The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy released a report that examines potential space-related security norms that would serve the interests of both commercial and military entities and analyzes how commercial actors can contribute to their development and implementation. This report, titled Commercial Normentum: Space Security Challenges, Commercial Actors, and Norms of Behavior, presents three possible threats to commercial satellites and space activities to consider when establishing these norms:
- Collateral damage from attacks on military objectives;
- Attacks due to misidentification or misinterpretation of a commercial activity; and
- Deliberate targeting in war.
Author Robin Dickey, a space policy and strategy analyst, notes that commercial actors tend not to participate in discussions related to security issues in outer space yet urges them to do so. She proposes three styles of approaches to consider:
- Protect all civilian/commercial assets;
- Protect all essential space services; or
- Protect only those commercial satellites that do not provide military services.
Dickey acknowledges that simply establishing norms for space activities will not guarantee that commercial satellites will be immune to military attacks or collateral damage. Norms “should not be the only approach to mitigating potential threats. However, they can be an important piece of the larger puzzle.”
For more information, check out HSDL’s In Focus on Space Policy and National Security, or you can also explore some of the several documents related to space security.
