Res Communis

NASA Administrator Thanks President Obama and Congress for Agency’s New Direction Support

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

Source: NASA

See Press Release for the statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in support of President Obama’s signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 on Monday, Oct. 11, 2010.

Lithuania signs agreement with European Space Agency

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

Source: The Baltic Course

The agreement was concluded during the international conference Space Economy in the Multipolar World that is taking place in Vilnius on October 6-8.

The conference is organized by the Lithuanian Association of Space together with Vilnius University, Kaunas University of Technology and the Economy Ministry.

The agreement allows Lithuanian scientists and business people to receive scientific, technical and organizational assistance from ESA experts without any financial commitment.

10th Anniversary of the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters”

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

Source – ESA:

10th Anniversary of the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters”

12 October 2010
ESA PR 2010-23 In 2000, the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters” was set up on the initiative of ESA (European Space Agency) and CNES (France’s Centre national d’études spatiales). Its purpose is to make it easier for emergency services to access satellite data in the event of natural or man-made disasters.

On Tuesday 19 October, ESA, CNES and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of this Charter, which has been joined by a further seven space agencies worldwide and activated on average more than twice a month since its creation.

The principle underlying the Charter is that images and data acquired by Earth observation satellites should be made available without charge to the authorities responsible for organising relief operations in disaster areas, via a unified and coordinated system of image acquisition and delivery, wherever in the world the affected region is located.

This public interest initiative on a global scale quickly attracted a number of new partners having operational Earth observation satellites in orbit. After ESA and CNES, which initiated the Charter, Canada’s CSA joined it, early on, in 2000, followed by the United States’ NOAA/USGS and India’s ISRO in 2001, Argentina’s CONAE in 2003, Japan’s JAXA and the United Kingdom’s BNSC (now the UKSA) in 2005, and China’s CNSA in 2007. These agencies take on the Presidency of the Charter in turn every six months.

Each Charter member space agency cooperates on a voluntary basis, with no exchange of funds involved, and undertakes to provide its resources free of charge to enable the Charter to function.

Between its operational startup in November 2000 and 19 October 2010, the Charter has been activated 280 times, and already 39 times since the beginning of 2010, notably for the earthquake in Haiti in January. It is used throughout the world to monitor natural disasters, mainly those linked to meteorological, seismic and volcanic phenomena. It demonstrates the contribution that space systems can make to crisis management, making the work of the rescue teams on the ground easier.

On Tuesday 19 October, from 18:30, an anniversary ceremony will take place at ESA’s Headquarters in Paris in the presence of Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA; Yannick d’Escatha, President of CNES; Steve McLean, President of the CSA; and Alain Perret, Head of French Civil Security. Media members who would like to attend this event are invited to register with ESA’s Press Service, Brigitte Kolmsee, email: brigitte.kolmsee@esa.int, tel.:+33.(0)1.5369.7299.

Event: Stimson Center Space Policy Luncheon

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty
Source – The Stimson Center:

The Stimson Center in Washington, DC will host a luncheon on Wednesday, December 1st, at 12:30. Featured speakers are Frank Rose and Greg Schulte, Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State and Defense, respectively. They will talk about the Obama administration’s space diplomacy. Those wishing to attend may RSVP to Nate Cohn (ncohn@stimson.org). Stimson is located at 1111 19th St, NW, 12th flloor.

Michael Krepon
Co-founder, Stimson Center