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SWF Podcast

This podcast features content produced by the Secure World Foundation (SWF), a private operating foundation that promotes cooperative solutions for space sustainability and the peaceful uses of outer space. The Foundation acts as a research body, convener and facilitator to promote key space security, and other related topics, and to examine their influence on governance and international development.
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Now displaying: July, 2017
Jul 12, 2017

Recorded in Washington, DC, on July 10, 2017.

SWF held a luncheon panel discussion on Capitol Hill that brought together private sector experts to discuss the current space debris situation, what steps are being done (or not done) to address it, whether the blanket 25-year rule is still sufficient, and what role industry can play in helping ensuring the long-term sustainability of space while fostering continued innovation and growth of the space sector.

In 2012, Secure World Foundation (SWF) hosted an event on Capitol Hill called "Trash in the Skies: The Challenge of Space Debris" to discuss the impact the growing amount of space debris has had on space activities. The event highlighted the then estimated 22,000 pieces of space debris larger than a softball that could destroy a satellite in a collision, and the hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller debris that could cause serious damage. The event also discussed the importance of improving space situational awareness (SSA) for managing the risk posed by space debris, and national and international efforts to mitigate space debris. The biggest effort focused on implementing voluntary space debris mitigation guidelines, the most important of which stipulated that no objects should be left in a protected region for longer than 25 years after the end of their useful life. In addition, the space community needed to focus on developing the capability to start removing space debris from orbit, in order to avoid long-term growth in increased risk over time.

Five years later, there have been few meaningful improvements in the situation. Space debris still continues to pose a threat to space activities. Compliance with the 25-year rule hovers around 40-60%, a rate scientists have concluded is insufficient to stave off long-term growth. Additionally, there have been only very limited efforts made to develop debris removal technologies, particularly in the United States where both NASA and the Department of Defense have shown little willingness to prioritize it.  At the same time, the commercial space industry has grown, with dozens of new companies raising billions in private investment to embark on new and innovative uses of space. Several of these companies are planning large constellations of hundreds to thousands of satellites,  sparking new concerns about space debris and congestion in space.

Speakers

  • Mr. Jonathan Goff, President and CEO, Altius Space Machines
  • Dr. Tim Maclay, Director of Mission Systems Engineering, OneWeb
  • Ms. Lauri Newman, Conjunction Assessment Manager, NASA
  • Dr. James Vedda, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, the Aerospace Corporation
  • Mr. Mike Vinter, Executive Vice President, AON Risk Solutions
  • Moderator: Dr. Brian Weeden, Director of Program Planning, Secure World Foundation

More details, including transcripts, can be found at the event page on the SWF website.

Jul 12, 2017

Recorded in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2017.

SWF co-sponsored, with the National Space Weather Partnership, the 2017 the Space Weather Enterprise Forum. This year’s theme was "Implementing a National Space Weather Partnership.”

The forum brought together a blended audience of space weather experts from both research and operations, space weather users from the public and private sectors, academia, international representatives, and policy makers. One of the event objectives was continuing outreach and education to raise awareness of space weather effects on systems and humans and to provide information on available services.

Speakers

  • Dr. Sarah Gibson, Chair, Committee for Solar and Space Physics, National Academies of Science, and University for Atmospheric Research
  • Mr. Alec Engell, NextGen Federal Systems and American Commercial Space Weather Association
  • Mr. Charles Chafer, Space Services Incorporated and American Commercial Space Weather Association
  • Moderator: Ms. Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation

More details, including transcripts, can be found at the event page on the SWF website.

Jul 12, 2017

Recorded in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2017.

SWF co-sponsored, with the National Space Weather Partnership, the 2017 the Space Weather Enterprise Forum. This year’s theme was "Implementing a National Space Weather Partnership.”

The forum brought together a blended audience of space weather experts from both research and operations, space weather users from the public and private sectors, academia, international representatives, and policy makers. One of the event objectives was continuing outreach and education to raise awareness of space weather effects on systems and humans and to provide information on available services.

Speakers

  • Mr. Steven Clarke, Director, Heliophysics Division, Headquarters, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Dr. Jeffrey Love, Research Geophysicist, Advisor for Geomagnetic Research, US Geological Survey
  • Mr. Kenneth Hodgkins, Director, Office of Space and Advanced Technology, US Department of State
  • Moderator: Mr. William Murtagh, Program Coordinator, Space Weather Operations Research and Mitigation (SWORM) Subcommittee and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center

More details, including transcripts, can be found at the event page on the SWF website.

Jul 12, 2017

Recorded in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2017.

SWF co-sponsored, with the National Space Weather Partnership, the 2017 the Space Weather Enterprise Forum. This year’s theme was "Implementing a National Space Weather Partnership.”

The forum brought together a blended audience of space weather experts from both research and operations, space weather users from the public and private sectors, academia, international representatives, and policy makers. One of the event objectives was continuing outreach and education to raise awareness of space weather effects on systems and humans and to provide information on available services.

Speakers

  • Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Dr. William Easterling, Assistant Director Geosciences, National Science Foundation
  • Dr. Louis Uccellini, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Weather Services and Director, National Weather Service
  • Dr. Conrad Lautenbacher, Chief Executive Officer, GeoOptics Incorporated and American Commercial Space Weather Association
  • Moderator: Mr. Martin Frederick, Northrop Grumman Civil Space Programs

More details, including transcripts, can be found at the event page on the SWF website.

Jul 12, 2017

Recorded in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2017.

SWF co-sponsored, with the National Space Weather Partnership, the 2017 the Space Weather Enterprise Forum. This year’s theme was "Implementing a National Space Weather Partnership.”

The forum brought together a blended audience of space weather experts from both research and operations, space weather users from the public and private sectors, academia, international representatives, and policy makers. One of the event objectives was continuing outreach and education to raise awareness of space weather effects on systems and humans and to provide information on available services.

Speakers

  • Ms. Kenyetta Blunt, Chief, Recovery Planning Branch, Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • Mr. Ralph Stoffler, Director of Weather, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters, US Air Force
  • Dr. Ken Friedman, Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Energy
  • Mr. Mark MacAlester, Telecommunications Specialist and National Response Coordinator in the Disaster Emergency Communications Division at FEMA
  • Moderator: Mr. Jack Anderson, Department of Homeland Security

More details, including transcripts, can be found at the event page on the SWF website.

Jul 12, 2017

Recorded in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2017.

SWF co-sponsored, with the National Space Weather Partnership, the 2017 the Space Weather Enterprise Forum. This year’s theme was "Implementing a National Space Weather Partnership.”

The forum brought together a blended audience of space weather experts from both research and operations, space weather users from the public and private sectors, academia, international representatives, and policy makers. One of the event objectives was continuing outreach and education to raise awareness of space weather effects on systems and humans and to provide information on available services.

Speakers

  • Mr. Ralph Stoffler, Director of Weather, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters, US Air Force
  • Major General Scott Vander Hamm, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters, US Air Force
  • Dr. Stephen Volz, Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Observation and Prediction, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

More details, including transcripts, can be found at the event page on the SWF website.

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