• Promote responsible, peaceful, and safe use of space;
• Provide improved U.S. space capabilities;
• Partner with responsible nations, international organizations, and commercial firms;
• Prevent and deter aggression against space infrastructure that supports U.S. national security; and
• Prepare to defeat attacks and to operate in a degraded environment

• Mr. Todd Harrison, Director for Defense Budget Analysis and Senior Fellow with the International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Dr. Peter Hays, Adjunct Professor, George Washington University
• Dr. Joan-Johnson Freese, Professor for National Security Affairs, U.S. Naval War College
• Dr. John Sheldon, Chairman and President, ThorGroup GmbH
• Mr. Brian Weeden, Technical Advisor, Secure World Foundation
• Moderator: Ms. Victoria Samson, SWF Washington Office Director

Space activities are becoming more globalized. Today, more than sixty countries operate one or more satellite in space, and virtually all countries depend on space for some combination of national security, social, and economic benefits. There are an increasing number of space actors as a result.  Furthermore, countries with existing space programs are also expanding their space activities into new sectors. At the same time, the world is seeing a boom in private sector activity in space, driven by the commercialization of technology and increasing availability of capital. 

As these new government and private sector actors enter into the space domain, and existing actors push into new areas, they face both challenges and opportunities. The growing use of space applications is helping address a greater number of challenges on Earth, while expanding commercial activity is leading to increased innovation and the potential development of new capabilities and lower costs. At the same time, new private sector actors face a steep learning curve for understanding regulatory requirements and safe space operations, and countries face challenges in putting in place national law and policy. 

In conjunction with its project to develop a Handbook for new Actors in Space, SWF held a luncheon panel discussion on May 10, 2016, in Washington, DC, to examine the challenges and opportunities facing new actors in space. Panelists provided a range of governmental, international, and private sector perspectives on their experiences, the obstacles they face and efforts to address these challenges. 

More information, speaker bios, and presentations can be found on the event page on the SWF website.

• Mr. Jean-Michel Eid, Managing Director, Space Partnership International, LLC (SPI)
• Dr. Rich Leshner, Director of Government Affairs, Planet Labs
• Mr. Philippe Moreels, Head of Strategy and Business Development, ASTROSCALE
• Dr. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, Senior Fellow and Head of the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative, Observer Research Foundation (ORF)
• Ms. Laura Delgado López, Project Manager, Secure World Foundation (Moderator) 

As the domestic and international community discusses and implements policy and legislation focused on space resource rights, this panel will focus on identifying legal, policy, and business implications of that activity. The discussion will focus on practical considerations related to the development of space resources-related regulatory frameworks and their relationship to both commercial development and international commitments.

On May 5, 2016, SWF and the Alliance for Space Development (ASD) hosted a panel discussion in Washington, DC, on "Asteroids, Mining, and Policy: Practical Consideration of Space Resource Rights" to discuss these issues. 

For further information, speaker bios, and presentations please see the event page on the SWF website. Speakers:

• Kenneth Hodgkins, Director of Space and Advanced Technology, U.S. Department of State
• Peter Marquez, Vice President for Global Engagement, Planetary Resources
• Jim Dunstan, Founder, Mobius Legal Group
• Christopher W. Ingraham, Senior Legislative Assistant, Office of Congressman Jim Bridenstine (R-OK)
• Moderator:  Ian Christensen, Project Manager, Secure World Foundation

Space security is an increasingly important issue, and one that

On April 14, 2016, the Secure World Foundation hosted an

For further information and speaker presentations, please visit

Moderator: Dr. Michael Simpson, SWF Executive Director.

Our continued ability to get benefits from space assets will be interrupted if spectrum is not responsibly protected.  This issue is coming up more and more often, particularly so at meetings last November in Geneva for the World Radiocommunication Conference and as policymakers look at the future of GPS and other positioning, navigation, and timing systems.  As the U.S. government takes on the mantle of looking at how its space assets can overall be more resilient, spectrum protection is a key part of this discussion. 

This lunch-time panel will examine what major issues could potentially affect spectrum availability and utility over the near term and discuss what policies and/or legislation could help with those challenges.  

For further information and speaker bios, please see the event page on the SWF website.

Moderator: Ms. Victoria Samson, SWF Washington Office Director.

Recent multi-stakeholder discussions have highlighted the limited awareness on spectrum-related issues and their impacts within the broader Earth observations community, and the challenge of capturing the extent of reliance on potentially impacted programs and systems.

Sponsored by the Secure World Foundation, this morning panel event seeks to raise awareness of the risks facing the frequency bands used for meteorological purposes within the international GEO community, discuss opportunities for improved routine engagement between the relevant stakeholders, particularly at the regional level, and examine ways to communicate the impact of spectrum management decisions on the delivery of critical information services to policymakers. 

For further information and speaker bios, please see the event page on the SWF website.

Moderator: SWF Executive Director Dr. Michael Simpson

Speakers:

Recorded September 22, 2015

Like many other sectors of space activities that were once "government only," the notion of privately owned and operated space stations is no longer science fiction. Within the next decade, it is likely we will have a scenario where there are multiple commercial and government space stations on orbit, with a mix of multiple government and private customers and a mix of government and commercial transportation services going back and forth. Such a scenario holds both incredible opportunity and a number of significant challenges to resolve.

This panel discussion brought together experts from civil society, industry, and the U.S. government to discuss what this future may look like, and what economic, policy, and regulatory challenges need to be overcome along the way. 

For further information and a copy of the presentations, please see the event page on the SWF website.

Moderator: Mr. Ian Christensen, Project Manager, Secure World Foundation

Speakers:

This event was recorded on March 27, 2015.

On Friday, March 27, 2015, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the Secure World Foundation (SWF) hosted a luncheon panel discussion from 12:00pm to 2:00pm EST on  “Challenges In Sharing Weather Satellite Spectrum With Terrestrial Networks” in Washington, DC.

In order to meet the growing demand for wireless broadband connectivity, the U.S. government is developing strategies to share radio frequency spectrum between federal and commercial users. Spectrum historically reserved for broadcasting meteorological satellite data to users from the current generation of polar-orbiting satellites was recently auctioned nationwide by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for over $2.4 billion. Federal regulators are now studying additional bands that may be shared in a future spectrum auction, including those currently used to download weather data from NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and for the future GOES-R series.

If GOES downlink spectrum is selected for sharing, there is a possibility of radio frequency interference between the new terrestrial commercial broadcasts and the existing satellite broadcasts that may render the satellite-received data unusable or degraded. Such interference could have significant impacts on the GOES-Variable (GVAR), GOES-R GOES Rebroadcast (GRB), the Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) -  which is used to support first responders around the country, High-Rate or Low-Rate Information Transmission (HRIT or LRIT), as well as relay of hydrometeorological data from the GOES Data Collection System (DCS), used for monitoring and warning of floods.

A panel of experts discussed these issues, including the motivation for the sharing, potential impacts to end users of any interference, and options for mitigating potential interference.

Speakers

Presentations

Recorded March 23, 2015

Although some may consider the two to be at odds with each other, international law has a direct impact on military activities in both peacetime and during conflict. International law defines what constitutes an armed attack, the right to national self-defense, and the limits on use of force during an armed conflict consistent with the Geneva Conventions.

Over the last several decades, legal scholars and military practitioners have clarified the rules of international law applicable to military activities in several domains. This includes the Harvard Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare, and most recently the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare. However, to date there has not been any significant attempts to clarify how international law applies to military activities in space. 

The panel discussion provided an overview of international law as it applies to military activities, and examples of how it has been clarified in certain domains, such as air and cyber, or for certain types of weapons, such as autonomous systems. It also examined the current status of international law as applied to military activities in the space domain, and potential benefits of further clarifying the existing norms and interpretations.

Speakers:

Wing Commander Duncan Blake, Royal Australian Air Force

Mr. Gary Brown, Head of Communications, Washington Delegation, International Committee of the Red Cross

Dr. Cassandra Steer, Executive Director, Centre of Research in Air and Space Law, McGill University

Dr. Peter Hays, Adjunct Professor, George Washington University

Moderator: Mr. Brian Weeden, Technical Advisor, Secure World Foundation

Recorded January 27, 2015

The Arctic region is changing rapidly, allowing for new opportunities to learn more about this remote area, use it to expand economic development, and build off it for national security and political benefits. However, there are challenges involved in ensuring that there is assured access to the Arctic, monitoring the physical changes it is undergoing, using the Arctic in a sustainable manner, and creating a stable environment for a region that could be the site of disputed land claims.  Space plays an important role in monitoring conditions in the Arctic and in enabling the management of resources there. Given that the United States will assume the chairmanship of the intergovernmental Arctic Council in April, this panel discussion examined the implications of changing Arctic conditions and how space can help improve understanding of and mitigate the disruption from those changes.

For more information, please visit the event page.

Speakers