A practical perspective on Space Traffic Management

Abstract

Space Traffic Management (STM) is a critical topic for the space community as the number of operational satellites may potentially grow by an order of magnitude over the next decade [1]. However, the term STM is jumbled with other issues and terms such as Space Situational Awareness (SSA), constellations, smallsats, the globalization of space, etc. Before the community starts to “develop a STM solution” it is imperative to understand the “problems” that need to be solved. The first step of this process is to agree on terminology to ensure that stakeholders do not “talk past each other.” A proposed structure to enable cooperation and collaboration has three major components. First, Space Environment Management (SEM) describes how to reduce debris growth, largely by preventing collisions between non-operational objects especially clustered massive derelicts [2], [3]. This component drives the population monitored by Space Situational Awareness (SSA) assets and it also provides direct insight to the space operators executing Space Traffic Management (STM). SSA characterizes the space object population that is critical context for STM. STM enables reliable satellite operations for all satellites with a focus on the potentially large constellations that are slated to be deployed in the near future. The vantage point of operational satellites, in turn, provides a potential feedback loop to the SEM domain through recording of satellite anomalies/failures and even direct feeds from in situ sensors. Each of these three areas are normally run by different people with different skills yet the final positive outcome depends on all three of the domains’ contributions. The term, Space Operations Assurance (SOA), is proposed as the overarching domain (encompassing SEM, SSA, and STM) as shown in Fig. 1.