Summary of the 2017 AMOS Dialogue in Maui

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

SWF and the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) have released a summary of the discussions from the 2017 AMOS Dialogue that took place in Maui, Hawaii September 21, 2017. Held in conjunction with the 2017 Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Conference, the Dialogue brought together a diverse group of international experts to discuss potential future scenarios for SSA cooperation, including current trends and potential challenges.

Participants agreed that there are growing capacities for SSA among countries and the private sector, which could yield significant benefits if networked together. While the most rapid advances have come in private sector SSA capabilities, it is unlikely any government will completely cede control of SSA to the private sector given the strong government interests in national security and civil space sectors. The group thought that a globally governed SSA system was the most desireable scenario, but also the most unlikely. Instead, they saw the most likely progression was towards a future where there were many national SSA systems that were interlinked to various degrees. However, lack of trust, along with technical challenges, will continue to be significant obstacles to collaboration. The participants also felt the transition from SSA to space traffic management would likely follow the same model as the air domain, where national regulations and administrations were a necessary precursor to international collaboration on standards.  

The full summary can be downloaded here and more details on the Dialogue can be found here.