Mariel Borowitz, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Cristina Pérez Hernández, Spanish Space Agency (AEE); Matt Hejduk, Aerospace Corporation; Aurelie Gillet, European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST); Monique Moury, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES); Pascal Faucher, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES)
Keywords: EU SST, TraCSS
Abstract:
The number of spacecraft in orbit is growing rapidly, providing critical communications, Earth observation, global navigation, and other services to people on Earth. At the same time, the space sector is seeing new entrants and new technologies being developed. This increased activity benefits the global economy and national security, but it also results in increased congestion in orbit and an increased potential for accidental collisions. Such collisions would end the missions involved and generate debris that could pose a risk to other spacecraft. To ensure the safety and sustainability of this environment, it is essential that global spacecraft operators have reliable access to spaceflight safety services.
The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) and the United States Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) programs were created to fulfill this need. Both systems provide space situational awareness (SSA) services free of charge to spacecraft owner/ operators around the world. The goal of both organizations is to support spaceflight safety and sustainability. Both organizations also work closely with the commercial SSA industry, leveraging commercial data and/or capabilities in their government systems and encouraging the commercial SSA sector to provide services that augment government-provided SSA safety services. EU SST and TraCSS recognize that for spacecraft operators to effectively use the government services and for commercial SSA providers to develop their market strategies, they require a clear understanding of the services that will be provided free of charge by the government. This study, carried out by officials from EU SST and TraCSS, aims to provide that clarity. It describes the services provided by each of the programs and analyses similarities and differences among them.
Overall, the study finds that the services provided by EU SST and TraCSS are largely in alignment, particularly with respect to in-orbit collision avoidance services. There are some differences, such as U.S. screening of candidate maneuvers related to routine maneuvering, and anomaly reporting. In some areas where differences exist today, the systems may be more aligned in the future; the EU currently provides a re-entry service, while the U.S. plans to provide such services in a future phase of the program. Similarly, the U.S. will provide SSA data and information as a service, and the EU is considering this function for the future. Both systems expect that government service provision will continue to evolve along with the changing needs of the space industry. Therefore, the paper highlights potential services that are currently under consideration or development, such as such as launch collision avoidance and improved owner-operator ephemeris.
EU SST and TraCSS are committed to working closely with space actors around the world to support the continued safe and sustainable growth of the space sector. This study is intended to be one step toward continued transparency and engagement, and the intention is to continue to work together as a global community to achieve these goals.
Date of Conference: September 17-20, 2024
Track: Space Domain Awareness