As interest in space and space-based capabilities continues to expand at an unprecedented pace, the need for instituting best practices to promote sustainable space operations is more important than ever. Ensuring space is a safe domain for operators is essential for its continued growth and promising future. For decades, The Aerospace Corporation has dedicated its efforts in providing objective technical expertise to foster innovation and mission success for the preeminent space enterprise.
The company announced today that it has joined the Space Safety Coalition (SSC), endorsing the organization’s proposed best practices for sustainable space operations. Established in 2019, the coalition has now grown to 48 organizations and other government and industry stakeholders, all with the shared purpose of actively promoting responsible space safety through the adoption and development of relevant international standards, guidelines and practices.
“As the nonprofit corporation that operates the only federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) dedicated to the entire U.S. space enterprise, Aerospace plays a unique role as the nation’s trusted partner in solving the hardest problems in space,” said Edward M. Swallow, senior vice president for civil systems at Aerospace. “We are eager to extend our 60 years of technical expertise and our legacy of partnership with government, commercial space and academia by engaging with other Space Safety Coalition participants to safely sustain space for future generations.”
With its institutional experience and technical knowledge supporting government space operations, Aerospace is uniquely positioned to provide independent and objective analysis of orbital debris mitigation and the long-term sustainability of space.
The company will participate in the discussion and further development of SSC’s Best Practices for the Sustainability of Space Operations document. Aerospace will provide comments as an independent organization with relevant expertise, and not at the direction of, or on behest of any government agency that it supports.
“We are pleased that The Aerospace Corporation has endorsed the Space Safety Coalition’s ‘Best Practices for the Sustainability of Space Operations’ document,” said Dan Oltrogge, SSC founder and administrator. “Given the critical FFRDC role Aerospace serves in our government space programs, its multitude of deep perspectives will help the SSC make its industry-led space sustainability effort even more mature and constructive.”
The SSC document, which is curated and endorsed by the coalition's space stakeholders, is intended to be a living set of best practices that directly addresses many of the long-term sustainability guidelines approved by the United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Use of Outer Space in 2019. The document includes best practices for information exchange; the sustainable selection of launch services; design of safe space architecture and spacecraft; and safe space operations.
