SWF Hosts Session on Sustainability and Security of Space Infrastructure in New Delhi

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

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 defence & 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.

The session hosted by SWF took place on the second day and featured a series of highlight presentations, a keynote, and a panel discussion. Jim Cooper, Senior System Engineer, COMSPOC Corporation, Duncan Blake, Lecturer in Space Law and Strategy, University of New South Wales, Canberra, and Jason Mallare, Vice President, Umbra, gave highlight talks on the threats poses by space debris an ASAT testing, space situational awareness and space traffic management, and a satellite operator's perspective, respectively. Dr. N. Aparna, Group Director for NDC Data & Products at the Indian National Remote Sensing Centre, gave a keynote presentation on how space data is used to monitor natural resources on Earth and monitor disasters. Following the keynote, a panel discussions with Noelle Riza Castillo, Director of the Bureau of Space Policy and International Cooperation of the Philippine Space Agency, Aya Awamoto, Japan Space Policy Lead, Astroscale Holdings, Caitlin Searle, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Ajey Lele, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, moderated by Aditya Ramanathan, Research Fellow, the Takshashila Institution, discussed what the policy priorities should be for the Indo-Pacific region to enhance space security and sustainability.

For more information on the event, please contact SWF Director of Program Planning Dr. Brian Weeden.