Our modern world relies heavily on space technology to make Planet Earth a more comfortable, safe and efficient place to live but, as many of us in the industry are aware, there is an increasing threat to these benefits. Spacecraft collisions, anti-satellite testing, space weather, and debris all threaten the safety of our orbits, especially as we see unprecedented numbers of new spacecraft being launched.
To celebrate our new Slingshot Aerospace International office in the UK, we decided to hold an event with space sustainability and security at its heart, at a round-table held at the US Embassy in London.
Slingshot Aerospace International office in the UK hosted a round-table on ‘Sustainable Orbits, Secure Futures: A Collective Vision for UK SSA’, held at the US Embassy in London.
The event, entitled ‘Sustainable Orbits, Secure Futures: A Collective Vision for UK SSA’, included guests from UK MoD, DSTL and the UK Space Agency and dozens of space companies from both sides of the pond. The aim of the morning was to bring the main actors in the Space Situational Awareness and Space Domain Awareness side of the industry, to the table to discuss how we work together to protect space for good.
Attendees took the opportunity to challenge one another, identify where we want to be, and how we can collectively get there. We discussed licensing, regulation, commercial data for military use, policy, the role of academia, trade agreements, terminology, common operating pictures, and the UK
Government’s Space Industrial Plan.
There was one particular topic I left the round-table wanting to explore more of: how we approach messaging. Both the UK and US are facing election years, with most of us involved in government briefings, think tanks, budgets, media talk-points and strategies. How can we craft an aligned message that drives home the importance of keeping space safe for us all? With many politicians, and their public voters, unaware of just how much we rely on space, I believe it starts with communicating the value of space to our everyday lives. If we can do this collectively, organisations in this domain should receive the ongoing support, investment, and policies we will need to deliver good space for the future.
