Australian Centre for Space Governance’s Post

The Danish national strategy for space research and Innovation is now also available in English. 🚀 Check out it's initiatives on: ✔ 1. Building capacity in Danish research and innovation environments.   ✔ 2. Expanding Denmark’s international role and increasing influence on EU developments in the space sector.   ✔ 3. Translating space research and technology into applications that benefit Denmark’s security, defense, and emergency preparedness, as well as its climate goals, nature, environment, and business sector. #brugrummet https://lnkd.in/dgSPb9Zb

For a limited time, you can download a free PDF of Asia’s Space Ambitions, a multi-author piece just published in 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎 𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑦 by National Bureau of Asian Research. It provides an excellent survey of the space aspirations of several nations. Authors include: myself (US), @lincolnhines (China), Saadia M. Pekkanen (Japan), Rajeswari Pallai Rajagopalan (India), Sangwoo Shin (S. Korea), Brian Gallant & Jordan Miller (Canda), Cassandra Steer (Australia), Hema Nadarjah (Singapore). I was quite honored to be asked to write the piece on US space efforts and plans and to step into the footsteps of the legendary John M. Logsdon who wrote that section the last publication. In 2020 John wrote: "𝘕𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴. Developing those rules, given the nationalistic character of current U.S. space policy, will pose a continuing challenge to international space diplomacy." I conclude with: "𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘜.𝘚.-𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺; it can even be argued that no other policy domain has been as successful for the United States." https://lnkd.in/gi_zGA33

If there is a strategic domain that I am especially passionate about, it’s space🪐. Space-based infrastructure 🛰️ might be far away, but its services permeate our everyday life 💳🪖🌪️🚗. Space is crucial for economic development, navigation, climate security, disaster response – and for stability at large. But not only the dependence is high, so too is the vulnerability. This concerns the physical safety of satellites 🛰️ but goes far beyond. We see conflicts on earth 🌍 increasingly mirrored in and extended to space. What used to be an entirely 🕊️ sphere is now becoming increasingly contested and even militarised. The EU 🇪🇺 and its Member States are committed to preserving space for future generations, and for this we need partners 🇪🇺 - experts, countries & international organisations. One 🔐platform for exchange is the United Nations 🇺🇳 General Assembly, where EU Special Envoy for Space continuously engages. This week, EU & African 🤝partners discussed cooperation on space issues. Special thanks to the European Union Delegation to the United Nations & the Delegation of the European Union to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva for their support! 👏🏻 Our tasks at European External Action Service are vast and so I’m thrilled to have an amazing 🚀 space team led by EU Special Envoy for Space, with Patrick Chatard Moulin Regina Peldszus and many more. Every day, colleagues drive forward our ambitious agenda, creating awareness, tackling challenges and being even more space-obsessed than me: 🚀 WE ENGAGE IN MULTILATERAL FORA 🇺🇳 to call for responsible state behaviour. We need rules – also in outer space. 🇪🇺 diplomatic outreach is 🔑 in 🇺🇳, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) or #UNIDIR, we engage with like-minded and not-so-like minded states. 🚀 WE TURN THE 🇪🇺 SPACE STRATEGY FOR SECURITY & DEFENCE into action: to protect space systems 🛰️ defend interests, deter hostile activities and strengthen our response. We do it in close cooperation with 🇪🇺 Member States, European Commission & its key programmes such as #Copernicus & #Galileo. 🚀 Our team is ON CALL 24/7 to ensure the security of Galileo, the 🇪🇺Global Navigation Satellite System, on which millions of EU citizens depend. 🚀 We CONDUCT JOINT SPACE EXERCISES to be more ready, more prepared, together. 🚀 🇪🇺GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE: we provide operational direction to and work with EU SatCen, our eyes 👀 in the sky, who provide🗾 and analyses to Member States to help decision-making. The same is done for our 🇪🇺 missions & operations as well as partners. Eg, SatCen helped European Union Naval Force - Operation ATALANTA protecting World Food Programme vessels. We also support 🇺🇦 🚀 WE CONDUCT SPACE SECURITY DIALOGUES 🤝 with 🇺🇸🇯🇵 NATO and soon 🇦🇺; we exchange with a large number of like-minded, such as 🇳🇿🇰🇷🇨🇦. Space is part of our Non-Proliferation & Disarmament dialogues with e.g. 🇧🇷🇮🇳🇨🇳 🎥 more:

🎥 Want something to listen to over the weekend? Peter Yeo of the Better World Campaign recently talked with UNOOSA’s Director, Aarti Holla-Maini, about how we, as one of the smallest UN agencies, are punching above our weight to: 🌐 support UN Member States in the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) to develop the global governance of outer space, and   💪 ensure that countries can benefit from space data, services and applications. Check out the interview 👉: https://lnkd.in/dQ992Nb3 #COPUOS2024 "In developed countries, satellite technology is ubiquitous, supporting everything from the internet to our mobile phones. For developing nations, the information satellites provide can be matters of life or death; they guide disaster management and rescue operations, monitor crop yields, measure the impact of climate change, and detect the use—sometimes the abuse—of a nation’s natural resources." - Aarti Holla-Maini

As part of the recently-published CSIS series on space issues for the next Administration, I authored a piece titled, "Strengthening International Governance for Space." This is in addition to two other pieces I coauthored -- one on US leadership and the other on Engagement with China -- which understandably have gotten more initial visibility. But international governance of space is the topic nearest and dearest to my heart, and an area I focused on when I was in government. I hope this article helps to frame current international governance challenges across civil, commercial, and national security space and potential next steps for the next administration. https://lnkd.in/emgEgtrX

In a great example of deepening U.S. and German cooperation on geostrategic and technology-related issues, last week we saw the inaugural U.S.-Germany Space Dialogue. Among other signs of convergence, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the development and implementation of voluntary, non-legally binding international best practices and guidelines to promote the sustainable, safe, and responsible use of outer space.

As Australia gets ready to host the Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum #APRSAF next week, Andre Kwok and I wrote about the opportunity of space technology collaboration as a policy lever. Japan fully understands this opportunity, as the country that initiated #APRSAF and leads the meeting each year, which serves as a form of civil space partnerships in the region, and also serves as a diplomatic tool, a means to reach shared policy ends in the Asia-Pacific region. We advocate for Australia and Japan to elevate their growing bilateral security and civil space relationships for a more resilient and prosperous Asia-Pacific region. https://lnkd.in/eHa3NDG3

Some thoughts on the Lowy Institute with Dr. Cassandra Steer Steer, focusing on mainstreaming civil space partnerships in the Australia-Japan relationship. We looking at space diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region, spanning areas such as regional development, disaster response, and technology collaboration.

Space is now a strategic imperative for Europe