / Jordan Workshop: Global Partnership in Space Exploration and Innovation in Amman, Jordan. His presentation focused on SWF's experience as a Member of the Hague Group, working to develop principles for an international legal framework to enable space resources, and highlighted elements of the Working Groups structure and process as model for coordination on future legal and regulatory topics involving enabling private sector space exploration activities.
Mar 29, 2019
SWF Participates in Spring Meetings of the International Astronautical Federation
Executive Director Peter Martinez participated in the Spring Meetings of the International Astronautical Federation in Paris, France. The meeting selected the papers to be presented at the upcoming International Astronautical Congress, to be held in Washington, DC in October, and discussed the evolution of the Congress agenda. Dr. Martinez presented an update to the IAF Space Security Committee on the work carried out by UN COPUOS in the development of guidelines for space sustainability.
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Publications
Mar 11, 2019
A Compromise on Space Traffic Management
On June 18, 2018, President Trump signed Space Policy Directive 3, which established the first U.S. national policy on space traffic management (STM). SPD-3 laid out a concrete set of policy goals and directives for STM and provided a solid roadmap of how to put in place the roles, authorities, and responsibilities to get there. However, implementation of SPD-3 has stalled, in large part due to political disagreement over which civil agency should take the lead for providing civil space situational awareness (SSA) and STM capabilities to support safety of spaceflight.
In a new article, Director of Program Planning Brian Weeden lays out a compromise between giving all the authorities to the Department of Commerce, as the Administration proposes, or the Department of Transportation, as some in Congress propose. Dr. Weeden argues that finding a middle ground that splits the authorities between Commerce and Transportation is the most pragmatic solution and could be the basis for a compromise that will pass Congress and get President Trump's signature to avoid further delays in making progress on this critical issue.
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Experts in the Media
Mar 26, 2019
Is space the next military battleground?
Washington Office Director Victoria Samson was a panelist on Al Jazeera English's show, "The Stream," to discuss "Is space the next military battleground?" For more information, including a video of the 30-minute discussion, please visit here.
Mar 27, 2019
Can NASA Really Put Astronauts on the Moon in 2024?
Director of Program Planning Brian Weeden was quoted by Space.com on the feasibility of returning humans to the Moon by 2024.
Mar 27, 2019
Boycott Indian launchers? Industry reacts to India’s anti-satellite weapon test
Dr. Weeden was quoted by SpaceNews on the role of commercial space in influencing ASAT testing.
Mar 27, 2019
India Claims Successful Test Of Anti-Satellite Weapon
Dr. Weeden was quoted by NPR on the potential impact of Indian ASAT test.
Mar 28, 2019
International space experts don’t agree with PM Modi’s explanation on ASAT
Ms. Samson was quoted by Down to Earth on the Indian ASAT test.
Apr 2, 2019
Why the Air Force still cannot identify more than a dozen satellites from one December launch
Dr. Weeden was quoted by the Verge on the challenges of identifying cubesats.
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Announcement
SWF Welcomes Rob Ronci
SWF is pleased to announce that Rob Ronci is joining our team this month as a Commercial Space Research Assistant for a fixed-term this spring. Mr. Ronci will work with SWF Director of Private Sector Programs, Mr. Ian Christensen in our Broomfield, CO office on a research project looking at the use of terminology in the commercial / private space sector domain. This research is being carried out in collaboration with the Caelus Foundation. Please join us in welcoming Rob to the Secure World Foundation!
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