Abstract:
This statement identifies critical gaps in current approaches to space sustainability, with particular emphasis on deficiencies in Space Situational Awareness (SSA), Space Traffic Coordination (STC), and standards adoption. It notes that close approaches between space objects now occur roughly five times more frequently than just five years ago, driven by increased debris and rapid growth in active spacecraft populations. While collision risk can be mitigated in principle, the lack of accurate, timely, and comprehensive SSA undermines the effectiveness of operator mitigation efforts. Drawing on COMSPOC’s collaboration with the Space Data Association and support to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 2023 STC Pilot, the statement demonstrates that deep, multi-stakeholder collaboration between governments, operators, NGOs, and SSA providers can improve orbit accuracy by up to an order of magnitude. It further highlights the insufficient adoption of space data exchange standards, despite the existence of mature standards for sharing orbit, maneuver, tracking, reentry, and launch data. Structural barriers—such as legacy, “black box” operational software that locks operators into outdated standards for decades—are identified as a major impediment to progress. The statement concludes that closing these gaps requires sustained emphasis on collaborative SSA, timely standards adoption, and resistance to “standards of convenience” that undermine long-term space safety and sustainability.
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Oltrogge, D.L., "Identified gaps in today's space sustainability approach," ITU/UNOOSA Roundtable on Space Sustainability, on the margins of the 2023 ITU World Radio Conference, Dubai, UAE, 3 Dec 2023.
