Space Security Index

Space Security 2011
54
France had begun work on an improved version of its GRAVES ground-based radar, which
was originally conceived of as only a technology demonstrator. 94 Germany was also planning
to set up an operational SSA center near its national airspace control facility in 2010. 95
According to French Air Force Brigadier General Yves Arnaud, at a French-U.S. Space
Cooperation Forum in November 2009, SSA and data sharing were priority agenda items.
At the same event, Air Commodore David Steele from the Royal Australian Air Force
stated that the U.S. and Australia were exploring an SSA data-sharing partnership, which
might include basing future U.S. sensors in Australia, to provide much needed Southern
Hemisphere coverage.
In 2009, the U.S. and Russia announced a renewed eort to establish a Joint Data Exchange
Center to share information on space and missile launches, 96 and the establishment of a Pre-
Launch Notication System (PLNS). After the original agreements for the center, designed
to promote condence between the U.S. and Russia over space and missile launches, were
signed in 2000, the eort had stalled.
In its report following the 2010 plenary session, UN COPUOS noted that no mechanism
existed for sharing information among all states and it was “essential for all states to actively
contribute to the work under this item.” 97
Nongovernmental actors have also recognized the increased importance of data sharing.
ree major commercial satellite operators — Intelsat, SES, and Inmarsat — announced
in 2009 that they had created the Space Data Association (SDA). 98 e not-for-prot
entity was established in the Isle of Man to serve as a central hub for sharing data among
participants. e SDA issued a Request for Proposal to solicit bids on a contract to provide
the infrastructure and data-sharing services. Several other commercial satellite operators have
indicated support for the SDA and may join at a later date. 99 e SDA will mainly deal with
sharing data on the positions of participation members’ satellites and information to help
prevent electromagnetic interference. In 2010, the SDA announced initial operations of the
Space Data Center, as described below.
2010 Development
Satellite operators work together to mitigate physical and RF interference from Galaxy 15
Fifteen satellites conducted avoidance maneuvers to minimize the chance of physical or
electromagnetic interference with Galaxy 15 during the almost nine months that the
malfunctioning satellite was adrift in the active GEO belt. 100 Because Galaxy 15 was a large
object, it could be tracked accurately and satellite operators were able to predict its drift path
and keep other active satellites out of the way (see Trend 1.1).
In some cases, these maneuvers were more precise than anything else attempted before. e
AMC-11–Galaxy 15 mitigation plan (see Trend 1.3) called for AMC-11 to be maneuvered
to within 0.2 degrees of the uncontrolled Galaxy 15, 10 times closer than the spacing
normally kept between satellites in GEO to prevent electromagnetic interference. 101 In early
July, Galaxy 15 passed by a cluster of four Intelsat satellites, again without causing physical
or electromagnetic interference. 102 e key to success in all cases was close coordination
between Intelsat and the other satellite operators and sharing of the most accurate SSA data
possible on the objects’ positions.