Secure World Foundation Has Been Busy

SECURE WORLD FOUNDATION
Exchange of Views Statement,
United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
June 2010

Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Secure World Foundation (SWF), I would like to offer congratulations on your election as Chairman of this Committee. We look forward to your guidance of the committee’s work for the next two years. I would also like to congratulate Ambassador Ciro Arévalo-Yepes of Colombia on his distinguished chairmanship of this committee over the past two years. Among other activities, he has played an important role in enhancing the knowledge of COPUOS activities in external organizations.

I also note the continued excellent work of the Office of Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) under the direction of Dr. Mazlan Othman. We are confident that this committee and OOSA will continue successfully to provide support for the peaceful uses of outer space resources, especially for emerging space States.

SWF is pleased, once again, to attend this Committee meeting as a permanent observer. In all of our work, we actively promote the development of sound policies to support the long term sustainability of outer space activities and the peaceful use of space activities for the benefit of Earth and its peoples. Today I would like to summarize a selection of this year’s activities so far in the four major themes in which we are active:

1. Space Sustainability, ensuring that all humanity can continue to use outer space for peaceful purposes and socioeconomic benefit.

Space Sustainability: A Practical Guide—Space sustainability is our overarching theme and in support of it, this spring we developed a small guide to space sustainability. The guide describes the many concerns about the continued sustainability of outer space activities and summarizes the efforts being made to achieve and maintain this important goal. We have put copies of this booklet on the table outside this room. We welcome feedback on it.

Cologne International Interdisciplinary Space Debris Congress–Limiting the growth of orbital debris is one of the single most important elements of ensuring long term sustainability. This April, representatives from SWF helped plan the Cologne Congress. This event was the second in a planned series of workshops dealing with the problem of establishing next steps in limiting creation of space debris. The first Congress, which was held in Montreal in the spring of 2009, brought together a multidisciplinary group of experts to discuss potential mechanisms to implement the UN Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines. In the Cologne Congress, 30 experts with backgrounds in engineering, policy, law, and science continued the work of the Montreal event. The Congress produced a Declaration summarizing a set of recommendations, including means to implement the existing UN space debris mitigation guidelines, especially recommending that all States should make the long term sustainability of space a policy priority.

Space Security 2010: From Foundations to Negotiations—Secure World Foundation has worked with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) on space security matters for the past five years. This year, we were very pleased to partner with UNIDIR, the Simons Foundation and the governments of China and Russia on the 2010 Space Security Conference. This event was specifically aimed at expanding knowledge of foundational space security issues among the Geneva diplomats in order to provide the basis for future space security work.

Space Security Index—Secure World Foundation, along with the Government of Canada, the Simons Foundation, and Project Ploughshares, has contributed directly to the research, writing and production of the 2010 Space Security Index report. As well, we have contributed significant financial resources to the report effort. This report is the premier analytic summary of space security related activities around the world. SWF is proud to have contributed to this important document, the latest version of which can be downloaded for free from https://www.spacesecurity.org. Copies of the report’s Executive Summary are available on the table outside this room.

The Crowded Sky Planetarium Shows—Finally, there is a need to communicate to the broader public the challenge that increasingly crowded orbits present to safe and secure operations in space. Hence, Secure World Foundation has partnered with One Earth Future Foundation and the Fiske Planetarium of the University of Colorado to develop two short planetarium shows that 1) demonstrate visually the increasing crowding of low Earth and Geosynchronous orbital regimes and 2) illustrate the life cycle of satellites from development through operations on orbit to end of life. The first show is nearly complete and will be shown this summer in Boulder, Colorado. The second will be completed this November. When complete, these shows will be made available for free to the roughly 850 planetariums around the world. I would be happy to provide further information on these two shows for interested delegates.

2. Space Policy and Space Law Development through assisting emerging space States develop effective space policies.

Steps Towards Space Policy in Colombia. This workshop was held this April at the University Sergio Arboleda in Bogota, Colombia. This seminal gathering of officials was organized by Secure World Foundation, the Universidad Sergio Arboleda School of Law, the Research Group CREAR, and the University Astronomical Observatory. Our Colombian
colleagues view this workshop as a major step toward establishing a Colombian space policy, as well as an additional impetus toward coordinated policies for the use of space throughout Latin America. Some 40 Colombians and others authorities from across the region attended the meeting, including deputies of various Colombian agencies involved in space activities.

Meeting participants discussed several major principles for a sound space policy, with several measures on the table for consideration by emerging space countries, such as:

1. Ratifying the 1967 Treaty on Outer Space and later international agreements
2. Incorporating treaty provisions in State law, regulations
3. Taking active part in the United Nation’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and its subcommittees
4. Contributing constructively to other international space-related organizations
5. Taking an active role in assuring the long term sustainability of outer space
6. Adhering to orbital debris guidelines
7. Becoming an active participant in technical committees focused on sustainability

The recently held Colombian space policy workshop built upon a November 2009 gathering of experts convened by Secure World Foundation and the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRECTEALC). The Mexico workshop called attention to progress in Latin America toward developing national space policies, and set the stage for holding the Colombian workshop, noting the increasing use of space applications, such as Earth remote sensing to help ameliorate the devastating impacts from natural disasters.

Space Law and Policy: 2010—Crafting appropriate law to support policy is an important part of establishing sound practices toward activities in outer space. In May 2010, Secure World Foundation, together with the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and Arianespace organized a high level event focused on space law in the US context. Among other topics, the conference discussed the challenges to the regulation of future space activities and how the national and international regimes on space regulation interact with each other. Ambassador Ciro Arévalo-Yepes, gave a keynote address on approaches towards a UN space policy, which was very well received. This event brought together US government, international and commercial players to highlight the mix of interests that will be essential to balance as the community moves forward in securing the long-term sustainability of space activities.

3. Support of Human and Environmental Security through maximizing the international cooperative use of space systems for the benefit of humanity.

UN-SPIDER Regional Workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Disaster management agencies in Africa have to adapt to an increasing number of natural disasters caused mainly by floods and drought. The effects of global climate change will most probably aggravate this situation and substantially increase their economic impacts, threatening the livelihoods of increasing numbers of people. The UN-SPIDER Regional Workshop, which will be sponsored by Austria and Secure World Foundation, will bring together 60 – 80 decision-makers and
senior experts from African countries. It will focus on the following objectives which have been outlined in the Framework and Implementation Plan for activities in Africa 2010:

• To discuss climate change in Africa with special emphasis on the contribution of spacebased technologies to mitigate the impact and enhance adaptation to global climate change and land degradation.
• To capture and harmonize the various existing initiatives that are contributing to helping African countries access and use space-based technologies for disaster management and risk reduction as well as to explore possibilities of capacity development and institutional strengthening.
• To develop a strategy to engage the support of Regional Support Offices and National Focal Points in contributing to capacity building and institutional strengthening through the use of space-based information technology.

Imaging Notes Magazine. In order to further the effective use of space systems in support of human security, Secure World Foundation has continued its partnership with Imaging Notes magazine. Copies of the Spring issue of the magazine can be found at the table outside this room. It is also available on line [https://www.imagingnotes.com]. I encourage delegates to consult the Imaging Notes website for information on the applied use of remote sensing systems throughout the world. We would welcome articles that highlight your country’s efforts in making use of Earth observing systems to serve human security.

4. Planetary Defense: Promoting a unified international policy approach to protection of our planet from the threat of near Earth objects (NEOs). NEO International Analysis and Warning (IAWN) Workshop. During the June 2009 UNCOPUOS Plenary Session, Action Team-14 recommended a workshop to discuss the makeup and responsibilities of an IAWN entity. Secure World Foundation offered to work with the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) and with CRECTEALC in organizing a workshop for January 2010, which was hosted by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The workshop brought together 22 experts from several countries. The group spent 2.5 days working through a series of scenarios designed to highlight the challenges and problems that an eventual IAWN could face and thus begin the process of defining what
the IAWN should be.

The workshop produced a number of recommendations, including the range of capabilities and expertise that would be necessary to include in an IAWN, the need to leverage existing disaster management and emergency response communication channels and interfaces,
and an effective public information campaign on the risk and public expectations and warnings. The report also discussed possible institutional models and implementation strategies. An executive summary with these recommendations and areas for further research and discussion was presented to the meeting of Action Team-14 and the Working Group on Near Earth Objects during the February 2010 STSC.

Finally, this year we have recognized the need to improve the functionality and information content of our website, in order to provide better access to our fact sheets, policy briefs, reports and staff publications. As a result, we are now in the process of completely revising our website. We hope to have this new website available for viewing by this coming September this year and I invite you to visit it.

Concluding remarks

In conclusion, Secure World Foundation is dedicated to maintaining the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples. It acts as a research body, convener and facilitator to advocate for key space sustainability and other space related topics and to  examine their influence on governance and international development. The Foundation believes that the challenge of sustaining the space environment into the future must be dealt with in a truly international manner.

Secure World Foundation strongly supports the work of COPUOS. As the benefits of space activities expand and improve, keeping outer space available for peaceful activities will become ever more important. As we move into the last half of the first hundred years of the space age, the world community has a unique opportunity to safeguard the secure and sustainable use of the space environment. We look forward to continuing to support the Committee’s efforts to achieve such a future.

Many thanks.

Dr. Ray A. Williamson, Executive Director, Secure World Foundation, [email protected].