Towards a Global Command and Control Structure for Planetary Defense from Near-Earth Objects
- Paper number
IAC-06-E3.P.3.03
- Author
Mr. Alexander MacDonald, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Team Cassandra, France
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Humanity is currently unprepared to deal with the most ‘global’ of global security issues – the very real threat posed by near-Earth objects (NEOs). The Earth has been struck repeatedly by asteroids and comets throughout its history as part of the regular, dynamic processes of the solar system that continue to this day. These impacts have caused devastating damage on global and regional scales, and it is only a question of ‘when,’ not ‘if,’ it will happen again. In the last ten years, we have made impressive strides in detecting and cataloguing NEOs. Yet, while our detection capabilities and scientific knowledge have dramatically improved, our ability to make collective decisions, and take concerted action to prevent a potential asteroid impact, has lagged far behind. We still lack an international framework to coordinate information flow and to facilitate collective decision-making when a threat is detected. In short, our planetary defense lacks a command and control structure. This paper is based on the policy recommendations of the report “Cassandra: A Strategy to Protect our Planet from Near-Earth Objects” undertaken by 30 students from 13 different countries during the International Space University’s Summer Session Program in 2006. The paper outlines the legal and political problems inherent in any attempt to deflect or disrupt an impacting asteroid or comet. It will be shown that to solve the collective action problem, these issues require that global consensus and clear definitions of responsibility and liability for mitigations actions must be in place prior to the detection of any threatening object. This paper outlines the need for an International Near Earth Object Committee (INEOC) to achieve such a global agreement. Justification is given for why this INEOC should be established as an Inter-Governmental Agreement between nations with active NEO study programs and why it should also be endorsed by the broader international community through the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. This INEOC would serve to focus global discussion on detection coordination, mitigation technique development, and create and implement a command and control protocol. An organizational structure for an INEOC is proposed. The eventual creation of a global command and control protocol for NEO mitigation would be the most important role of the INEOC. The current incomplete command and control structure is discussed with reference to weaknesses exposed during the discovery of asteroid AL00667. An outline of a complete global command and control structure is proposed and discussed. Special attention is paid to the leadership role that the United States will need to play in order to create an international protocol for planetary defense from NEOs and why doing so is necessary for the U.S.’s own security. Any attempt at NEO deflection will require international cooperation if not actual programmatic collaboration. As such, it is the current lack of international coordination on NEO programs and policies that requires the most urgent attention for planetary defense. Note: Team Cassandra is - M.Alphonso, L.Appolloni, S.Asturias, J.Bourdon, C.Bui, V.Chouinard, M. Colwell, D. D’Udekem, P.Edmundson, A.Flouris, D.Gardien, A.Guest, H.Zhe, H.Jansen, R.Khullar, J.Kwong, A.Lasslop, O.Leonard, L.Dong, J.Lonchard, A.MacDonald, M.Misiaszek, R.Nadalini, P.Reilly, J.Scott, A.Solignac, S.Solomone, M.Stein, A.Trur, Z.Jian
- Abstract document