Time for Federal Call on Outsourcing Some Space Capabilities, Report Says

a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies paper issued Tuesday. There's general concurrence on direction, but specifics are being debated, said Aerospace Corp. Senior Policy Analyst James Vedda: He and George Washington University Space Policy Institute faculty member Peter Hays found broad agreement all satellites should have either passive or active tracking capabilities, but no concurrence on whether that should be mandatory. There's debate over how big a role government should have in fostering and encouraging commercial space debris removal offerings, said Vedda. The paper, done in collaboration with Aerospace Corp., said most experts favor moving space situational awareness activity from the Defense Department to a civil agency such as the FAA. It said there's general agreement that the expected smallsat boom means the current compliance rate for existing debris mitigation and end-of-life disposal guidelines must be strengthened, with the 25-year rule for post-mission disposal "shortened dramatically." Many said the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Cause by Space Objects needs clarification and better common understanding about issues like what defines dangerous interference and encroachment, maybe in the form of a variety of separate bilateral or multilateral agreements, according to the paper. It noted calls for better valuing and protecting spectrum used in space-based telecom, remote sensing and positioning, navigation and timing service as that spectrum is increasingly sought for terrestrial mobile networks. It said respondents suggested indemnification for systems that support national security. Hays said there have for years been calls for government to make decisions about what space capabilities it will keep in-house and what it will outsource, and the breadth of commercial offerings coming online creates opportunity and impetus.