13th IAASS Conference

“Building a Safe, Secure, and Sustainable Space”

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Prague (Czech Republic)

8-10 October 2024

INTRODUCTION

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The International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering international cooperation and scientific advancement in the field of space systems safety, security and sustainability. IAASS is a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and Permanent Observer at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The association, established in 2004, exists to help shaping and advancing an international culture of space safety and security, which would contribute to make space travel, vehicles, stations, extra-terrestrial habitats, equipment and payload safer and secure for the general public, ground personnel, crews and flight participants. The association also promotes terrestrial and planetary environment protection during space missions, and the establishment of a global framework for space governance.

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The 13th IAASS Conference “Building a Safe, Secure, and Sustainable”, is an invitation to reflect and exchange information on a number of space safety, security, and sustainability topics of national and international interest. The conference is also a forum to nurture mutual understanding, trust, and the widest possible international cooperation in the peaceful, responsible, and shared use of space. The once exclusive “club” of nations with autonomous space access capabilities is becoming crowded with a growing and diverse number of players. Commercial spaceports are an ever-growing reality. In the human spaceflight arena, a commercial market has become a reality with government and private use of commercial services for cargo and crew transportation to orbit and beyond. Space bound systems and aviation traffic are more and more sharing a crowded airspace, while aviation is increasingly relying on space-based safety-critical services. Finally, most nations own nowadays space assets, mainly satellites of various kinds and purpose, which are constantly under potential non-voluntary and voluntary threats. The complex problem of identifying and mitigating cyber threats to space systems requires a comprehensive, integrated, and systematic approach to protect space assets and critical services. Awareness is increasing internationally, as solemnly declared since decades in space treaties, that space is a mankind asset and that we all have the duty of caring for it. Without proactive and courageous international initiatives to establish an international regulatory framework for space governance we risk negating access and reliable use of space to future generations.

 

The 13th IAASS Conference will in addition to plenary and splinter sessions dedicate a set of panel sessions to the discussion of four topics which require better attention in space programs: International Space Governance, Aviation Safety During Space Launch and Re-entry Operations, Space Traffic Management, Safety on Long Duration Space Exploration Missions, Need for a Unified Space Safety Regulatory Framework in Europe.

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Become an IAASS Member

Find out more information on the IAASS website

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Cover photo:  NASA