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Security in Space The Next Generation - UNIDIR

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AN INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION<br />

FOR OUTER SPACE?<br />

Tommaso Sgobba *<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternational space community has identifi ed the rapid <strong>in</strong>ternational<br />

commercialization of outer space, <strong>in</strong> particular <strong>in</strong> the fi elds of<br />

telecommunication, navigation and launch services, as an important<br />

and positive step toward the cont<strong>in</strong>ual global and national economic<br />

growth. Recent <strong>in</strong>terest and actions from the private sector <strong>in</strong> the fi eld of<br />

commercial human spacefl ight illustrates the widen<strong>in</strong>g range of fi nancial<br />

commitments and bus<strong>in</strong>ess risks the private sector is will<strong>in</strong>g to make <strong>in</strong><br />

outer space. In addition, several government and bus<strong>in</strong>ess communities<br />

around the world are cooperat<strong>in</strong>g to help fund the build<strong>in</strong>g of commercial<br />

spaceports. Corporations, like Virg<strong>in</strong> Galactic and the European Aeronautic<br />

Defence and <strong>Space</strong> Company, have made fi rm commitments <strong>in</strong> pursu<strong>in</strong>g<br />

a new suborbital space tourist market and shown <strong>in</strong>terest for a possible<br />

extension to po<strong>in</strong>t-to-po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong>ternational hypersonic travel. At the same<br />

time the Russian and US governments are promot<strong>in</strong>g early steps toward<br />

commercial orbital human spacefl ight. <strong>The</strong> Russians fl ew to the International<br />

<strong>Space</strong> Station the fi rst pay<strong>in</strong>g orbital space tourist customer back <strong>in</strong> 2001<br />

and have cont<strong>in</strong>ued regularly to do so s<strong>in</strong>ce then. In the meanwhile, the<br />

US National Aeronautics and <strong>Space</strong> Adm<strong>in</strong>istration (NASA) launched an<br />

important <strong>in</strong>itiative to procure commercial transportation services to the<br />

space station.<br />

However, the <strong>Space</strong> Shuttle Columbia accident <strong>in</strong> 2003, a sequence of<br />

accidents on the ground, recently at a commercial spacefl ight company <strong>in</strong><br />

July 2007, and various spectacular launch failures demonstrated that the<br />

bus<strong>in</strong>ess of outer space is still fraught with risks not only for the crew on<br />

board and ground personnel, but also for the public on the ground, at sea<br />

or travell<strong>in</strong>g by air. Furthermore the space and ground environments are at<br />

risk. Currently there are thousands of objects tracked <strong>in</strong> orbit, which are<br />

* <strong>The</strong> op<strong>in</strong>ions expressed here are those of the author and the International<br />

Association for the Advancement of <strong>Space</strong> Safety, and not necessarily those of<br />

the European <strong>Space</strong> Agency.<br />

103

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