Protection of the Space Environment: the Advantage of an Interdisciplinary Approach

Paper number

IAC-08.E3.4.2

Author

Mr. Mark Williamson, Space Technology Consultant, United Kingdom

Year

2008

Abstract

The possibility of protecting various aspects and assets of the space environment has been discussed in some detail for many years, but proponents of protection have failed to engage the mainstream space community to any significant extent.  As a result, any broad acceptance of guidelines or policies that might protect or preserve those assets has failed to appear.

The notable exception is the protection of Earth’s orbital resources from a damaging increase in space debris, provided by guidelines proposed by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) and adopted by the UN General Assembly.  Although there are limitations to the effectiveness of these guidelines, the process of proposing and gaining agreement at an international level provides a useful model for extension to other aspects of the space environment, in particular the celestial bodies.

The beginning of the formal process in this regard is marked by the formation of the IAA Commission V Study Group 5.6 on “Protecting the Environment of Celestial Bodies (PECB)”, and the subject of this paper reflects the coverage of chapter 6 of that study.

It is clear from previous work on this wide-ranging subject that there are many different viewpoints of the value of the space environment: scientists, for example, regard it as a subject of study, either remotely or in situ, whereas commercial operators think of it as a resource or asset to be used for financial gain.  For this reason, it would be unwise to allow a single interest-group to judge which parts of the space environment should be protected and which should not.  There are too many vested interests.

This paper investigates the potential advantage of a multidisciplinary approach to the issue, drawing not only on the experience of the space debris community, but also on the analogous efforts of the terrestrial environmental movement.  Although protection of the space environment offers different issues and challenges, the space community is far smaller than its terrestrial counterpart, so targeting the various interest groups should be easier.  What is really needed is an overarching international body to coordinate the use of the space environment in a similar fashion to the ITU’s coordination of radio frequencies and orbital positions.  However, it will need to be buttressed by guidelines and, later, by policies (perhaps even laws) that inform and sometimes restrict the space community’s use of the natural assets of the space environment.

Abstract document

IAC-08.E3.4.2.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-08.E3.4.2.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.