Conceptual Development of a Civil Space Traffic Management System (CSTM) Capability

Mark Skinner, The Aerospace Corporation

Keywords: space situational awareness, space traffic management

Abstract:

In support of a possible transition of the space safety aspects of space situational awareness activities from the US Department of Defense to a US civil agency, The Aerospace Corporation has been working to develop a possible test bed of space traffic management concepts. As a starting point, we have considered an enumerated set of “guiding principles” for a civil space traffic management system with the ability to provide state-of-the-art space flight safety services to commercial and foreign satellite operators as a public good. The considered concept, a system of systems, would be innovative and maximize the use of existing and new commercial offerings for data, analysis and operations. Open and transparent by design, the “learning” organization would allow for rapid upgrade cycles of technology. Operating cooperatively with existing and potentially new space situational awareness architectures, both foreign and domestic, the system resources would ensure the protection of sensitive information. 

Date of Conference: September 11-14, 2018

Track: Poster

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