In a recent op-ed published by SpaceWatch.Global, Dr. Moriba Jah and his coauthor Colonel Scott Brodeur discuss Russia recent debris-creating test of an Anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon. Dr. Jah is an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at UT Austin and the Lead of the Strauss Center’s Space Security, Safety, and Sustainability Program. Dr. Jah and Colonel Brodeur first remind the readers of the space-based services that are threatened by orbital debris. They then summarize the incident, noting that this destruction of the defunct Russian satellite is estimated to have created over five hundred thousand pieces of orbital debris. After providing these fundamental details, Jah and Brodeur argue that the ASAT test was “wholly irresponsible and unnecessary as it demonstrated a deliberate disregard for the space domain’s sustainability.”
The Strauss Center for International Security and Law is proud to announce the permanent establishment of the Aerospace Policy Solutions, LLC Award in Space Policy, a new endowed scholarship made possible through the generous support of Aerospace Policy Solutions, LLC. The award will provide an annual $2,000 scholarship to an outstanding The University of Texas at Austin student pursuing space policy. The Aerospace Policy...
The University of Texas at Austin has received a $9.3 million seed grant from the Texas Space Commission to establish the Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools, Applications, and Processing (TAP) Lab, becoming the first academic institution to work directly with the United States Space Force to detect, analyze, and counter space-based threats in near real time. Space Security, Safety, & Sustainability...
At the Strauss Center’s “Operational Assurance for All” 12th Annual Space Traffic Conference, Aarti Holla-Maini, head of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, highlighted growing difficulties in contacting satellite operators to coordinate maneuvers and prevent collisions as orbital traffic increases. The conference was recently highlighted in SpaceNews. Holla-Maini revealed that her office intervened twice in the past year...