Fourth IAASS Conference: Making Safety Matter – Plenary 1

May 19, 2010 at 8:28 pm | Posted in Blogcast, Space Law | Leave a comment

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The first plenary at the Fourth IAASS Conference included keynote speeches by Rear Admiral S. Daniels, US Navy, Deputy Commander JFCC Space; J. Bosma, ESA, Inspector General; A. Goldman, NASA, Deputy Director, Marshall Spaceflight Center; N. Takeuchi, JAXA, Director S & MA; I. Rongier, CNES, Inspector General; and S. Garon, CSA, Director of Project Management. The Legal content from this plenary was found primarily in the speeches by Daniels, Goldman, and Rongier.

Daniels speech discussed how Space Situational awareness was crucial to space safety not just for Defense users, but also for civil and commercial users. She emphasized how the military’s mission had changed in the wake of the Iridium 33 – Cosmos 2251 collision. She said that after that collision the U.S. military began building on its capabilities for its SSA Sharing Service and increased its screening of all active satellites. Furthermore, she stated that collisions in space threaten every nations freedom of exploration in space. To this end she stated that the United States views international cooperation as crucial in collision avoidance, and that the United States was committed to exploration for peaceful purposes.

Goldman, among other things, discussed the differences between the NASA human space rating regime and the FAA’s human spaceflight requirements. He said that NASA’s rating regime will be hand tailored when contracting with commercial entities, especially if these entities are already functioning under an FAA license. He stated that NASA would do an independent safety evaluation, and that there would be no usage of that provider until NASA is satisfied that the craft is space. he said that this is a process similar to that used when contracting to place U.S. Astronauts aboard Soyuz spacecraft.

Finally, Rongier gave a brief overview of the French Space Activities Act. She stated that one of the purposes of this act was to support safety in space activities, which gives benefits to society as a whole. She also stated that the French Technical Regulaions would be passed later this year and enter into force in December.