TIME FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE SAFETY GOVERNANCE

Noordwijk, The Netherlands – International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) is pleased to announce the upcoming Science Summit at the UN General Assembly (UNGA79), set to take place in New York City, hybrid and virtual format from 10-27 September 2024. The UNGA79 will examine what enabling policy, regulatory, and financial environments are needed to implement and sustain the science mechanisms required to support genuinely global scientific collaborations across continents, nations and themes.

In the UNGA79 Science Summit IAASS will organize virtual session ‘International Space Safety Governance’ on September 27, 09:00 – 11:00 EDT. This event will bring together leading space scientists, policymakers, and academians to discuss the current space safety governance and standardization situation and a way forward.

International Space Safety Governance session panels

Outer space is probably the only realm of human endeavour where a country unilaterally manages the safety risk of its operations on foreign populations and assets, and on the space environment. The time has come to start building an international regulatory framework for space like those existing since many years for commercial aviation, shipping, and atomic energy, to balance the multiple space commercial interests and risks and create a level playing field for competition and further development.

The IAASS’s UNGA79 virtual session ‘International Space Safety Governance’ consists of two panels of one hour duration each. Panel #1 ‘Harmonizing Space Safety Standards Around the World’ and Panel #2 ‘International Space Safety Governance’.

Panel 1 is aimed to inform and discuss on two initiatives: A) Called ICSSS (International Coordination on Space Safety Standards) by IAASS in cooperation with The Aerospace Corp. consisting in establishing a forum of national regulators and relevant authorities for the harmonization of national regulations and standards as a first step towards more consolidated regulatory framework and level playing field, and B) the development of a Space Safety Institute as a support organization to regulators and industry. Speakers: Dr. Paul Wilde, Office of Commercial Space Transportation | Federal Aviation Administration (USA), Tommaso Sgobba, IAASS, and Toru Yoshihara, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Panel moderator: Taro Kuusiholma (IAASS).

Panel 2 is aimed to create awareness of the issue of space safety governance and the need to establish for space a UN agency for example on the model of ICAO (the UN Agency for civil aviation) or ITU (International Telecommunication Union) to ensure and advance space safety and space traffic management. Speakers: Prof. Liu Hao, Beijing Institute of Technology, Prof. Andrea Harrington, McGill University IASL, and John C. Matchett, US Air Force Safety Division. Panel moderator: Taro Kuusiholma

Global Space governance and standardization present significant challenges, particularly when considering their role in contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like 9, 16 and 17. These challenges arise from the complex, multidisciplinary nature of space activities, the involvement of numerous stakeholders with various goals and policies, and the rapid pace of technological advancement.

Main challenges include inter alias fragmented international regulatory framework, efficient and timely coordination among nation states and diverse stakeholders, scientific collaboration and capacity building, space debris and environmental sustainability and public engagement and awareness. Addressing these global governance and standardization challenges requires a concerted cooperative effort at both national and international levels to create flexible, inclusive, just and forward-looking governance frameworks. This involves strengthening international communication, cooperation, coordination and updating different ‘hard and soft’ legal instruments, standardization (institutions) and ensuring that space activities are conducted in a manner that supports the achievement of the SDGs.

Background Information

The International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), legally established 16 April 2004 in the Netherlands, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to furthering international cooperation and scientific advancement in the field of space systems safety. In 2004 IAASS became a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). In 2006 former US Senator John Glenn, first American to orbit, became Honorary Member of the IAASS. In 2010 IAASS was granted Observer status at the United Nations COPUOS (Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space).

About International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) goals

The Association exists to help shape and advance an international culture of space safety (technical, organizational and socio-political), which would contribute to make space missions, vehicles, stations, extraterrestrial habitats, equipment, and payloads safer for the general public, ground personnel, crews, and flight participants. The Association also pursues the safeguarding and sustainability of the on-orbit environment to allow unimpeded access to space by future generations.

The Association work will contribute to propagate the idea that the time is ripe for the establishment of an international civil space safety organization according to the model of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which so effectively advanced air travel safety.

The IAASS with its members and sponsors aims therefore to:

• Advance the science and application of space safety.

• Improve the communication, dissemination of knowledge, and cooperation between interested groups and individuals in this field and related fields.Provide a brief description of your organization, including its mission, history, and key achievements.

• Improve understanding and awareness of the space safety discipline.

• Promote and improve the development of space safety professionals and standards.

• Advocate the establishment of safety laws, rules, and regulatory bodies at national and international levels for the civil use of space.

Space safety is about risk management in the design and operations of space systems. It is about ensuring public safety, human on board safety, environment protection, space traffic management, and cosmic threats defence. Space safety is about a common understanding of “how safe is safe enough”, and how to achieve and certify compliance with uniform rules. The International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) is the leading worldwide non-profit association of space safety top scientists, engineers, and managers dedicated to shaping such international space safety culture through educational initiatives, professional training, conferences and workshops, and by supporting the development of international space safety standards.