Video summary
Space has become an indispensable part of daily life, yet its current trajectory poses significant threats to this shared resource through crowded orbits, increasing orbital debris, and rising geopolitical tensions. To mitigate these dangers, experts rely on sophisticated sensor networks that track objects based on their activity, size, and observability, fusing data from various sources to create accurate and timely catalogs. These comprehensive records are vital for financial markets, scientific research, and technology sectors; without them, the inability to monitor space even for a single day could lead to catastrophic consequences. Consequently, protecting this environment requires precise tracking that allows satellites to maneuver quickly when conjunction assessments indicate a collision risk, ensuring flight safety through coordinated efforts among all actors.
The governance landscape of space has evolved dramatically from its early days with few participants to today's complex ecosystem involving numerous countries and commercial entities. This expansion necessitates stronger standards, clearer regulations, and improved methods for data exchange to ensure effective coordination. A growing concern is the proliferation of counter-space capabilities, which, while not explicitly prohibited, create massive amounts of debris that threaten active satellites and human spaceflight. In response, international bodies like the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs work tirelessly to uphold the mandate that space be used peacefully, ensuring all member states can continue to participate in and benefit from space technologies. This effort is grounded in fundamental treaties such as the Outer Space Treaty, which establishes that space is the province of all humankind, free for exploration by all states without national appropriation.
Beyond legal frameworks, organizations like the Secure World Foundation play a crucial role by convening multistakeholder dialogues to address the multiple dimensions of sustainability holistically. The commercial sector has also transformed from a government-dominated field into a dynamic industry where regulation helped stabilize early endeavors and fostered entrepreneurship. Guiding principles derived from thinkers like Buckminster Fuller suggest that it is easier to create positive outcomes than to undo negative ones, emphasizing that new ideas drive change. Since space cannot be divided by national borders like land on Earth, the global community must learn from terrestrial governance models to build a new infrastructure of policies and norms that keep space secure. Ultimately, preserving the safety, stability, and security of space requires partnership among scientists, policymakers, industry leaders, and philanthropists to ensure these benefits are available for all nations and future generations.
Read the full video transcript
[music]
Space is essential to daily life. Yet,
the way we're using it threatens that
benefit. Crowded orbits, orbital debris,
and geopolitical tension put this shared
resource, and everything we depend on it
for in jeopardy.
>> We track objects in space using a
variety of sensors. The sensors we end
up using depends on their activity
status, their size, and their
observability characteristics. We found
that when you fuse observations together
from a variety of these sensors that we
use for tracking, that's when you get
the most comprehensive, accurate, and
timely space cataloges. If we don't have
space for a day, this will be a disaster
in financial markets, in our science
[music] and technology. So, we use this
resource heavily. We need to protect it.
The way we protect them is by trying to
have a very accurate catalog, have it be
timely so that when satellites maneuver,
we can quickly get on to where they are
today. We collaborate and then we use
conjunction assessment and flight safety
analyses to say, "Hey, these two objects
are coming close. We need to maneuver
and mitigate the collision risk." The
space arena has grown tremendously in
the last couple of decades and the
existing international governance system
was developed in the early days of the
space age [music] when there were very
few space actors. Today we have a very
different situation in space where there
are many many more countries active in
space and there are also many more
commercial actors. With space becoming
more congested, it's becoming more
important that the different actors
coordinate effectively with each other.
And this requires more standards,
clearer regulations, and methods of
exchanging data. A growing number of
countries are developing so-called
counterpace capabilities. While weapons
are not prohibited in space, we are
seeing a worrying proliferation of these
kinds of counterpace capabilities. Even
the testing of these capabilities poses
great challenges for space
sustainability because of the huge
amounts of debris that they create. This
debris poses a threat to all active
satellites and to human space flight and
therefore to the sustainability of space
activities. The United Nations in
particular through its Office of Outer
Space Affairs, UNUSA, has a core mandate
to really work to ensure that space
remains used peacefully. [music] And we
do that because we want to make sure
that all member states can continue to
participate [music] actively in space
activities, but even more importantly
benefit from [music] space technology,
data, and services. The fundamental
cornerstone of space law is the outer
space treaty. And [music] this sets out
a couple of really basic but very
important principles. First of all, that
space is the province of all humankind,
that all states are free to explore it
as they wish. And thirdly, [music] that
nobody can appropriate it nationally. We
have the agreement on the rescue and
return of astronauts. [music]
We have the liability convention. We
have finally the moon treaty. But we
also have the registration convention
which ensures [music] that everything
which is launched into outer space
should be registered with the United
Nations.
Secure world Foundation is helping to
shape the global conversation on space
safety, security and sustainability by
convening multistakeholder dialogues to
address the multiple dimensions of space
sustainability that may be addressed in
various fora in isolation. But what we
do is we bring together the different
actors to have a more holistic view of
space sustainability challenges. Secure
world Foundation is active in all
corners of the globe and we do most of
our work with international partners.
>> As space becomes increasingly crowded
and contested, new efforts are emerging
to promote long-term sustainability.
Organizations like the Secure World
Foundation are working with scientists,
[music] policy makers, industry, and
philanthropists to help shape the norms
and practices that will guide safe and
responsible behavior in [music] orbit.
>> I've seen a dramatic change in the role
that the commercial sector has played.
Initially, of course, governments
thought that space would be a government
function. But really, pretty early in
the development of the space age, you
started to see new ideas about
commercial taking over parts of the
space enterprise. One of the important
pieces of this history is the role that
regulation played in stabilizing and
focusing these endeavors. Early on, the
commercial actors themselves really
wanted a rule set to be put in place.
And that government action actually
helped to stabilize the industry and to
make the United States an attractive
place for entrepreneurs to start space
companies.
>> I was doing a lot of research trying to
figure out what to do. And in doing so,
I came across several kind of guiding
principles that I think have served me
well. A couple of them came from
Buckminister Fuller who said it is
easier to create [music] the positive
than to undo the negative. And also
change happens when a better idea comes
along. Here on Earth, we have the nation
state as our form of governance. And yet
in space you can't draw a line and say,
"Okay, this is mine. This is yours."
It's [music] all very connected. And so
we need that new idea. How can we learn
from what we've done here on Earth as we
begin to as a global community put
together the new infrastructure, [music]
the governance, the policies that we
need in order to keep [music] space
secure, sustainable, and peaceful so
that we can have the benefits there.
[music] Our mission at Secure World
Foundation is to ensure that we can
continue to enjoy the benefits of space
activities for all [music] nations and
for present and future generations. But
it's not something that we can do alone.
We need to work in partnership with
others to ensure that we preserve the
safety, stability, and security of space
for the benefit of all nations.
>> The future of space is in our hands.
Learn how you can support a sustainable
space environment at swfound.org.