Global Space Community Research Articles

COPUOS: Current and Future Challenges

The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) has an impressive record of being in the vanguard for over sixty years in leading the development of multilateral treaties, principles, guidelines and best practices to assist states and non-governmental organizations in ensuring the safety, security and sustainability of outer space activities for peaceful purposes. However, there are currently several stresses and challenges relating to the governance of the Committee suggesting that COPUOS is in jeopardy of losing this leadership in providing this essential guidance for the global space community. In this article we outline some of these stresses and propose that COPUOS or the UN General Assembly (UNGA), to which the Committee reports, conducts a review and analysis of the organization and method of work of the Committee to determine if adjustments might be adopted in order to deliver its mandate more effectively. COPUOS, Outer Space Treaty, United Nations General Assembly, UNOOSA

The development of commercially viable ADR services: Introduction of a small-satellite grappling interface

OneWeb has begun the deployment of its global internet system – one that will bridge the digital divide and bring internet connectivity to underserved communities throughout the world. The backbone of its network is a constellation of nearly 600 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that service user terminals designed for a variety of communication use cases.From its inception, OneWeb has committed itself to the highest standards of responsible design and operational practices and believes that all stakeholders need to take responsibility for the long-term sustainability of space. To assure safe space operations in the presence of collisional hazards, we need to adopt a more comprehensive approach to Space Environment Management (SEM). In addition to improving Space Situational Awareness (SSA), collision avoidance capabilities, and debris mitigation standards, it is critical that the global space community also develop real possibilities for environmental remediation.There are still some technical challenges to solve before Active Debris Removal (ADR) services become a reality, but the more formidable challenge in developing a commercially viable ADR services industry is likely to be cost. It remains to be seen whether mission architectures and business models can be crafted to support price points that are attractive to commercial operators, or whether ADR is destined to be a service only governments can afford.As part of its commitment to space sustainability and environmental stewardship, OneWeb is including a grappling fixture on every one of its satellites to facilitate capture in the event that retrieval should become necessary. In addition, OneWeb has worked with Altius Space Machines over the last three years to develop an advanced grappling fixture that accommodates a number of grappling techniques. Furthermore, over the last three years, OneWeb has worked with Altius Space Machines on advanced grappling techniques in the hopes of standardizing a versatile capture interface for on-orbit servicing, thereby lowering the projected cost of ADR and other services for everyone.The result is Altius’ DogTag™ universal grappling fixture, a low-cost, light-weight, universal interface for small satellites. The primary capture mechanism is magnetic, but it is also designed to support mechanical, adhesive, and penetrating capture techniques as well. Altius was recently awarded a contract for almost 600 fixtures by OneWeb Satellites and will begin delivery of flight hardware in December 2019.

The Lunar Space Tug: A sustainable bridge between low Earth orbits and the Cislunar Habitat

The International Space Station is the first space human outpost and over the last 15 years, it has represented a peculiar environment where science, technology and human innovation converge together in a unique microgravity and space research laboratory. With the International Space Station entering the second part of its life and its operations running steadily at nominal pace, the global space community is starting planning how the human exploration could move further, beyond Low-Earth-Orbit. According to the Global Exploration Roadmap, the Moon represents the next feasible path-way for advances in human exploration towards the nal goal, Mars. Based on the experience of the ISS, one of the most widespread ideas is to develop a Cislunar Station in preparation of long duration missions in a deep space environment. Cislunar space is de ned as the area of deep space under the influence of Earth-Moon system, including a set of special orbits, e.g. Earth-Moon Libration points and Lunar Retrograde Orbit. This habitat represents a suitable environment for demonstrating and testing technologies and capabilities in deep space. In order to achieve this goal, there are several crucial systems and technologies, in particular related to transportation and launch systems. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle is a reusable transportation capsule designed to provide crew transportation in deep space missions, whereas NASA is developing the Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built, which could provide the necessary heavy-lift launch capability to support the same kind of missions. These innovations would allow quite-fast transfers from Earth to the Cislunar Station and vice versa, both for manned and unmanned missions. However, taking into account the whole Concept of Operations for both the growth and sustainability of the Cislunar Space Station, the Lunar Space Tug can be considered as an additional, new and fundamental element for the mission architecture. The Lunar Space Tug represents an alternative to the SLS scenario, especially for what concerns all unmanned or logistic missions (e.g. cargo transfer, on orbit assembly, samples return), from Low Earth Orbit to Cislunar space. The paper focuses on the mission analysis and conceptual design of the Lunar Space Tug to support the growth and sustainment of the Cislunar Station. Particular attention is dedicated to the analysis of the propulsion subsystem effects of the Lunar Space Tug design. Main results are presented and discussed, and main conclusions are drawn.

Do “Commercial” Space Companies Exist?

Abstract The goal of this article is to define “commercial activities” and “space industry actors” of the global space community as a foundation for clear communications (important for informal discussions and formal agreements alike) and academic studies. To facilitate better communications through clear definition of the word “commercial,” two dimensions of “commercial activities” are identified to include the level of subjugation to market forces and independence from government control, based on multiple U.S. government documents and using a qualitative analysis method. The practical result of the analysis presented here identifies the proper response to the question “Is this company commercial?” as “This is a private (or hybrid, or public) firm engaged in commercial activities.” To clearly define the set of actors included in academic analyses of different space industries, a culturally neutral definition of “space industry actors” is also identified using an established glossary of organizational fo...

Commercial Aspects of Active Debris Removal: Technical and Legal Challenges

Earth Orbit is a limited resource and its sustainability is at stake. Various commercial solutions are recommended to handle the trash in the space. Studies are reflecting that at this pace especially when the global space community participation is rapidly increasing, incidents of collisions are highly possible and in case of damage for commercial space application based operations. This new era of a ‘space race’ has embarked a few conclusions raising not only technological concerns, but also a host of economic, legal/regulatory, and corporate responsibilities associated with debris remediation and mitigation. The intent behind this paper is to identify what elements would be necessary for an ADR concept to be considered both technical and non-technical and how to address them. Lastly the gravity of the situation of debris removal is also assessed through a comparative analysis of various case study methods across the global.

Africa’s first International Astronautical Congress: Highlights of IAC 2011

The 62nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), held in Cape Town from 3 to 7 October 2011, was a significant milestone in the development of the African space arena. The recent emergence of a number of African countries as space actors provided fertile ground for engagement with the global space community through the medium of an IAC. A large number of space actors, in Africa and globally, coordinated their activities during the triennium 2009–2011 to build up to this historic first IAC in Africa. This paper discusses the main highlights of the congress and its immediate and potential long-term impact on the development of the African space arena.

The African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development

The African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology (known as “the ALC”) is a regional conference to promote intra-African cooperation in the uses of space science and technology to support Africa’s development. The first such conference was held in 2005 in Abuja, Nigeria, followed by South Africa (2007), Algeria (2009) and Kenya (2011). The ALC has come to be regarded as a representative African forum in the global space community. This paper provides an overview of the structure and activities of the ALC and presents the highlights and outcomes of the first four conferences and their contribution to shaping the development of the African space arena. The paper concludes with an analysis of the challenges facing the ALC and some proposed measures to enhance its effectiveness.