Res Communis

Fourth IAASS Conference: Making Safety Matter – Session 20 – Regulations and Standards for Safety – Part II

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The second regulations session of the Fourth IAASS Conference: Making Safety Matter occurred on May 20, 2010. Only one paper was presented, “safety and Liability Aspects of Solar Power Satellites.” It was presented by Dianne Howard a Doctoral student at McGill University’s Institute of Air and Space Law. The paper was co-authored by Ram Jahku also from McGill University.

Howard began with an overview of the technological challenges of Space Solar Power (SPS). She stated that specific risks from these technologies were those that result from the need for multiple launches, space debris, collision avoidance, wireless power transmission (WPT), beam right of way issues, exposure to the WPT, and issues dealing with the use of force. She stated that there were two relevant legal regimes that dealt with this risks: Space Law and the law that governs electric transmissions. She noted that there was at present no specific standards for such technology and no specifically defined radio bandwidth. Managing this risk is an imperative and safety standards and policies need to be in place before such technology is deployed according to the presentation.