Secure World Foundation Seeks Qualified Applicant for Deputy Director

Secure World Foundation seeks to hire a Deputy Director to help manage a national and international initiative aimed at helping to develop sustainable space governance. The Deputy Director will report to the Executive Director and will support strategic planning and oversee operations. To see the job announcement, click here.

Summary of Space Security Index 2009 Event at Canadian Embassy

On Jan. 21, 2010, Secure World Foundation (SWF), the Space Security Index (SSI) and the Embassy of Canada hosted an event titled "Space Security Index 2009: The Status and Future Trends in Space Security".

Cesar Jaramillo of Project Ploughshares, Clay Mowry of Arianespace, Dr. Peter Hayes of SAIC (currently working with the National Security Space Office), and Marcia Smith of SpacePolicyOnline.com presented at the event, which was held at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC. Photos courtesy of Bob Wolf.

Mr. Jaramillo (left) introduced the event by describing what the SSI is and how it is developed. The SSI is a comprehensive and integrated assessment of space security, and is published annually by Project Ploughshares with partners, including the SWF. Its objective is to facilitate dialogue on space security by providing an objective set of data combined with trend analysis by experts in the field. More details on SSI can be found here. You can listen to Jaramillo's presentation here (please allow several minutes for the file to download).

Mr. Mowry (right) discussed the commercial sector in the context of space security, specifically addressing the health of the satellite manufacturing and services industries and the launch industry that feeds upon them. He pointed out that these industries seem immune to the current global economic crisis, though he did mention that recent cancellation of a key U.S. military communication satellite program, continued strict application of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and a reemergence of artificially low Chinese launch prices will have negative impacts on the space industry. Mowry did conclude his remarks on a hopeful note by highlighting that legislative efforts to reform ITAR are under way and the Obama Administration’s highly anticipated national space policy is expected later in the year. You can listen to Mowry's presentation here (please allow several minutes for the file to download).

"The year of reviewing U.S. space activities” was the theme of Ms. Smith’s presentation. Smith (left) explained that the U.S. government is currently reviewing its future in outer space, and as part of this review, will eventually create a new National Space Policy that will replace the one established by President George W. Bush in 2006. She posited that a lack of indigenous capability to send humans into space following the retirement of the Space Shuttle may impact U.S. credibility as a major space power, but that this is more of a “wait and see” scenario. You can listen to Smith's presentation here (please allow several minutes for the file to download).

Finally, Dr. Hays (right) took time to praise work being done to address the growing problem of orbital debris, specifically highlighting the work of Nicholas Johnson, who heads the NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office, and that which is being conducted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He described these efforts as being among the first to provide useful solutions to the problem. His talk concluded with a discussion of the country's space policy efforts introduced earlier by Smith.






From left to right: Ben Baseley-Walker (SWF Legal and Policy Advisor), Mowry, Smith, Hays, Jaramillo, and Victoria Samson (SWF Washington Office Director).

Asteroid Threats to Earth: Experts Chart Steps for Global Warning Network

A group of international experts has outlined steps to establish a global detection and warning network to deal with possible asteroid threats to Earth.

An interdisciplinary group, including asteroid tracking specialists, space scientists, former astronauts, United Nations authorities, as well as disaster management, risk psychology and warning communication experts gathered to take part in a workshop held January 18-20 in Mexico City.

The workshop was organized by Secure World Foundation in coordination with the Association of Space Explorers and the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRECTEALC). The meeting was hosted by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“This workshop provided a major step forward in our thinking about the needed components of an information, analysis, and warning network for asteroids. The workshop findings should go a long way toward providing the basis for such a network,” said Dr. Ray A. Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation.

Substantial progress
“The report of this workshop will be a very useful input for the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) as it continues with its three-year work plan on drafting international procedures for handling the threat posed by the possible impact to Earth by an asteroid,” said Dr. Sergio Camacho, Secretary General of CRECTEALC. He is a former Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, a post that he held from 2002 to 2007.

“The Association of Space Explorers (ASE), representing the international corps of astronauts and cosmonauts, recognized the substantial progress made at the Mexico City workshop,” said Tom Jones, former NASA shuttle astronaut and current Chair of the ASE Committee on Near-Earth Objects.

“The discussions in Mexico City advanced our understanding of how the global community can better communicate detection and warning information about near-Earth objects (NEOs),” Jones said. “The information-sharing effort is an essential first step in dealing with the global hazard posed by asteroids and comets. The ASE looks forward to spreading the results of the recent workshop and urges future work within the U.N. and by the world’s space agencies to develop the capacity to deflect a NEO headed for Earth, a fundamental mission for our space technology.”

Series of scenarios
Meeting participants worked through a series of scenarios - hypothetical situations designed to highlight the challenges and problems that a future Information Analysis and Warning Network (IAWN) providing global warning and technical analysis would encounter in dealing with an Earth-threatening asteroid.

“For the first time an international group of experts, many who would be the ones doing the actual analysis of an asteroid impact threat, came together to work through the challenges which will be faced by the international community in deciding how to respond to such an event,” said Apollo astronaut, Russell Schweickart, former chair of the ASE-NEO Committee.

“The participants grappled with scenarios ranging from a small impact, where evacuation of the impact zone is the most likely response, up to a large asteroid, where only an immediate decision to initiate a deflection campaign would prevent the disaster,” Schweickart said. “The recommendations from this exercise will be integrated into the work of UN COPUOS where the nations of the world are discussing how to prevent these devastating, though infrequent, events.”

United Nations Action Team-14
IAWN is one of three entities being considered to deal with the NEO impact problem, which were outlined by an Association of Space Explorers report -- Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response -- issued in 2008.

That ASE report was sent to the United Nations Action Team-14, a group within the UN COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee established in 2001 for the purposes of addressing the asteroid impact threat.

Along with IAWN, the Association of Space Explorers report also recommended setting up:

-- A Mission Planning and Operations Group (MPOG) to plan, organize, and conduct any necessary missions to threatening asteroids.

-- A Mission Authorization and Oversight Group (MAOG) to provide decision making.

Attendees of the just-held Mexico City gathering specifically focused on IAWN, although future meetings are intended to discuss the other two entities.

Need for a coordinated, global response

The IAWN workshop was held as a next step to build on the conclusions of the ASE report after a recommendation by Action Team-14 at their meeting in June 2009.

The recommendations from the just-held Mexico City workshop will be briefed at the meeting of UN COPOUS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee next month and submitted to Action Team-14 for consideration.

“We are fully aware that there is a lot of resistance to creating new bureaucracies and massive new institutions,” said SWF Technical Advisor Brian Weeden. “So the objective of the workshop and future discussion is not to create a new United Nations function or entity, but to try and use existing capabilities already being provided by States or institutions and adding other necessary capability. There needs to be a coordinated, global response to asteroid threats, and we are working to find the most efficient and effective way of doing just that,” he said.

SWF Working to Build Global Warning Network for Asteroid Impacts

The Secure World Foundation, in coordination with the Association for Space Explorers (ASE), held a successful workshop in Mexico City from 18 to 20 January, 2010, on the topic of providing global warning and prediction of potential asteroid impact threats.

The workshop was organized on the recommendation of Action Team-14, a group established in within the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) Scientific and Technical Subcommittee in 2001 for the purposes of addressing the asteroid impact threat.

In 2008, ASE submitted a report entitled "Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response" to Action Team-14 which was the result of two years of work and consultation with international experts. This ASE report recommended establishing three entities to deal with the NEO impact problem: an Information Analysis and Warning Network (IAWN) to provide global warning and technical analysis, a Mission Planning and Operations Group (MPOG) to plan, organize, and conduct any necessary missions to threatening asteroids, and a Mission Authorization and Oversight Group (MAOG) to provide decision making.


The Mexico City workshop brought together a group of international experts to specifically discuss the mission, responsibility, and creation of the IAWN entity. The workshop resulted in a set of recommendations which will be briefed at the meeting of UN COPOUS: Scientific and Technical Subcommittee in February 2010 and submitted to Action Team-14 for consideration.

Briefing: Outer Space Security - Status of and Future Trends

Trends, developments and an assessment of the status of space security is the focus of a special briefing on Thursday, January 21st at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.

The event is being held by the Secure World Foundation, the Space Security Index and the Embassy of Canada.

Attendees will be welcomed with introductory remarks by Graham Gibbs, Canadian Space Agency/Embassy of Canada and Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation.

The briefing -- “Space Security Index 2009” – will be presented by Cesar Jaramillo, Program Manager for Project Ploughshares (Canada).

The update is to be followed by panel remarks and discussion on the status of and future trends in space security by leading experts:

Richard DalBello, Vice President of Legal and Governmental Affairs
Intelsat General

Dr. Peter Hays, Senior Scientist, SAIC
National Security Space Office

Marcia Smith, Founder and Editor
SPACEPOLICYONLINE.Com

When: Thursday, January 21, 2010
Time: 10 AM to Noon
Where: Embassy of Canada, Canada Room, 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

To attend, please reply to:
Tiffany Chow
Email: tchow@swfound.org
Phone: (202) 462-1842

Note: If you will be able to attend, be advised that no parking is available. Please bring Photo Identification.

Background:

The Space Security Index
The Space Security Index is the first and only annual, comprehensive, and integrated assessment of space security. The project seeks to ascertain trends and developments in space security based on primary, open source research. It also includes an annual assessment of the status of space security based on a consultative process that engages a broad range of stakeholders.

The Space Security Index is a research partnership between several academic, governmental, and non-governmental organizations that together make up the consortium: Spacesecurity.org

Partners of the consortium include the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University, the Secure World Foundation, Project Ploughshares, the Simons Centre for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Research at the University of British Columbia, and the Space Generation Foundation, in cooperation with the International Security Research and Outreach Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

SWF to co-host "Space Security Index 2009: The Status and Future Trends in Space Security"

On Thursday, January 21, Secure World Foundation, the Space Security Index and the Embassy of Canada are hosting a presentation entitled "Space Security Index 2009: The Status and Future Trends in Space Security" at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC. Cesar Jaramillo of Project Ploughshares, Richard DalBello of Intelsat, Dr. Peter Hayes of the National Security Space Office, and Marcia Smith of SpacePolicyOnline.com will be presenting. Details can be found here.

The Space Security Index (SSI) is a comprehensive and integrated assessment of space security published annually by Project Ploughshares and partners like Secure World Foundation. The SSI is "based on eight indicators of space security and provides background information and in-depth analysis on key trends and developments in the space field." Its objective is to facilitate dialogue on space security by providing an objective set of data combined with trend analysis by experts in the field.

Africa Establishes New Space Partnerships

The use of space-based technologies can help achieve sustainable development in Africa, a capacity recently bolstered in that continent by creation of two regional space partnerships.

The third African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development was held on December 7-9 in Algiers.

The conference was hosted by the Algerian Space Agency with the support of the United Nations Committee on The Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

An outcome of the gathering was the signing of two regional space partnerships:

-- To support African efforts in disaster management by means of space-based technologies, the Algerian Space Agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed a cooperation agreement to establish a regional support office for the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response, a program created under the recommendations of COPUOS and implemented by UNOOSA.

-- The Governments of Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa signed an agreement on African Resources Management Satellite Constellation, a regional initiative that aims to develop a network of satellites to make space technology more accessible to end-users in areas such as food security, environmental monitoring, land use, water management and public health.

Platform of cooperation
The meeting and attendant partnerships underscored the fact that space tools have been vital in mitigating the loss of lives and property in times of disaster.

Furthermore, using space-based instruments is essential to formulating a strategy and necessary plans of action that can assist Africa to improve its socio-economic development.

Ambassador Ciro Arévalo-Yepes, Chairman of COPUOS, told conference participants that “the construction of a platform of cooperation between African States is the best way to identify common elements for future regional space policy.” Multilateral mechanisms and initiatives exist, he said, to support Member States in implementing the use of space tools and solutions.

An all-African satellite constellation was saluted by the Algerian Minister for Post and Information Technologies and Communication, Hamid Bessalah, as “great cooperation” between the four countries, which “will facilitate space data for African countries”.

Ideal Forum
Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation (SWF), said the conference provided an ideal forum to sensitize African leaders on the importance of science and space technology for the sustainable socio-economic development of Africa.

“The two agreements signed at this conference are extremely important not only to the growth of the space effort in Africa, but also to the development of African scientific and technological capacity,” SWF’s Williamson said. “It is a significant step forward.”

Organized every two years, the African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development allows key decision makers and professionals active in the field of space to discuss various questions inherent to the sustainable development of the African continent. Participation of African countries to recognize mutually beneficial projects is a specific objective of the gathering of experts.