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Security in Space The Next Generation - UNIDIR

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on classifi ed satellites is withheld, as are the orbital elements of debris of<br />

uncerta<strong>in</strong> provenance). Commercial entities and non-US national agencies<br />

can request and receive guidance from the US Air Force <strong>in</strong> plann<strong>in</strong>g needed<br />

for spacecraft manoeuvres. However, satellite operators compla<strong>in</strong> that the<br />

US Air Force is often slow to respond to requests. That is understandable,<br />

given the demands of ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g SSA aga<strong>in</strong>st ever <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g amounts<br />

of debris and satellites. <strong>The</strong> US Air Force budgets for ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g such<br />

a capability have generally not kept up with the need for personnel and<br />

<strong>in</strong>formation tools.<br />

Further, other countries do not want to depend on the United States for<br />

such critical <strong>in</strong>formation. As a result, several countries, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Ch<strong>in</strong>a,<br />

France, Germany and Russia are now develop<strong>in</strong>g or strengthen<strong>in</strong>g their<br />

own SSA capabilities. Because the US military advantage <strong>in</strong> ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a<br />

closed catalogue is therefore decl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, it would be <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>terest of the<br />

United States to lead the way <strong>in</strong> a cooperative programme for SSA, fi rst<br />

with close allies, and then broaden<strong>in</strong>g to other space-capable nations as<br />

experience is ga<strong>in</strong>ed. This could be an important fi rst step <strong>in</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g<br />

an <strong>in</strong>ternational space traffi c management system for outer space, a system<br />

that would provide much greater safety and security for the many Earth<br />

observation satellites <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly crowded sun-synchronous polar<br />

orbits.<br />

THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN ADVANCING<br />

THE SUSTAINABILITY OF SPACE ACTIVITIES<br />

Improv<strong>in</strong>g the susta<strong>in</strong>ability of space activities requires the countries us<strong>in</strong>g<br />

the space environment to cooperate on the development of technical<br />

standards, legal <strong>in</strong>struments and practices that will improve as far as possible<br />

the cont<strong>in</strong>ued ability to conduct benefi cial space activities and prevent the<br />

placement of weapons <strong>in</strong> space. Cooperation can take many forms, rang<strong>in</strong>g<br />

from bilateral cooperation on specifi c projects to broad shar<strong>in</strong>g of plans<br />

and coord<strong>in</strong>ation of research and applications projects. Examples <strong>in</strong>clude<br />

the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, the Committee on Earth<br />

Observation Satellites, and the IADC.<br />

Each of these cooperative mechanisms makes possible the shar<strong>in</strong>g of<br />

technical standards and plans and fosters greater transparency among<br />

183

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