jueves, 29 de julio de 2010

New Report Asks for US Space Policy Revision

A new report on how America's space plans should look like is currently making the rounds in Washington DC. The document, elaborated by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), argues that the “assured access to space” policy that the US federal government has interpreted as meaning assured access for its own spacecrafts exclusively, should be extended to commercial satellites as well. The paper also suggests that the country would do well to allow for Chinese delivery systems to launch US-built private satellites, Space reports.
 

 
In addition, the document also calls on the US Air Force (USAF) to take a closer look at the relationship it has with the United Launch Alliance (ULA), its main provider of space launch services. The company is a collaborative effort of Lockheed Martin and Boeing Corporation, which formed in December 2006. The new report, entitled “National Security and the Commercial Space Sector,” was released on July 26, and has been undergoing careful scrutiny ever since. Its authors have however steered clear of proposing a clear space agenda of their own.
 
One of the main conclusions the CSIS researchers arrived at is that “commercial access to space is problematic.” In this sense, their work basically reflects a point of view that includes opinions voiced by the US Defense Department, representatives of commercial satellite operators and providers of commercial launch services. Another point the authors make is that the US military needs to revise its position of relying on bandwidth acquired from commercial satellites for its operations. Current estimates show that 90 percent of the bandwidth the Army uses over Iraq and Afghanistan is obtained from such sources.
 
The paper additionally draws attention to the fact that none of the major providers of commercial satellite bandwidth are based in the United States. The largest corporations in the field are Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat, which are all based in countries such as Luxembourg, France and Canada. “ependence translates to vulnerability if access to these vital services can be interrupted,” the report argues.
 

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