Space Situational Awareness Forum Following another very successful conference in London in November 2014, Space Situational Awareness 2015 took place in Hyattsville, Maryland in May 2015, with over 60 SSA experts from all over the globe coming together to discuss the most pressing SSA challenges. With increasing dependence on space-based services, the ability to protect space infrastructure has become essential to our society. Any shutdown of even a part of space infrastructures could have significant consequences for the well-functioning of economic activities and our citizens’ safety, and would impair the provision of emergency services. However, space infrastructures are increasingly threatened by the risk of collision between spacecraft and more importantly, between spacecraft and space debris. As a matter of fact, space debris has become the most serious threat to the sustainability of certain space activities. In order to mitigate the risk of collision it is necessary to identify and monitor satellites and space debris, catalogue their positions, and track their movements (trajectory) when a potential risk of collision has been identified, so that satellite operators can be alerted to move their satellites. This activity is known as space surveillance and tracking (SST), and is today mostly based on ground-based sensors such as telescopes and radars. With a focus on solving the political issues but not ignoring the technical, Space Situational Awareness 2015 the leading gathering of dedicated SSA experts from the USA, Europe and beyond, to discuss and debate the business, political and technical challenges that lie ahead. Take a look at our previous Space Situation Awareness event… Who should attend Space Situational Awareness? Space Situational Awareness 2015 is a community of experts from Government, Space Agencies, Satellite/Spacecraft Operators, Space Lawyers, Space Insurance providers and Defense who are looking to understand and predict the physical location of natural and manmade objects in orbit around the Earth, with the objective of avoiding collisions. How can you get involved in Space Situational Awareness? If you feel that you could add to the debate and discussion at Space Situational Awareness, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Please drop us a line on +44(0)7769157787 or email me at adam.plom@coriniumintelligence.com.

1. Strategic International
Partnerships and Drive
Towards Transparency and
Interoperability
Ken Hodgkins
Director
Office of Space and Advanced Technology
U.S. Department Of State
Space Situational Awareness 2015 Conference
13 May 2015

2. U.S. National Space Policy
• Provide civil GPS services, free of direct user charges
o Available on a continuous, worldwide basis
o Maintain constellation consistent with published performance standards and
interface specifications
o Foreign PNT services may be used to complement services from GPS
• Encourage global compatibility and interoperability with GPS
• Promote transparency in civil service provision
• Enable market access to industry
• Support international activities to detect and mitigate harmful interference
Space-Based PNT Guideline: Maintain leadership
in the service, provision, and use of GNSS
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3. Objectives in Working with Other
GNSS Service Providers
• Ensure compatibility ― ability of U.S. and non-
U.S. space-based PNT services to be used separately
or together without interfering with each individual
service or signal
o Radio frequency compatibility
• Achieve interoperability – ability of civil U.S. and
non-U.S. space-based PNT services to be used
together to provide the user better capabilities than
would be achieved by relying solely on one service
or signal
• Promote fair competition in the global marketplace
Pursue through Bilateral and
Multilateral Cooperation 3

4. Planned GNSS
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• Global Constellations
– GPS (24+3)
– GLONASS (24+)
– GALILEO (24+3)
– BDS/BEIDOU (27+3 IGSO + 5 GEO)
• Regional
Constellations
– QZSS (4+3)
– IRNSS (7)
• Satellite-Based
Augmentations
– WAAS (3)
– MSAS (2)
– EGNOS (3)
– GAGAN (2)
– SDCM (3)
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5. Debris Mitigation in MEO
• MEO becoming increasingly congested
o Potential for 100+ satellites in MEO from GNSS alone
• U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standards
o provides debris mitigation guidance for all spacecraft, including
those in MEO
• Disposal for final mission orbits: limit the lifetime to no longer than
25 years after completion of mission
• Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee
(IADC)
o MEO is not currently recognized or considered a protected region
for purposes of space debris mitigation
• Discussions within International Committee on GNSS
(ICG) Providers’ Forum
o U.S. proposed further discussions on orbital debris mitigation
within MEO at the 9th meeting of the ICG in November 2014
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6. Space Weather and SSA
• SSA consists of three components:
o Object tracking (collision avoidance) – including debris
o RF interference resolution
o Monitoring the natural space environment (SWx)
• Essential to quickly resolve the cause of spacecraft anomalies:
Caused by nature or a hostile act?
• Requires international monitoring, communication, and coordination
• Sharing of Space Weather observations will be a component of the
guidelines for safe space operations being developed within
UNCOPUOS
• U.S. National Space Weather Strategy (Draft version released for
public comment)
o One of the Key Objectives: Promote a collaborative international
approach to protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover
from extreme space weather events
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7. Summary
• U.S. policy encourages the worldwide use of
GPS/GNSS
• International cooperation to ensure
compatibility, interoperability, and transparency
is an important priority
• International cooperation in debris mitigation
and SSA is important to:
o Preserving the outer space environment for current
and emerging GNSS applications;
o Quickly resolve the cause of spacecraft anomalies
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