How principles for global information sharing can prevent collisions in space

There are currently thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth, and people around the world rely on them for navigation, communications, weather information, and a host of other applications. With this increasing space activity, the risk of unintentional space collisions increases, and we must take steps to ensure they can continue to operate safely and sustainably.

One challenge for space safety is that, unlike global air traffic or ships at sea, there is no globally agreed system for coordinating traffic in space. Today, satellite operators manage their satellites independently, and there are multiple different sources of relevant safety information.

The first step to enabling space traffic coordination is to develop shared principles for information sharing, as highlighted in the recent briefing paper by the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on the Future of Space. These principles must take into account the responsibilities of the satellite operators themselves, as well as organizations that monitor the location of objects in orbit and warn of potential space collisions – an activity referred to as Space Situational Awareness (SSA).

SSA providers use sensors on Earth or in space to detect and track objects in space, including both satellites and debris. They analyze these observations and other information to generate predictions of potential collisions.

Satellite operators can use these predictions to determine whether and how to maneuver to avoid collisions. However, satellite operators are not just receivers of information—they can also provide their own information to improve the system overall.

Often, satellite operators have precise and timely information about the location of their own spacecraft. Sharing this information with SSA providers can improve the accuracy of collision warnings. Satellite operators can also provide advanced warning of their planned manoeuvres in orbit that would be difficult or impossible for others to predict in advance.

Sharing information about their spacecraft – such as size and orientation – can also improve accuracy. Satellite operators can share contact information to allow quick coordination with other operators in the event of a potential collision.

While information sharing between SSA providers and satellite operators is essential, there is also a need for SSA providers to share information among themselves. Multiple countries and commercial entities operate SSA systems. Each relies on a different set of observations and may use different processes and analysis methods to make predictions. This means that results among these systems may differ.

Coordination among SSA providers can help to avoid the provision of confusing or conflicting information to satellite operators. For example, by sharing collision warnings with each other SSA providers could identify any significant misalignments in these predictions and seek to address these issues. Sharing underlying information, where possible and consistent with national security interests and commercial competitiveness, could help to generate a better-shared understanding of the space environment for all actors.

SSA providers could also repurpose information provided by satellite operators. For example, location information, satellite attributes, or contact information provided to one SSA provider could be shared with other SSA providers.

While SSA providers and spacecraft operators are the key actors with regard to spaceflight safety, broad information sharing can also have benefits for research, public transparency, and entrepreneurship. Researchers and entrepreneurs can use information from SSA providers or spacecraft operators to develop new approaches to space situational awareness, ultimately improving spaceflight safety and leading to new products and services. Information can also be shared broadly to help keep the public informed about challenges related to spaceflight safety and sustainability.

To address this challenge, the World Economic Forum Global Futures Council on Space proposed the following four principles:

Click here for the full briefing paper 'Space Situational Awareness Data and Information Sharing Principles'.