SWF Focuses on Space Traffic Management and Small Satellites at 2016 AMOS Conference in Maui

Monday, September 26, 2016

 Brian Weeden (left) moderates a panel discussion on space traffic management.

SWF staff once again contributed significantly to the 2016 Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference, held in Maui, Hawaii, Sept. 20-23, 2016. For the fifth year in a row, SWF actively participated in the Policy Forum held that was held at the beginning of each day of the conference. This year, the Policy Forum featured a keynote speaker followed by a panel discussion on a policy topic related to space situational awareness (SSA).

The first day of the conference featured keynotes from Major General David Thompson, the Vice Commander of Air Force Space Command, and Mr. Doug Loverro, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. Following the keynotes, SWF Technical Advisor Brian Weeden moderated a panel discussion on space traffic management (STM) with: Mr. Stephen Earle, Space Traffic Lead at the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST); Dr. Josef Koller, Space Policy Advisor at the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Mr. Myland Pride, Director of Government Affairs at Intelsat General; and Dr. Doug Hendrix, co-founder and CEO of ExoAnalytics. The panel gave a summary of the status of the current discussions in the USG on giving responsibility for civil SSA to the FAA/AST, the potential role of commercial satellite operators in establishing norms of behavior, and the opportunity for commercial SSA to contribute to STM.

The second day of the conference featured a keynote from Mr. Frank Rose, the Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance at the U.S. Department of State; and Mr. Atsushi Saito, Director of the Space Policy Division at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Following the keynotes, Mr. Mike Wasson, Senior Director Operations with Analytical Graphics Inc., moderated an International SSA Operator Exchange. The panel included: Lt Col Scott Putnam, Commander of the 18th Space Control Squadron, U.S. Air Force; Lt Col Rafal Borek, Chief of Section, Defence Projects, Polish Space Agency; Lt Col Steffan Neumann, German Space Situational Awareness Center; and Wg Cdr Rayna Owens, Commander, Royal Air Force Fylingdales.

During the afternoon on the second day, SWF partnered with the Maui Economic Development Board to hold the fourth-annual AMOS Dialogue in Maui, a small, invitation-only workshop to foster dialogue on SSA policy issues. The focus of this year's Dialogue was small satellites, and in particular steps that both small satellite operators and SSA providers can take to improve detection, tracking, identification, and conjunction assessment for small satellites.

On the third and final day of the conference, the keynote presentation was from Dr. Jordi Puig-Suari, Professor at Cal-Poly University and Co-Founder of Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. Following the keynote, Mr. Pat Patterson from Utah State University Space Dynamics Lab moderated a panel discussion on small satellites and SSA featuring: Jordi Puig-Suari; Dr. Tim Flohrer, Space Debris Analyst from the European Space Agency; Dr. Bhavya Lal, Research Staff Member, IDA/Science and Technology Policy Institute; and Ms. Diana McKissock, SSA Sharing Cell Lead, 18th Space Control Squadron, U.S. Air Force.