Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 2 - New Ideas in Space Safety

Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 2: New Ideas in Space Safety

The greater the value of space, the greater the risks.

The rise of the space economy is accelerating the business, operational and human risks.

Are we prepared to handle them?

In the Reducing the Risks of Space campaign, we explored policy, law, technology and operations in development now to manage the challenging space environment of the future. Now we continue the conversation with Part 2: New Ideas in Space Safety! MORE

Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 2: New Ideas in Space Safety is underwritten by the Space Shuttle Children’s Trust Fund

Podcast

SSPI-WISE Presents: New Ideas in Space Safety, Episode 2 – Creating a Framework for Space Sustainability with Merissa Velez

In this SSPI-WISE Presents podcast, Tamara Bond-Williams, Director of Engagement at SSPI, speaks with Merissa Velez, Chief of the Satellite Programs and Policy Division at the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Space Bureau.

Merissa Velez is Chief of the Satellite Programs and Policy Division of the Federal Communications Commission’s Space Bureau. In this role, Ms. Velez oversees a team addressing legal and policy issues associated with the licensing and regulation of satellite systems. Ms. Velez has focused on satellite regulatory issues at the FCC for the past ten years, and was previously the Chief of the Satellite Policy Branch in the International Bureau’s Satellite Division. Prior to joining the FCC, Ms. Velez clerked for the Supreme Court of Hawaii and worked in the legal publishing industry. Ms. Velez is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School and Middlebury College.

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Summer Getaway in Space

The Orbiter: Engage!

The June 2024 issue of SSPI’s online magazine The Orbiter features a wide variety of stories on SSPI campaigns, events and other ways you can get benefit from getting involved! Below are some highlights from the Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 2: New Ideas in Space Safety campaign:

Videos

The Better Satellite World campaign shows the world why our industry, though often invisible, is indispensable to modern life, through powerful stories and videos that depict space and satellite technologies contributing to the economy, society and sustainability of planet Earth. You can see footage of the dangers and intricacies of space debris provided by NASA and ESA below. Some of our Better Satellite World videos also focus on the challenges and risks of space travel. Check them out here:

From Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 1

In case you missed some of the key topics and insights from Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 1 last year, you can check them out here. Or you can revisit the entire campaign on its landing page.

Safety on the Moon

Hall of Fame Members Dr. Joseph Pelton – also founding president of SSPI – and Peter Marshall have published a new book, Safety on the Moon: NASA’s Artemis Lunar Exploration Program! The book covers a host of launch and landing systems, space suits, “smart” robotic lunar rovers, lunar search and rescue systems, lunar habitats and more. Safety on the Moon is available now on Amazon.

In the News

Eutelsat Achieves ‘Platinum’ WEF Space Sustainability Rating – Via Satellite – June 3, 2024

Slingshot Aerospace Report Highlights Record Insurance Market Losses in 2023 – Via Satellite – May 1, 2024

NASA says it expected space station garbage to burn up. The debris smashed into a Florida home instead – CNN – April 16, 2024

NASA rolls out new space sustainability strategy – SpaceNews – April 9, 2024

Connecting the Dots | Making light work of space junk removal – SpaceNews – March 28, 2024

"Another milestone": ISRO rocket accomplishes zero orbital debris mission – The Economic Times – March 25, 2024

Impending European satellite reentry highlights debris mitigation challenges – SpaceNews – February 20, 2024

COSMIC: Propelling ISAM from Transformational to Routine – The Aerospace Corporation – January 29, 2024

About Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 2: New Ideas in Space Safety

Not so many years ago, launch and deployment were the biggest risks of putting technology or people into space. Today, space is growing crowded with multiple orbits, massive growth in the number of satellites, and new business ventures from private space stations and fuel depots to in-orbit servicing and operations. They join orbital planes already home to 23,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball, moving at speeds of up to 17,500 mph.

A sustainable space environment for machines and people is a basic condition for the space economy. It is how we will maintain access to orbit and achieve the commercial success the industry dreams of. Until now, the world has relied on treaties and cooperation among business and government to keep space safe. As the value of space grows, that approach is fast running out of runway.

Reducing the Risks of Space, Part 2: New Ideas in Space Safety will continue the conversation begun in Part 1. We will explore policy, law, technology and operations in development now to manage the challenging space environment of the future. We will ask if enough is being done and, if not, how we can motivate greater urgency in finding solutions. The campaign will also look at business models and technology advances that hold the promise of heading off the dreaded Kessler Syndrome that could make low Earth orbit unusable for decades.