The Urgency to Act on Space Traffic Management

Thursday, September 16, 2021

On September 13th, 2021. SWF partnered with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to hold a virtual panel discussion on why it's critical for the United States to continue efforts to implement space traffic management (STM).  Dr. Weeden opened the panel by providing a short overview of the changes in the space domain that were driving this need and the policy actions and studies done so far on STM. The expert panel highlighted the need to continue moving civil space situational awareness capabilities from the Department of Defense to the Office of Space Commerce (OSC), elevate OSC out of its current position within the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), give OSC Mission Authorization authority to provide oversight of new and emerging commercial space activities, and properly resource and fund OSC's efforts. 

More information about the event, including a video recording and a copy of Dr. Weeden's slides can be found here.