Secure World Foundations sets its agenda for 2009

Secure World Foundation has an action-oriented agenda for 2009, one that is predicated on ensuring space security while maintaining the peaceful uses of outer space.

The year ahead presents both promise and hard work in helping to shape the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples.

In 2009, Secure World Foundation (SWF) is participating as a Permanent Observer in the forty-sixth session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). This key meeting is being held from February 9-20 at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. SWF will also take part in the June 2009 meeting of the full UNCOPUOS meeting in Vienna.

SWF will sharpen its focus on planetary defense and the international policies needed to respond to the threat from near Earth objects (NEOs), spearheading major gatherings of experts at special conferences in Nebraska and in Granada, Spain.

In addition, Secure World Foundation is taking active roles in space policy, space deterrence and space situational awareness – a move toward space traffic management in order to improve the productive use of outer space for all nations. SWF’s global outreach also involves efforts focused on Latin America, Africa and Asia.

SWF is also taking a leadership role in a space security session at the 60th International Astronautical Congress to take place October 12-16 in Daejeon, South Korea.

Internet broadcast

SWF Technical Consultant Brian Weeden and Ben Baseley-Walker, SWF Legal and Policy Consultant, recently detailed the organization’s plans for 2009, as well as discussed issues from space weaponization to space traffic management and the growing problem of orbital debris.

Weeden and Baseley-Walker took part in a special edition of the popular, Internet Radio-based The Space Show, hosted by Dr. David Livingston that aired on January 26, 2009.

That broadcast can be heard here.

SWF is a sponsor of The Space Show, dedicated to presenting timely and important issues influencing the development of outer-space commerce, as well as other space-related subjects.

New approach to space security

Looking back on 2008, Dr. Ray Williamson, SWF Executive Director, highlighted a number of SWF accomplishments, actions that the organization is building upon throughout this year, which included:

-- Attaining Permanent observer status with the UN COPUOS, which will enable SWF to assist the member states in carrying out the COPUOS agenda.

-- Developing key relationships in China and working with Latin American officials on space policy development.

-- Gaining admittance to UN COPUOS Action Team-14 (Working Group on Near Earth Objects), which focuses on finding viable solutions to planetary defense.

-- Establishing a Space Security Committee in International Astronautical Federation, which will help bring these issues to the fore in this important international institution.

-- Partnering with the Vienna-based European Space Policy Institute on a highly successful conference on the Fair and Sustainable Use of Outer Space, November 2008.

"We are very hopeful that the Obama Administration will live up to its intention to take a new approach to space security, one that includes strong efforts on the diplomatic front," said Dr. Williamson.

To see our other press releases, go here.

SWF's Brian Weeden and Ben Baseley-Walker interviewed on The Space Show today

Brian Weeden, Technical Consultant for Secure World Foundation and Ben Baseley-Walker, SWF Legal and Policy Consultant, will be interviewed by Dr. David Livingston on The Space Show today.

According to The Space Show wesbite, topics include: "Secure World Foundation, space situational awareness, space weaponization & militarization, satellite defense. Brian Weeden and Ben Baseley-Walker of the Secure World Foundation presented solid information and strategies for addressing problems around space traffic management and space situational awareness. Our guests were very realistic about the topics discusse. Not only did we talk about space policy and how policy is created, we talked about space weaponization and ways to avoid it, such as the distributive satellite defense. Listeners asked lots of questions about treaties violations, trust and verify, and much more. I believe this to be one of the finest space policy programs ever to appear on The Space Show. Our guests explained how the Secure World Foundation interacts with policy makers in this country and abroad, and how space policy is ultimately decided."

The interview can be heard here.

White House website includes space security issues in agenda

The Obama Administration has been continually updating its website over the past few days. Among the updates are agenda items related to space security, including a reevaluation of national security space:

"The Obama-Biden Administration will restore American leadership on space issues, seeking a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites. They will thoroughly assess possible threats to U.S. space assets and the best options, military and diplomatic, for countering them, establishing contingency plans to ensure that U.S. forces can maintain or duplicate access to information from space assets and accelerating programs to harden U.S. satellites against attack."

The Secure World Foundation will continue to monitor developments from the White House and Congress on matters of space governance.

South Africa to establish a civil space agency - thanks in part to SWF

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has signed the South African National Space Agency Bill into law, which could see South Africa setting up its own space agency later this year to pull together all space-related activities in the country under one banner.

Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation, participated in meetings during 2008 designed to put into place the policies necessary to establish the agency.

SWF meets with John Hickenlooper, Honorable Mayor of Denver, Colorado

Cynda Collins Arsenault, President and co-founder of Secure World Foundation and Phil Smith, SWF Communications Director, met with Mayor of Denver John Hickenlooper on Wednesday, January 14.

The meeting was brief, with the objective of introducing SWF to the mayor, exploring options for partnering and offer our services to the city. Mayor Hickenlooper was gracious to provide us an audience, and was intrigued by the Foundation's vision. He suggested that the Foundation consider participating in the 2010 Biennial of the Americas, Hickenlooper's initiative to have the City of Denver serve as a cultural nexus for North and South America. Biennial of the Americas (website pending) will run about two to three months in duration every two years, and will be a pan-American celebration of ideas and the arts. SWF will explore how it can contribute both to the Ideas Pavilion and the Arts Exhibits. Options include working with CRECTEALC and Canada on advocacy for the secure, sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space.

The Foundation will also work with the mayor's office on the cordination of local non-profits dedicated to a better future for the metropolitan area, the State of Colorado, the nation and, ultimately, the world.

Secure World Foundation and the Embassy of Canada sponsor "Reaching Out: A New Approach to Security in Space"

On January 8 from 10AM to noon EST, the Secure World Foundation and the Embassy of Canada will co-sponsor a panel discussion based on work done to support the Space Security Index. The discussion, called “Reaching Out: A New Approach to Security in Space,” is intended to offer a new vision of security in space, and explore opportunities to achieve it. The event will take place at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC.

The Space Security Index is the only annual, comprehensive and integrated report on trends and activities in outer space and their impact on space security, defined as secure and sustainable access to and use of space, and freedom from space-based threats. The purpose of the Space Security Index is to improve transparency on space activities and support policy development to ensure secure access for all. It also facilitates dialogue on space security challenges and potential responses. It has become an indispensable tool for debate and decision making among stakeholders and policy-makers.

The Space Security Index is produced by a research consortium that includes Project Ploughshares, Secure World Foundation, the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University, the Simons Centre for Disarmament and Non-proliferation Research at the University of British Columbia and the Space Generation Foundation. It is financially supported by the Government of Canada, the Ploughshares Fund, Secure World Foundation and The Simons Foundation.

Earth and Space Security: Progress and Challenges Ahead

The coming year presents challenge and promise for the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples.

In 2008, significant steps were taken for the cooperative and effective use of space for the protection of the Earth’s environment and human security.

Those actions help build a bridge to 2009 to better deal with a host of space-related topics, from coping with hazardous space debris to ensuring the peaceful uses of outer space, as well as using space systems to protect and preserve Earth's environment.

"In our search for a secure world, we face many challenges and opportunities in 2009," said Cynda Collins Arsenault, President and co-founder of the Secure World Foundation. “Many issues loom in the foreground – the economy, the environment, poverty, health care, etc. In our interconnected world we can no longer understand or approach these problems in isolation…nor can we solve them with polarized views."

Arsenault observed that studies, articles and reports abound with dire predictions for 2009. But among the bigger stories are multitudes of examples of good news – signs of cooperation, new ideas, and greater efficiency. "Many of these are enabled by our space assets and the knowledge gained from them," she said.

Problem solving
For the coming year, Arsenault added, there are a number of practical problems to face, and strive for solutions to those issues– from menacing orbital debris, ever-crowded orbits, and the lack of sufficient governance mechanisms for problem solving.

"We can learn from what's worked and what hasn't worked on Earth to apply our best ideas in space to create a secure and sustainable environment," Arsenault said.

The Secure World Foundation (SWF) spotlights progress in 2008 on several fronts:

-- The work underway by the Association of Space Explorers, which has flagged the danger to the planet from incoming asteroids, organizing a series of workshops to identify possible institutional mechanisms for dealing with this problem. In 2008 they presented their findings to numerous international bodies including the United Nation’s (UN) Security Council.

-- Consideration by the European Union of a Code of Conduct for outer space activities. Recognizing that a first step for space will be an international agreement on a Code of Conduct for space activities, both the European Union and a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) headed by the Stimson Center spent much of 2008 diligently addressing model Codes of Conduct. These models are being taken to the larger international community.

-- The incoming U.S. Obama administration recognizes the importance of international approaches to global issues, offering new possibilities for moving forward on related space issues in 2009. SWF partners have contributed White Papers on matters related to space governance, which were presented to the Obama transition team and to space-related staff members in the White House Office of Science of Technology Policy and the Department of State.

-- France has convened an informal working group of space experts, governments and industry to develop a set of practical "Best Practices" for the term "sustainability of outer space."

-- Space situational awareness and space traffic management became more visible topics as the satellite industry, military and governments explore better options for keeping their satellites safe from Earth orbiting debris. Representatives from these groups came together this year in Rome where the commercial satellite industry and the Center for Space Standards and Innovation discussed their embryonic effort to create a data center to share satellite tracking data…possibly the beginning of true international civil space situational awareness.

Accomplishments and the year ahead

Dr. Ray Williamson, SWF's Executive Director, highlighted key accomplishments of the Foundation in 2008. These included:

-- Attained Permanent observer status with the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

-- Admitted to UN COPUOS Action Team 14 (Working Group on Near Earth Objects).

-- Established Space Security Committee in International Astronautical Federation.

-- Developed key relationships in China as well as work with Latin American officials on space policy development.

Looking into the coming year, Secure World Foundation is engaged in an action-oriented agenda on space security, partnering with several different organizations to develop new methods of ensuring space security while maintaining the peaceful uses of outer space.

Additionally, among other activities, SWF is focusing on planetary defense and the international policies needed to respond to the threat from near Earth objects (NEOs) conferences in Nebraska and Granada, Spain.

As we look to the future, SWF's Cynda Collins Arsenault asks: "What new leaders will step forward to inspire us in terms of our use of space for problem solving? What new discoveries will be made? What new inventions will open doors?"

Dr. Williamson also noted: "Whatever the future brings, SWF plans to be there to promote the international cooperative use of space for benefit of Earth and all its peoples."

Reporters note:

For more information on a selection of SWF's activities throughout the year, please go to:

Space Situational Awareness: Europe Takes Important Step

Asteroid Threats to Earth – UN Officials Briefed on Need for Global Response

Traffic Management in Outer Space: Call for a Global Civil System

A Code of Conduct for Outer Space – A Step Forward on Managing Satellite Traffic