Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Earth orbit is a junkyard of human-made space clutter.
Credit: Space Junk 3D, LLC. Melrae Pictures

A new report — Safeguarding the Heavens: The United States and the Future of Norms of Behavior in Outer Space – has been issued by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

This policy paper has been scribed by Frank A. Rose, a senior fellow for security and strategy in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution.

Orbital debris, anti-satellites

The crowded space environment may look like this a decade from now, with proposed mega-constellations.
Credit: Center for Space Policy & Strategy

Rose explains that access to outer space and space-derived data is becoming increasingly important to the national and economic security of the United States and its allies. Yet that access is increasingly at risk due to the growth of orbital debris and the development of anti-satellite capabilities by potential adversaries like Russia and China.

The United States will need a comprehensive strategy in order to manage this increasingly congested and contested environment.

A key element of that strategy should be the development of effective bilateral and multilateral norms of behavior in outer space.

To read the full paper, go to:

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/FP_20180614_safeguarding_the_heavens.pdf