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SWF August 2017 Newsletter
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Upcoming Events
Aug 7, 2017
Cubesat Launch and Deployment Best Practices Side Event

Aug 10, 2017
Dialogue on Practices for Post Mission Disposal

Sep 6, 2017
2017 Roundtable on Value and Benefit Creation in Commercial Space

Sep 21, 2017
2017 AMOS Dialogue

Upcoming Engagements
Jul 31-Aug 4, 2017
Chris Johnson will serve as adjunct faculty at ISU's Space Studies Program in Cork, Ireland

Aug 5-11, 2017
Brian Weeden and Ian Christensen will attend the 2017 SmallSat Conference in Logan, UT

Aug 21-Sep 8, 2017
Chris Johnson will participate in the Hague Academy of International Law’s 2017 Centre for Studies and Research ‘50 Years of Space Law - Space Law in 50 Years’ in the Hague, Netherlands

Secure World Foundation Newsletter

August 2017

Insight - The United Nations, COPUOS, and Space in 2017

By Christopher Johnson, Space Law Advisor

The sixtieth session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) concluded on June 16, 2017, in Vienna, Austria. However, consideration of space activities at the United Nations level is not over for the year, and a number of events, workshops, and conferences remain on the horizon. This brief article will first look back at the major UN-organized events on space already concluded, and offer a glimpse of meetings still on the calendar for the remainder for the year.

COPUOS’ Scientific and Technical Subcommittee met from January 30 to February 10, and agenda items included space debris, space weather, near Earth objects, and the long-term sustainability of space activities. Under this last agenda item, the STSC has been developing the Long-Term Sustainability (LTS) Guidelines, and these guidelines - while still in draft form - continue to be developed at intersessional meetings as they move toward completion. These non-legally binding guidelines fall into several broad categories: policy and regulatory frameworks; space operations; international cooperation and capacity-building; and scientific and technical research and development...continue reading

Events

Jul 10, 2017
Trash in the Skies II: Industry Perspectives on Dealing with Space Debris
SWF held a luncheon panel discussion on Capitol Hill that brought together private sector experts to discuss the current space debris situation, what steps are being done (or not done) to address it, whether the blanket 25-year rule is still sufficient, and what role industry can play in helping ensuring the long-term sustainability of space while fostering continued innovation and growth of the space sector. The panel's comments touched on the concern of operators, salvage of debris in space, coordination between megaconstellations, and whether or not the government should be involved in regulating the mitigation of risk in the orbital environment due to space debris.

Jul 31, 2017
2017 NOAA Satellite Conference Addresses Future View of Satellite Meteorology
SWF supported the 2017 NOAA Satellite Conference recently held in New York City from July 17 through 20. Hosted by NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (CREST) at The City College of New York, this meeting consisted of invited oral presentations with emphasis on environmental satellite technological, scientific, educational and training opportunities, and direct readout and re-broadcast services to raise awareness of upcoming enhancements and prepare for their use and involved a variety of users and providers of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite data, products, and applications, from the public, private, and international and academic sectors. SWF’s role was to facilitate the presence of a broadly representative team of professionals from several Latin American and Caribbean countries. Project Manager Krystal Wilson attended the conference and international reception.

Staff Activities and Presentations

Jul 19, 2017
SWF Invited to Speak on Space Security by the Center for Ethics and Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
Washington Office Director Victoria Samson was invited to speak at the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law summer seminar on space security. Ms. Samson discussed counterspace threats, changes in the space domain with the arrival of new actors and new kinds of activity in orbit, and the ways international cooperative approaches can help support national space security.

Jul 25, 2017
SWF Staff Participated in the Hague Academy of International Law's 2017 Summer Course
Space Law Advisor Chris Johnson participated in the Hague Academy of International Law's 2017 public international law summer course held at the Peace Palace in the Hague, Netherlands, also home of the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration.  

Jul 31, 2017
SWF Supported Newly Founded Brooke Owens Fellowship Program
Providing mentoring, conference leadership, and individual copies of the Handbook for New Actors in Space for each participant, SWF has been an active partner in launching the new Brooke Owens Fellowship Program. Created to honor Dawn Brooke Owens, an aerospace professional whose life and career were cut sort when she was just 36 years old, the fellowship program provides paid internships for 36 young women who are actively preparing for careers in the aerospace sector.

Jul 31, 2017
International Space University/Secure World Foundation Partnership Continued in Cork, Ireland
The International Space University’s Space Studies Program (SSP) changes location annually with the 2017 edition taking place in Cork, Ireland. This year, Executive Director Michael Simpson and Space Law Advisor Christopher Johnson joined former Executive Director Ray Williamson to bring several elements of SWF’s insight into space sustainability to the highly intense learning experience.

Experts in the Media

Jul 11,2017
How Colorado is Trying to Cash in on the Multibillion-Dollar Space Race
Director of Program Planning Brian Weeden Quoted by CNBC on Global Competition in Space

Jul 12, 2017
Sweating the Small Stuff: CubeSats Swarm Earth Orbit
Dr. Weeden Quoted by Scientific American on Space Debris and CubeSats

Jul 13, 2017
The US Isn't Going to Launch a Military Space Corps - For Now
Dr. Weeden Quoted by Quartz on the Possibility of a New U.S. Military Space Corps

Jul 14, 2017
Space Corps Proposal Has Murkier Path Forward in the Senate
Dr. Weeden Quoted SpaceNews on the Odds of the Space Corps Passing the Senate

Publications

Jul 21, 2017
SWF Publishes Updated Fact Sheet on the UN COPUOS Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines
The updated fact sheet includes new details following the sixtieth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and an overview of the process from its inception in 2010. The updated fact sheet is available here.

Jul 24, 2017
A Summer Update on the COPUOS Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines
Washington Office Director Victoria Samson and Space Law Advisor Chris Johnson Publish Update on the COPUOS Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines in The Space Review.

Announcement

Jul 26, 2017
Updates to Advisory Committee Members Announced
This year, SWF announces the departure of one long time Advisory Committee member: Ciro Arévalo-Yepes. His contributions and dedication to the organization will be missed, and we wish him the best as he moves on to other endeavors. 

SWF is pleased to welcome Dr. Angie Bukley, who has been appointed to fill a vacant position in the 2018 Class of the Advisory Committee. Dr. Bukley is the Director for Program Formulation and Partnerships in the Space and Technology Directorate at The Aerospace Corporation, and brings to the Advisory Committee over 30 years of professional experience providing technical and management expertise in the defense and space sectors, including 10 years in academic administration.

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