Space policy roundup – Feb.1.2021

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):

International space

Webcasts:

** The Space Show – Sunday, Jan.31.2021James C. Bennett talked about “space policy, commercial space, capital availability, and much more”.

** The Space Show – Tuesday, Jan.26.2021John Mankins discussed “SSP [Space-based Solar Power], his project in Australia and SSP economics and challenges”.

**  Space Café WebTalk – Doug Loverro – 5. January 2021spacewatch. global – News Room – YouTube

In this week’s Space Cafè WebTalk, Doug Loverro, President at Loverro Consulting, Virgina, USA talked about his feature: “Rethinking the Inevitable: Why We Need to Stop Hoping, and Prepare for Space Warfare”, published on SpaceWatch.Global.

For decades the international community has tried, and failed, to achieve agreement on treaties aimed at preventing war in space. From the 1980s “Treaty to Prevent an Arms Race in Space” (PAROS), to the more recent “Treaty on Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space” (PPWT), we have failed to reach agreement on any constraints to war in space and the devastating consequences if it were to occur. Meanwhile several nations continue to develop and test weapon systems to mount space attack. Doug Loverro suggests attacks in space are inevitable and that perhaps we need to rethink our approach.

** Space Café WebTalk – Mahmoud Abu Wasel – 12. January 2021spacewatch. global – News Room – YouTube

In this week’s Space Cafè WebTalk, Mahmoud Abu Wasel, Vice-President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice talked about the new space initiative of the institute.

With the rapid increase in the private sectors race to space and governments attempting to keep up, we are witnessing the new age of the space race – one which will make momentous changes in a shorter time span than ever seen before. But with this new space race, comes the realization that law and justice are crucial to the maintenance and sustainability of our future. The Hague Institute for Global Justice has been operating for a decade on issues at the critical intersection of peace, law, and justice; but with the evolution of the space sector, new issues have arisen that will need to be solved. The Hague Institute for Global Justice has recently launched its space project that will deal with the implementation of law and justice in space, and will act as a platform for peace in all space activities. Mahmoud Abu Wasel spoke on the necessity for the rule of law and justice in space, and shedded details on the issues that lead to the initiation of the new project.

** E49 – Cybersecurity Aerospace Corp – Center for Space Policy & Strategy (CSPS)

** Inclined Orbits, Detecting Change and Having a GPS MomentConstellations Podcast

Listen to Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky, a company using the economics of small satellites to monitor the Earth and bring data down in real-time. Mr. O’Toole discusses cloud computing, high-performance computing, advancements in AI and machine learning algorithms as key enablers to using this data. The CEO describes a recent launch where BlackSky went from lift-off to delivering imagery in 58 hours, an impressive feat. He extols the virtue of AI and machine learning to monitor activities and automatically transport relevant data to customers through a real-time feed. This kind of data will cause an explosion of commercial applications not yet considered or developed, like what happened with GPS when it became available on a phone. Mr. O’Toole conjectures about a next level of convergence around data that is collected and combined from a multitude of source, which in turn leads to better predictive analytics. In addition, he discusses finding the ability to detect emerging events and what their impact can be to our planet, with COVID being a prime example.

** David Walker – How Important Is Culture In Government Operations?Cold Star Technologies – YouTube

David Walker is a past Comptroller General of the United States, professor at the US Naval Academy, former Defense Business Board appointee, and author. He’s on the Cold Star Project to discuss the role of culture in government operations, including with his own experience in the Government Accountability Office and on the Defense Business Board. Host Jason Kanigan asks:
// Defense Business Board //
-what is the purpose of the Board, both the official wording and from your point of view? Do you believe it is meeting that purpose?
-What are some of the projects that you worked on? -what changes or initiatives can the Board make?
-What are some of the biggest business challenges facing the DoD?
-what did your experience as US Comptroller General allow you to bring into the appointment to the Defense Business Board? What perspective do you believe you brought; what were you most “on alert” for?
-what most surprised you in your service on the Board? Was it people- or process-based?
// US Comptroller General 98-08 – 15-year, non renewable term appointment, Government Accountability Office (audit institution, part of the legislative branch) //
-roles like this often don’t have a “rules manual” and you must create the role “your way” as you go. Did you find this to be the case? How did you adapt to the situation if so?
-you have a supposedly non partisan bureaucracy working for you as the GAO. How did you find that and how did information flow to you? What kind of decisions did you make? What were your main accomplishments at GSP?
// America In 2040: Still A Superpower? book //
-tell us about the book and your main premise or argument–reviews talk about “fiscal sanity” and government spending
-We think “America’s fine; we still have all the tools”, but what do you think about the constant underestimation of costs and overestimation of capabilities? eg. USS Gerald Ford setbacks…latest is unable to launch planes, $13B price tag for non-functional platform
-Will America still have the financial power to fund itself as a superpower?
-Do you believe space is an important theater for America to remain a superpower? What are other major security theaters?

** NASA Rio Agreement – Lawrence FriedlNASA Video

NASA and the city of Rio de Janeiro have extended an agreement to support innovative and collaborative efforts to better understand, anticipate, monitor and respond to natural hazards and other impacts affecting the city. The collaboration leverages the unique attributes of NASA’s satellite data and modeling frameworks and Rio de Janeiro’s management and monitoring capabilities to improve awareness of how the city may be impacted by hazards and affected by climate change. Lawrence Friedl is the director of the Applied Sciences Program in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters. More about the agreement: https://appliedsciences.nasa.gov/our-…

** January 27, 2021 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

** January 28, 2021 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

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This brief animation moves between two New Horizons spacecraft views of Arrokoth, the spacecraft’s New Year’s 2019 flyby target in the Kuiper Belt. The 3D effects come from pairing or combining images taken at different viewing angles, creating a “binocular” stereo effect, just as the separation of our eyes allows us to see three-dimensionally. The 3D information from these images provides scientists with critical insight on the object’s shape and structure and, subsequently, origin.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Roman Tkachenko

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