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Astroscale Statement on Space Safety Coalition Best Practices Update
The Space Safety Coalition was formed to devise and continuously improve a ‘living’ set of aspirational best practices for the safety and long-term sustainability of operations in space. The Coalition’s membership is inclusive of a diverse set of industry and government satellite operators, launch vehicle and spacecraft manufacturers, SSA companies and other stakeholders, all representing the interests of a wide swath of the global space ecosystem. This dynamic roster of participants is foundational to the success of our work; while achieving consensus is more ambitious than in smaller groups or individual operator commitments, our resulting agreement is that much stronger for it. Astroscale urges all space stakeholders to continue to engage in forums like the Space Safety Coalition.
The pace and scale of developing activity in Earth’s orbits is already unsustainable. In just the few short years since the original Space Safety Coalition (SSC) Best Practices were released in 2019, the urgent need to protect space-based capabilities has been thrown into sharp relief. While this 2023 update to the Best Practices for Sustainability of Space Operations is a momentous step forward for space operations safety, Astroscale believes certain elements within it still merit further improvement and fall short of what we can fully endorse without reservations. Astroscale endorses these updated Best Practices, with three exceptions: clauses 5.a., 7.a., and 8.j.
As a best practice, spacecraft operators should make specific and verifiable commitments to limit the actual, not just the predicted number of derelict objects they produce during their operations. While percentage-based targets for successful post-mission disposal (per clause 5.a) should be incorporated into system reliability analyses, the realized adherence rates to those predictions should also carry weight. Astroscale supports the development of enhanced monitoring and assessment of adherence to post-mission disposal commitments. Further, when applied regardless of system design or size, static percentage-based targets for disposal reliability may disincentivize operators from appropriately scaling their disposal planning measures in accordance with differences in environmental impacts posed by evolving space system designs. Astroscale therefore finds the use of percentage-based targets for probability of successful post-mission disposal alone (per clause 5.a) to be insufficient.
Most importantly, the near- and long-term sustainability of space operations necessitate a thorough approach to quantify and limit risk introduced by operators. Derelict objects are significant contributors to collision risk and are sources of lethal non-trackable (LNT) debris. Astroscale supports the application of aggregate risk metrics to calculate—and regulate—collision risk on a system-wide basis. We therefore find the use of single-satellite collision risk metrics (as applied per clauses 7.a. and 8.j.) to be insufficient.
Though ultimately non-binding, we nevertheless expect our fellow endorsees to enact these Best Practices to the best of their ability, just as they can expect the same of ourselves in our operations. It is our hope that industry-level practices and norms of behavior like these will eventually be incorporated into formal vehicles for sustainable space governance, such as binding national regulation, rulemaking proceedings, license requirements, and technical standards bodies. Steady improvements to practices like these will continue to be necessary as operations in the space domain evolve.
We look forward to further discussion and negotiation among responsible operators to collaboratively improve the state of the art of space operations safety. Together we can usher in a prosperous and vibrant space economy, for ourselves and for generations to come.
Read the Space Safety Coalition’s updated Best Practices here.
