By 
October 19th, 2022
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation’s Space Safety Institute
The expansive and explosive development of the space economy — and the value that space provides to society — depends on safe and sustainable operations in space.
Based on this “new age of commercial space activities,” The Aerospace Corporation’s Space Safety Institute has published the first-ever edition of a Space Safety Compendium.
The just-released compendium notes that the space community is at an “inflection point” regarding space safety. This is being driven by unprecedented growth and transformation, shifting models of government-commercial collaboration, an evolution in the types of activities conducted by new space actors, and the advent of space tourism.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation’s Space Safety Institute
Priority areas
The document identifies five mission areas that each must work together in order to build a holistic space safety approach. Key high priority areas that should be addressed over the next few years are identified.
Specific recommendations are flagged for space operators, regulators, and other decision makers to address some of the key space safety challenges in space: situational awareness, space operations assurance, launch and reentry safety, cybersecurity and spectrum, and human spaceflight safety.
Unprecedented growth
“The space sector is undergoing an unprecedented period of growth that expands the scope of what is possible in space and who is involved,” the compendium points out. “We have shifted away from the 1960s and 70s model of centralized, government-led space activities to a new model that increasingly leverages the dominating commercial space market.”
In addition, new actors in space signal a wide array of international actors, partnership and business models, and commercial entrants. “They have expanded the scope of missions and capabilities in space that include everything from commercial human spaceflight to growing industrial activity such as mining and pharmaceutical development,” observes the compendium.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation’s Space Safety Institute/CORDS
As a result, new activities “have called into question current regulatory frameworks and policy standards for managing space that were largely developed for an outdated model,” the compendium adds.
Not a clear picture
The Space Safety Institute document underscores increasing uncertainty in regulation and, in some cases, not even a clear picture of which U.S. government agencies bear the responsibility of handling which issues.
“There is also friction between regulators and new actors as an increasingly congested space makes regulations more burdensome for new entrants and gives the competitive advantage to those who have long been in space. At the same time recent events have called into question current safety measures and norms in space,” states the compendium.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation’s Space Safety Institute
The Aerospace Corporation established a Space Safety Institute to support government, industry, and international customers on all aspects of space safety, including launch, operations, reentry, and cyber.
To view the document — 2022 Space Safety Compendium – Guiding the Future of Spaceflight — go to:
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