Res Communis

Provisional Agenda for the UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The UNOOSA website has posted the Provisional Agenda for the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Legal Subcommittee Forty-eighth session Vienna, 23 March-3 April 2009. Included on the Agenda is:

1. Opening of the session and adoption of the agenda.
2. Statement by the Chairman.
3. General exchange of views.
4. Status and application of the five United Nations treaties on outer space.
5. Information on the activities of international intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations relating to space law.
6. Matters relating to:
(a) The definition and delimitation of outer space;
(b) The character and utilization of the geostationary orbit, including
consideration of ways and means to ensure the rational and equitable use of the geostationary orbit without prejudice to the role of the
International Telecommunication Union.
7. Review and possible revision of the Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space.
8. Examination and review of the developments concerning the draft protocol on matters specific to space assets to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment.
9. Capacity-building in space law.
10. General exchange of information on national mechanisms relating to space debris mitigation measures.
11. General exchange of information on national legislation relevant to the peaceful exploration and use of outer space.
12. Proposals to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space for new items to be considered by the Legal Subcommittee at its forty-ninth session.

Gates on Missile Defense and the Iranian Satellite

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From a press roundtable with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Krakow, Poland on Febraury 19, 2009:

. . . Q Mr. Secretary — (inaudible) — of the Czech Republic. With regard to the missile defense and all these considerations like economic factor and technology and diplomacy tools, Iran and Russia, do you think it could be expected that the U.S. would retreat from the treaty signed with Poland and the Czech Republic?

SEC. GATES: Well, I think that as the vice president said in Munich, we continue to be very concerned about the Iranian missile threat, particularly as they continue work on what we believe are weapons of mass destruction. Their launch of a satellite shows that they are increasing their ability to build missiles or rockets with considerable range. And both in the context of cost effectiveness and technology, we will continue to move forward. But we are also going to work with our allies. We have a NATO commitment that was made at Bucharest by all of the heads of government. And we also are very interested in continuing to pursue our efforts to persuade the Russians to partner with us in this endeavor. And my hope is that now, with the new administration, the prospects for that kind of cooperation might have improved. . . .

And from a press briefing on February 20, 2009 in Krakow, Poland:

. . . Q For the Italian Television, Mr. Secretary, do you believe the new U.N. report about the Iranian nuclear activity will accelerate the United States’ plans for an anti-missile defense system?

SEC. GATES: I haven’t read the U.N. report yet so I’m not really in a position to comment, but I think that, as I have said before, the primary reason for the third site in Europe is to deal with the Iranian missile threat, and the fact that they have just launched a space satellite I think is indicative of the continuing and steady progress that they are seeing in developing these missile capabilities. So I think we need to take that into account, along with their continuing unwillingness to go along with the U.N. Security Council resolutions, with respect to enrichment. . . .

GeoEye-1 Satellite Attains Full Operational Capability Certification From the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From GeoEye:

GeoEye-1 Satellite Attains Full Operational Capability Certification From the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

PRNewswire
DULLES, Va.
(NASDAQ-NMS:GEOY)

GeoEye Now Delivering the World’s Highest Resolution, Most-Accurate Satellite Imagery to the U.S. Department of Defense

DULLES, Va., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — GeoEye, Inc. , a premier provider of satellite and aerial-based geospatial information, announced today that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) notified the Company that imagery from the GeoEye-1 satellite has been certified as meeting their stringent requirements for quality, accuracy and resolution. GeoEye is now delivering GeoEye-1 sub-half-meter ground resolution satellite imagery to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080625/LAW528LOGO)

As a result of the certification, the GeoEye-1 satellite is fully commissioned and GeoEye is able to begin recognizing revenue of $12.5 million per month under the terms of a Service Level Agreement (SLA) signed with the NGA in Dec. 2008. Deliveries to NGA begin Feb. 23, 2009.

“It gives me great pride to announce we have met the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s requirements and are now delivering GeoEye-1 imagery to serve the Agency’s comprehensive geospatial intelligence needs,” said Matthew O’Connell, GeoEye’s chief executive officer. “The NGA continues to be our mission partner, and we appreciate their support during satellite check-out and calibration.”

“The commercial remote sensing industry can meet a large majority of our national requirements for global mapping and observation, said Bill Schuster, GeoEye’s chief operating officer. “Now that GeoEye-1 is fully commissioned, we can assure our customers in the U.S. and overseas they will have access to a continuous supply of high-quality imagery well into the next decade.” He said, “We are already working on the advanced camera and camera electronics for GeoEye-2 and look forward to continuing to serve NGA with next-generation capabilities.”

The NextView program is designed to ensure that the NGA has access to commercial imagery in support of its mission to provide timely, relevant and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security. GeoEye won its $500-million NextView contract in September 2004 and was able to build and launch GeoEye-1 within four years of contract award, with no cost overruns. The prime contractor for GeoEye-1 is General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. The satellite’s imaging system was built by ITT Corporation.

“With this milestone, we have delivered the highest resolution imagery of any existing commercial space-borne imaging system,” said Lou Von Thaer, president of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics . “The GeoEye-1 satellite combines the clarity of imagery with the most accurate geolocation technology and provides the blueprint for future next-generation mid-size satellite programs.”

Defense Could Save with In-house Satellites

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From Nextgov.com:

Official says Defense can save millions with in-house satellites

By Bob Brewin 02/20/2009

The Defense Department could save a total of $600 million from fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2016 by shifting much of the traffic currently handled by commercial communications satellite operators to Wideband Global System satellites, a top Pentagon official told Nextgov.

Commercial satellite operators disagreed, and said they can provide capacity cheaper and more quickly than the WGS satellites, which are built by Boeing and owned and operated by the Defense Department.

Defense currently leases 6.2 GHz of commercial satellite capacity, wrote Danny Price, deputy director of communications, network programs and policies in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration, in an email. An internal study by the Defense Information Systems Agency obtained by Nextgov said that the lease costs $317 million annually. . . .[Full Story]

Ukraine-U.S. Framework Agreement

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From the Ukrainian Space Agency:

According to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine the Framework Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the United States of America on Cooperation in the Exploration and Peaceful Use of Outer Space, which has been signed on March, 31, 2008, has come into effect on January, 22, 2009.
The agreement has been ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on December, 17, 2008 (the Law of Ukraine № 681-VІ).

A copy of this agreement in Ukrainian can be found in Space Law: Selected Documents 2008 available from the National Center for Remote Sensing, Air, and Space Law.

The Gap in Human Spaceflight

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The Center for Strategic and International Studies Space Initiative has posted materials from two working groups on the The Gap in Human Spaceflight:

The Gap in Human Spaceflight – Working Group 1

The Gap in Human Spaceflight – Working Group 2

Pentagon Official States that U.S. is not Developing Space Weapons

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From Space.com:

Pentagon Official: U.S. Is Not Developing Space Weapons
By Peter B. de Selding
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 20 February 2009
7:53 am ET

STRASBOURG, France – The United States is not developing space weapons and could not afford to do so even if it wanted to, an official with the Pentagon’s National Security Space Office said Thursday.

Pete Hays, a senior policy analyst at the space office who is also associate director of the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies, said U.S. policy on space weaponry has remained pretty much the same over the last 30 years despite the occasionally heated debate on the subject during the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush.

“There has not been one minute spent on this issue as far as I know,” Hays said of U.S. Defense Department policy on using weapons in space. “There are no space weaponization programs. It’s an issue that academics like to flog now and then, but in terms of funded programs, there aren’t any. I can tell you that categorically.” . . . [Full Story]