The Air Force hasn’t asked for the money, but Congress should giv...
The Air Force hasn’t asked for the money, but Congress should give the service funds to institutionalize a program commercial satellite operators use to access to A.F. data on location of manmade and natural objects in space, the Satellite…
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Industry Assn. said Wed. Congress mandated the Commercial & Foreign Entities (CFE) pilot. The FY2008 Dept. of Defense didn’t request CFE funds. Satellite operators can’t match the A.F. system used to track objects in space, said David Cavosa, SIA exec. dir. Testifying before the House Govt. Reform National Security Subcommittee, Cavosa said “satellite systems represent a critical infrastructure for the United States, its allies and its trading partners.” Besides funding CFE, lawmakers should “expand the level of cooperation and mutual assistance regarding the conduct of activities in space,” Cavosa said. SIA member companies have been working with the govt. to design best practices for reducing the frequency of orbital collisions or close approaches involving commercial and govt. satellites, he said. Some such practices include requiring “all space- faring governments” to invest in adequate space situational awareness tools and capabilities, and requiring countries to share space surveillance data “to the maximum extent possible, after due consideration to national security and economics,” he said.