Space Situational Awareness

February 23, 2012

On Thursday, February 23, the Techamerica Space Enterprise Council and the George C. Marshall Institute presented a forum on

Space Situational Awareness

Space capabilities are woven deeply into the fabric of modern society. Commerce relies on them for the swift flow of information and transactions, and the national security arenadepends on them for joint war fighting and protection of the homeland.

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is critical to space activities and the long-term sustainability of space. It provides knowledge about what is happening in space, and in particular Earth orbit. This knowledge provides understanding of the space environment, including space debris and space weather, which could damage satellites or disrupt satellite services. SSA helps owner-operators protect their satellites, including human-crewed spacecraft, from these and other threats. SSA also provides awareness of the potential negative impacts of certain activities in space, such as explosions and collisions, and their potential to degrade the long-term utility of space.

Featured Speakers Included:

• Richard DalBello, Vice President, Legal and Government Affairs, Intelsat General.  Mr. DalBello's slides are available here.
• Jürgen Drescher, Head, Washington D.C. Office of the German Space Agency,
• Patrick Frakes, Principal Systems Engineer at Integrity Applications Incorporated,

Space Situational Awareness