The 70th International Astronautical Congress – IAC 2019, to take place from October 21 to 25 in Washington D.C., will feature a Plenary on the topic of “The Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space: Advancing the Space Economy and Sustaining Space Industry Through Solutions to Space Security Issue” on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, from 08:30 to 09:30 a.m.
This plenary addresses the fact that humanity has become increasingly dependent on space capabilities and space-enabled services, thereby making commerce, the human condition, and “normal daily life” vulnerable to any significant disruption in the functioning of space assets. As such, space must be managed thoughtfully and protectively. Communications, Broadcast, Earth Observation, Navigation, Positioning, Timing, Weather Forecasting are all essentials of modern life and modern commerce, and of course are all now dependent on value that is being created by assets located in space.
The democratization of space has led to a growing number of active spacecrafts and inactive objects in orbit. With the advent of mega constellations, this number is likely to double within the next decade increasing the probability of collisions and complicating space traffic management.
The panel is composed by a group of leading experts who have dedicated their careers in industry and also government to advancing space technology for the protection and security of humankind. Given the extreme breadth and scope of this domain, including both the inputs and the outcomes affected by it, the panel will address the full spectrum of legal, policy, economic, and technical aspects of space security from a global perspective. International panellists will discuss a spectrum of views on effective cooperation in space and the long-term sustainability of the space environment.
