The Space Policy Show The Aerospace Corporation

As launches to space become more frequent and private spaceports are planned across the globe, how do launchers and regulators work to ensure both range safety and public safety? What are competing authorizing bodies in vastly different environments like US government-owned complexes versus Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch range in Mahia New Zealand? Responsive launch is innovative but at what risk to safety? To answer these questions, Aerospace’s Colleen Stover talks to experts Robert Unv...

The need for in-space rescue of astronauts and other space participants may not be far off. What do current space laws say, and not say, about space rescue? What are analogies in other domains? What technological challenges exist, and what could be done in the meantime? In this episode, Colleen Stover from The Center for Space Policy & Strategy chats with experts thinking about these questions – Dr Grant Cates from The Aerospace Corporation and Dr Jan Osburg from the RAND Corporatio...

Space debris is a growing problem, so what are space actors doing about it? Active Debris Removal is a technology currently being demonstrated and strengthened. The Zero Debris Charter from the European Space Agency is a voluntary, community-led initiative that aims to reduce the conditions that lead to more debris. In this episode, space debris expert and The Aerospace Corporation Technical Fellow Marlon Sorge discusses these efforts with Holger Krag, Head of the Office of Space ...

Safety and sustainability go hand in hand when it comes to protecting the orbital environment for continued use. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) has been informing policymakers and regulators, and performing technical research in this area for the past three decades. In this episode Colleen Stover (Aerospace) talks to Andrew Ratcliffe, Chief Engineer of the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA), about his role at home and as a delegate to the IADC. With 30...

Space safety might start and finish with human safety, but how does safety run across the entire value chain – from launch to operations to reentry? How do norms of behavior, or technology advancements and economic prosperity play into maintaining the orbital environment? How is The Aerospace Corporation’s Space Safety Institute responding to these challenges? In this episode, Aerospace's Dr. Angie Bukley, Technical Fellow, explores these questions with Carissa Christensen, CEO an...

What’s the science behind how space weather affects our satellites and the services they provide? What design and operations options protect satellites and humans in space? Can we really predict space weather and the next “solar maximum”? To find answers to these questions and more, Aerospace's Colleen Stover chats with space weather experts Juha-Pekka Luntama, Head of ESA’s Space Weather Office (European Space Agency), and Dr. Paul O’Brien, Senior Scientist at Aerospace’s Space S...