Commercial satellite operators that are part of a non-profit organization called the Space Data Association (SDA) are in discussions with insurers to see what value they might find in operators using their own space data, which is information gleaned from tracking space debris that could damage satellites.
SDA Chairman and Executive Director Ron Busch, who is also vice president of network engineering for Intelsat [I], told Defense Daily on Oct. 15 after a Capitol Hill presentation that he’s talked to a couple of “large insurance companies” to see if insurers find value in SDA since he said the space data provided by satellite operators is better than what the Defense Department is using for operator data through its Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC). Operators and the Defense Department use space data to minimize the risk of collisions.
Bush said his discussion have been “on and off” for the past few months. Using space data provided by operators would lead to better analysis and a lesser chance of collision, Busch said.
“It’s not that JSpOC data is ‘bad,’ it’s just ours is more precise,” Busch said in a follow-up email.
JSpOC-operator U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) said they couldn’t comment by press time.
Operators are looking for ways to better protect their multi-million dollar satellites from space debris collisions after the Air Force decided to shut down its legacy VHF Fence, or Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS), due to budget cuts. VHF Fence was officially phased out Oct. 1.
The Air Force has plans for a new, next-generation space surveillance system called Space Fence that will primarily track objects in low earth orbit (LEO), but initial operational capability (IOC) for Space Fence is not expected until 2018–a five-year surveillance gap. The Space Fence award, being pursued by Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Raytheon [RTN], is expected to be awarded in the spring of 2014 and worth potentially $3.5 billion.
SDA said on its website that members receive secure, reliable and immediate access to accurate information and analysis that greatly improves operations for conjunction assessment, RF interference and geo-location support and authoritative contact information for a given space object. It also said members can be assured of following industry best practices for mitigation of operational risks, while at the same time, reducing the workloads by automatically passing space data to the SDA’s Space Data Center (SDC).
The SDC is operated by a third party service provider called Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI)
For better or for worse, Busch said insurers could adjust their rates based on an increased use of SDA’s own data. Insurers could decide that the SDA’s data is, indeed, more precise than DoD’s and possibly reduce rates, but they could also become skittish on satellites operators increasing reliance on their own space data and increase rates. Or they could do neither and hold rates flat.
SDA was founded by operators Inmarsat, Intelsat and SES. Other members include Eutelsat, Amos-Spacecom, DigitalGlobe [DGI], Space Systems Loral (SSL) and Telesat.
The Capitol Hill panel, hosted by the Space Foundation, discussed the need for the United States to improve its space situational awareness (SSA), or its ability to track space debris. Representatives on the panel from both Lockheed Martin and Raytheon said their companies submitted fixed-price proposals for Space Fence.