Secure World Foundation's COPUOS Briefing Book
Secure World Foundation is proud to present our latest publication: the COPUOS Briefing Book. The COPUOS Briefing Book is meant to support delegates and other interested parties who are new to the Committee and its important work. It is our hope that this document will foster and facilitate constructive participation at COPUOS, and thereby further solidify and reaffirm this Committee as the central multilateral forum for space diplomacy in the years and decades ahead.  The COPUOS Briefing book is meant to be a practical guide to understanding what happens COPUOS. The publication is scholarly, but is intended as a practical resource with useful information on COPUOS. The COPUOS Briefing Book is free to download here.

June 6-7, 2023
SWF Hosts Session on Sustainability and Security of Space Infrastructure in New Delhi
SWF partnered with Geospatial World to organize a session on “Sustainability & Security of Space Infrastructure” as part of the 2023 Indo-Pacific Geointelligence conference held in New Delhi, India, June 6-7. The conference brought together more than 500 participants from 150+ organizations consisting of defense & intelligence personnel, law enforcement, disaster management authorities, mapping agencies, and geospatial tech providers, to share their vision and build collective capacity for strengthening security capabilities and formulate decisive strategies for the region. With the theme “Space Infrastructure & GeoInt Strategy for the Indo-Pacific: A Shared Vision” the conference focused on building collective capacity to deal with challenges in the region. Read more.

June 6-8, 2023
SWF Co-sponsors Workshop on Space Capacity Allocation for the Sustainability of Space Activities with Politecnico di Milano
This workshop, held at Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy, focused on exchange of information and updates on ongoing research efforts focused on how to measure the overall capacity of the space environment and assess the impact that individual missions have on it. The workshop included participation from space debris and space environment researchers, satellite operators, economists, and regulatory and policy experts. SWF Director of Private Sector Programs, Mr. Ian Christensen chaired a working session on policy and economic aspects of orbital carrying capacity as well presented an overview of SWF’s ongoing dialogue series with regulators on this topic. His presentation can be found here.

The workshop was organized by Politecnico di Milano, the European Space Agency and the Italian Centre of Research (CNR). The workshop was sponsored by the GREEN SPECIES project funded by the European Research Council led by Politecnico di Milano and co-sponsored by Secure World Foundation.  A white paper summarizing the workshop and its findings is forthcoming.

June 13-14, 2023
SWF's 5th Summit for Space Sustainability
This year's conference featured enlightening presentations and panel discussions, offering a comprehensive look at global efforts to build and maintain a safe and sustainable space environment.  Influential keynote speakers included the UN’s Guy Ryder, the UK Space Agency’s Julie Black, U.S. Space Command’s Lt. Gen. Shaw, and the World Economic Forum’s announcement of its new debris mitigation guidelines. Panels and spotlight talks covered various topics, whose key takeaways include the importance of a binding global agreement on an ASAT test moratorium, identifying collaboration between governments, industry, and civil society as the key to space traffic management, the emergence of space sustainability as a commercial investment sector, applying ESG principles and practices in space activities, and the growing need for established global governance in lunar behavior as humanity increases its planned activities and long-term presence on the Moon. Watch all sessions here.

June 22, 2023
SWF Sponsors the 2023 Space Weather Enterprise Forum (SWEF)
The SWEF brought together stakeholders from industry, academic, government, and Capitol Hill to raise awareness of emerging space weather hazards and their impacts on society. Under the theme of "Harnessing Partnerships to Meet the Challenges of Extreme Space Weather," this event identified current initiatives to use space weather data to inform hazard mitigation activities and data's impact on human space exploration.

May 31-June 9, 2023
SWF Participates in the 66th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
SWF Space Law Advisor Christopher Johnson at the 66th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in Vienna, Austria. SWF statements were made under the general exchange of views and under the future role and method of the Committee.

June 5-6, 2023
SWF Speaks on Space Security at Financial Times' Live Event
SWF Washington Office Director Victoria Samson spoke at a Financial Times Live event, "Investing in Space," held in London, UK, June 5-6, 2023.  Her panel was titled, "Navigating Space in an Era of Geopolitical Volatility," and she discussed SWF's global counterspace threat assessment, as well as efforts to expand an anti-satellite test moratorium globally and why the space investment community should be concerned about the deliberate creation of debris on orbit.  Her panel was recorded and a video is available on demand here.

June 21, 2023
SWF Participated in NY Space Business Roundtable
Secure World Foundation Director of Space Applications Programs, Krystal Azelton, participated in the New York Space Business Roundtable session titled “Goldilocks Regulations for Space (Or, “Nobody Told Me It Was Gonna Be a Bear!).” This session explored the relationship between regulation and innovation and what levels of regulation can be most helpful for responsibly growing the commercial space sector. Along with Abhishek Malhotra, Managing Partner at TMT Law, and Rob Scheige, Senior Vice President at Willis Towers Watson, Ms. Azelton presented on how countries are approaching meeting their national space security goals and fulfilling responsibilities to ensure a sustainable space environment while also promoting the growth of the commercial space sector in their borders. Ms. Azelton drew on recent conversations at the Summit for Space Sustainability, which also looked at this question.

June 22, 2023
SWF Discussed Challenges of Space Debris During RSIS
SWF Director of Space Applications Programs Krystal Azelton participated in the webinar “Ensuring Safe and Sustainable Access to Space: Managing an Increasingly Congested Orbital Environment” hosted by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). She joined panelists Charity Weeden, Vice President, Global Space Policy and Government Relations at Astroscale U.S., Quentin Verspieren, PROTECT Accelerator Coordinator at the Strategy and Transformation Office, Directorate of Operations, European Space Agency, and Nikolai Khlystov, Lead for Space at the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution of the World Economic Forum to discuss the challenges posed by the congestion to humanity’s space activities, as well as how we can manage these challenges and ensure continued safe and sustainable access to orbit. Ms. Azelton highlighted the ongoing challenge of space debris and less-discussed challenges such as space weather and spectrum.