Program
Technology and International Affairs
Carnegie Space Project

Carnegie’s Space Project seeks to facilitate international cooperation to assure the continued security, viability, and sustainability of commercial, civil, and defense activities in Earth orbits.

Satellites in Earth orbits—such as remote sensing capabilities that support environmental monitoring or position, navigation, and timing networks that map our daily commutes—constitute critical civil and military infrastructure. Yet despite the inextricable importance of space-based services to everyday life, pervasive debris and disagreement about acceptable behaviors in space threaten the long-term security and sustainability of human activities in Earth orbits.

The Carnegie Space Project seeks to examine the implications of intensifying competition among space powers, develop a roadmap for international cooperative risk reduction in space, and facilitate responsible and sustainable progress on space governance.

The project focuses on two core issues:

Orbital Debris: Debris in Earth orbits—whether produced accidentally or created as a result of deliberate actions—poses a significant challenge to the continued use of space for scientific, economic and security purposes. Our project seeks to incentivize and secure commitments to significantly diminish, if not eliminate, creation of new space debris, and to validate responsible practices for removing orbital debris.

Enhancing Space Situational Awareness: Space situational awareness (SSA) is vital for effective international use of space orbits, yet there are neither current nor binding guidelines to regulate on-orbit behavior amid the rapid growth in space activity. Our project will identify approaches to improve SSA solutions, including commercial, international, or public interest-based platforms for space object registration and surveillance to support transparency and reinforce accountability.

All nations benefit from reducing risks in space. As a public interest organization with a global presence and network, Carnegie mobilizes international actors to explore merits of alternative approaches to mitigate debris and improve space situational awareness. We collaborate with commercial actors, key states, specialized insurers, industry organizations, and other interested stakeholders to identify incentives and design methods to improve operational predictability in space.

Satellites in Earth orbits—such as remote sensing capabilities that support environmental monitoring or position, navigation, and timing networks that map our daily commutes—constitute critical civil and military infrastructure. Yet despite the inextricable importance of space-based services to everyday life, pervasive debris and disagreement about acceptable behaviors in space threaten the long-term security and sustainability of human activities in Earth orbits.

The Carnegie Space Project seeks to examine the implications of intensifying competition among space powers, develop a roadmap for international cooperative risk reduction in space, and facilitate responsible and sustainable progress on space governance.

The project focuses on two core issues:

Orbital Debris: Debris in Earth orbits—whether produced accidentally or created as a result of deliberate actions—poses a significant challenge to the continued use of space for scientific, economic and security purposes. Our project seeks to incentivize and secure commitments to significantly diminish, if not eliminate, creation of new space debris, and to validate responsible practices for removing orbital debris.

Enhancing Space Situational Awareness: Space situational awareness (SSA) is vital for effective international use of space orbits, yet there are neither current nor binding guidelines to regulate on-orbit behavior amid the rapid growth in space activity. Our project will identify approaches to improve SSA solutions, including commercial, international, or public interest-based platforms for space object registration and surveillance to support transparency and reinforce accountability.

All nations benefit from reducing risks in space. As a public interest organization with a global presence and network, Carnegie mobilizes international actors to explore merits of alternative approaches to mitigate debris and improve space situational awareness. We collaborate with commercial actors, key states, specialized insurers, industry organizations, and other interested stakeholders to identify incentives and design methods to improve operational predictability in space.

paper
Promoting International Cooperation to Avoid Collisions Between Satellites

It is impossible to sustain a thriving space sector, both now and for future generations, without systematically addressing the risks of collisions between objects in orbit.

· September 20, 2023
In The Media
in the media
China’s Space Dream Is a Legal Nightmare

More broadly, without a demonstrated commitment to common guidelines, these actions will breed uncertainty among the spacefaring community and create opportunity for misinterpretation and mistrust, which could escalate to crises or outright conflict between states.

· April 21, 2023
Foreign Policy
In The Media
in the media
Space Debris Expert: Orbits Will Be Lost—and People Will Die—Later This Decade

The United States could take the lead in developing a circular space economy, one that focuses first and foremost on the prevention of pollution through minimizing single-use satellites and rockets.

· December 14, 2022
commentary
India’s Space Priorities Are Shifting Toward National Security

Intensifying security concerns, especially over China, likely will be a major driver of New Delhi’s space goals in the coming years.

  • Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan
· September 1, 2022
commentary
The Quad Needs More Than Bilateral Agreements to Achieve Its Space Goals

The Artemis Accords can serve as a starting point.

· May 20, 2022
REQUIRED IMAGE
In the Media
An Inflection Point for Space

To make expansion into space a boon for human development, sustainability, and peace is an extremely tall order: humans don’t have precedents for the necessary political-economic conditions.

· May 9, 2022
Issues
commentary
How Governments Should Address the Increasing Risks of Satellite Collision

Riskier launch operations may hasten the danger of orbital debris.

· April 11, 2022
commentary
The Dangerous Fallout of Russia’s Anti-Satellite Missile Test

Russia’s anti-satellite missile test has heightened the risk of dangerous collisions between objects in space. International norms are urgently needed to prevent future tests like this and to keep Earth’s orbits as safe as possible.

· November 17, 2021
commentary
What Is the Pentagon’s New Guidance on U.S. Space Policy?

The U.S. Department of Defense has outlined new tenets to guide its behaviors in space, potentially signaling a change in how the Pentagon thinks about space.

· July 28, 2021
commentary
Reducing Risks to Space Systems: Recommendations for the UN Secretary-General

Three recommended steps for Member States of the United Nations to take in support of norms, rules, and principles of responsible behaviors to reduce threats to space systems and support sustainable uses of outer space.

article
Space Is a Great Commons. It’s Time to Treat It as Such.

The failure to manage Earth orbits as a commons undermines safety and predictability, exposing space operators to growing risks such as collisions with other satellites and debris.

article
Solid Ambitions: The U.S.–South Korea Missile Guidelines and Space Launchers

Revisions to the U.S.–South Korea missile guidelines open a new era in Seoul’s space ambitions, but their consequences for regional security are limited.

· August 25, 2020