SHARING SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS DATA Duane Bird Major USAF United S1a1es Stralegic Command The Commander United States Strategic Command CDRUSSTRATCOM accepted responsibility for sharing space situational awareness SSA information services with commercial foreign entities from the US Air Force on 22 Dec 09 fonnerly the Commercial foreign Entities Pilot Program The requirement to share SSA services with non-US Government USG entities is derived from Title 10 United States Code Section 2274 2010 and is consistent with the new National Space Policy US Strategic Command's USSTRATCOM's sharing of SSA services consists of basic services Two-Line Elements decay data and satellite catalog details available on ww v space-track org and advanced services conjunction assessment launch support etc available with a signed agreement USSTRATCOM has requested USG permission to enter into international agreements to enable SSA data exchange with our foreign partners USSTRATCOM recently authorized Joint Functional Component Command for Space JFCC SPACE to share Conjunction Summary Messages CSMs with satellite owner operators whose satellites have been identified as closely approaching another space object CSMs contain vector and covariance data computed using Special Perturbations theory To facilitate the utility of the CSMs USSTRATCOM has and is hosting CSM Workshops to ensure satellite operators fully understand the data contained in the CSM in order to provide an informed recommendation to their leadership As JFCC SPACE matures its ability to accept ephemeris data from a satellite operator it will be necessary to automatically transfer that data from one security level to another USSTRATCOM and Air Force Space Command are coordinating the integration of a cross domain solution that will allow JFCC SPACE to do just that Finally USSTRATCOM is also working with commercial and governmental organizations to develop an internationally-accepted conjunction assessment message The United States Government USG specifically the Department of Defense has been integrating data from diverse sources for decades In recent years more and more commercial entities have been integrating our data into their operations whether to use General Perturbation GP Two-Line Elements TLEs to perform a rudimentary form of conjunction assessment CA or to provide a new app for the iPhone for the longest time the USG was one of the few organizations able to fund and conduct space surveillance using optical telescopes and various types of radar Unfortunately despite decades of experience tracking objects in space we had not matured either our equipment or our processes to the point that we were able to prevent the Iridium-Cosmos collision about 18 months ago As a result there arc two belts of debris orbiting our planet today and for years to come As space has become more congested and budgets have shrunk the need to integrate data has increased Fortunately the number of organizations who have developed or are developing space situational awareness SSA capabilities including analytical tools has also increased FROM COLLISION TO SSA SHARING AGREEMENTS As a result of the collision United States Strategic Command USSTRA TCOM conducted an internal review of our CA processes We made changes to our internal procedures acquired additional computational capability and increased the number of analysts In the latter half of last year Congress passed legislation allowing USSTRATCOM in essence to provide SSA services and information to and obtain SSA data and information from non-USG entities our SSA mission partners In the legislation there are two restrictions on sharing SSA information First the mission partner must agree in writing to pay an amount that may be charged and secondly they must agree not to transfer any data or technical information to a third party without prior approval We address the first requirement in the agreement by clearly stating that SSA services are available at no charge It's not right to charge satellite owner operators o o for data that will enable them to keep their satellite from breaking into hundreds or thousands of pieces further polluting the final frontier The second requirement is also stated clearly in the SSA Sharing Agreement We address requests for third-party sharing on a case-by-case basis using the Orbital Data Request ODR Once an agreement is signed Joint Functional Component Command for Space JFCC SPACE can start working with our newest mission partner exchanging data as agreed We currently have 16 mission partners who collectively operate over 230 payloads in various orbits At a minimum an agreement enables us to screen routine maneuvers to ensure an o o doesn't maneuver into a conjunction Signing an agreement also allows o o to tailor their CA notifications to fit into their ops tempo and their comfort zone Out space light safety is in everyone's interest so in conjunction with the lawyers we've established emergency CA criteria EMERGENCY CA CRITERIA When this emergency CA criteria is violated Ve have legal authorization to contact any o o regardless whether they have signed an agreement For an active satellite above low-Earth orbit we currently notify the o o ifwe predict their satellite will approach within 5 kilometers km of another orbiting object in the next 72 hours For an active satellite in low-Earth orbit we will notify the o o if we predict it will approach within 1km overall miss distance of another orbiting object AND within 200 meters in the radial direction in the next 72 hours Seventy-two hours is not much time to analyze the data decide on a maneuver plan and execute that plan but that' s the criteria We've considered re-engaging the legal team but that idea has been prioritized lower than other issues we're currently working One of those is to develop a validated list of contact info for 100% of the o o so the conjunction warning will get to them as close to 72 hours prior to Time of Closest Approach TCA as possible We're only missing contact info for - 70 of the -1000 active satellites Unfortunately our Department of State at the request of a handful of governments is serving as a middle-man Instead of us sending these warnings directly to the o o they send it to the US embassy in that country who then forwards it to the host nation who then passes it on to the proper agency or organization So the 72-hour warning time is eaten into by not having direct contact More on the data we share when a conjunction is identified in a minute but first let me explain a little about the two types of data used in the Joint Space Operations Center JSpOC GP vs SP DATA In January of last year the JSpOC was screening fewer than 200 of the -1100 active satellites for conjunction assessment purposes those 150-200 were considered to be the highest priority for conjunctions by the US Department of Defense DoD Today due to enhancements in the computational capabilities and improved internal processes the JSpOC screens 100% of the active satellites using its most accurate data known as Special Perturbation SP data SP numerically integrates the equations of motion including all necessary perturbing accelerations The SP accelerations available include gcopotential atmospheric drag lunar-solar gravity direct solar radiation pressure constant in-track duration thrust and solid Earth and ocean tides thus making SP data much more accurate for CA purposes than the GP data GP data is computed using the Simplified General Perturbations Version 4 SGP4 theory SGP4 computes the average path of the satellite through space and is reasonably accurate for long periods of time However it docs not have the inherent physical and mathematical modeling to be considered accurate enough for predicting conjunction assessments SCREENING AGAINST THE ENTIRE CATALOG GP data is that which is available on space-track org and is further redistributed by popular websites such as Heavens Above CelcsTrak and some others GP data has been published to the internet for many years However it was never intended to be used to perform conjunction assessment But it's the only data available so what happens ifan o o were to use it to conduct CA A couple months ago an o o notified us they had just completed a maneuver of their satellite to avoid a piece of debris based on GP data Fearing that we may have failed to identify a conjunction or failed to notify an operator we quickly screened that satellite against the entire SP catalog including the - 6 000 analyst satellites those objects that we track but can't catalog because we don't know which launch they came from The results of that screening did show a close approach but not close enough to warrant an emergency notification to the operator So from our perspective the maneuver was unnecessary valuable fuel expended That's one bad example but we know other o o who use a GP screening to alert them to potential close approaches in advance of the 72 hours emergency notification The JSpOC uses the SP theory to perform all CA screenings and they screen against all man-made objects we're tracking including those not publicly shared As 1 mentioned there arc - 6 000 objects some of which arc classified others we have not collected enough data to catalog yet that we screen all the active satellites against DATA NOT ACTIONABLE Iler identifying a conjunction that meets the emergency CA criteria the JSpOC notifies the o o with basic orbital data on the pending conjunction to include common name time of closest approach overall miss distance and the component miss distances Many o o claimed that was not enough data to tell whether the close approach was high probability or not In addition they had no idea what kind of maneuver magnitude or direction would increase the miss distance In May we began sharing the error in each of the component directions while we were staffing a better solutio n Within the first two weeks we received feedback from one o o stating that that additional in formation prevented them from conducting two maneuvers - saving fuel for another day With only this basic data on the conjunction olo are forced to submit maneuver plans to be screened one at a time to see which maneuver would provide a satisfactory miss distance It's kind of like playing Marco Polo For each maneuver plan submitted the JSpOC provides updated data AND whether the maneuver might cause a subsequent close approach so the o o could determine which maneuver was most favorable We knew that wasn't the optimal solution Meanwhile we were staffing a permanent fix to the problem CONJUNCTION SUMMARY MESSAGES This past July we finally implemented the fix that is we were able to start sharing detailed Conjunction Summary Messages for the two conjuncti ng objects However the approved distribution method is not as simple as sending an e-mail to the o o like we do with the basic data Because of the sensitivity of this SP data and our desire to share SP data only with the effected o o we post the CSMs in a private area of space-track org To be able to access these detailed messages o o create an account and provide us a list of satellites with which they can execute an avoidance maneuver We then link the account to that listing of satellites so only the o o can access CSMs for their satellites As of I Sep we are sharing CS Ms with o o for -50% of the active satellites If you know of a satellite operator not currently receiving these detailed messages the CSMs please contact USSTRATCOM J3 I or the JSpOC - it is our intent to share CSMs with ALL o o From our perspective it's the best way to prevent another collision in space CSMs contain the position and velocity vectors of the conjuncting objects as well as the covariance matrices or error ellipsoids for both objects Having worked with some owner operators to automate the process of receivi ng the CSMs we hope to make them available in XML very soon INCORPORATING EPHEMERIS FROM SATELLITE OPERA TORS Although the JSpOC uses its best data to calculate whether two objects are approaching too closely or not if those particular objects have not been tracked recently maybe due to weather or maintenance at a sensor that satellite's predicted position may be off a bit from its actual position One way to improve the accuracy of the positions of the objects is to collect observations from other sensors In the case of active satellites most satellite o o have highly accurate positional data on their own satellites In some cases that data is more accurate than the SP data calculated based on the most recent observation Some o o have already made their data available to us We're currently testing a capability for o o to simply upload one ephemeris file to the website containing ephemeris for their entire constellation Our analysts will download the file and upload it to be screened for conjunctions Although this process will minimize the data transfer time it is still not as automated as we'd like Over the past couple years technology has improved to such a point that it is conceivable for us even though we're the DoD and not particularly swift at upgrading our capabilities to automatically ingest o o ephemeris within the next year Another unique capability we have is the ability to screen two ephemeris files against each other Although not frequent it's not inconceivable for us to identify a potential conjunction between two active satellites Besides putting the two organizations in touch with one another in that situation we can screen a proposed maneuver by one entity against a proposed maneuver of another entity With the data from the CSM the o o has all the information they need to avoid the other object So their only concern is that they don't maneuver into another piece of debris To ensure that doesn't happen they send that one maneuver plan to the JSpOC where it is screened against all other potential conjunctors including the -6 000 not posted on the website CSM WORKSHOP II Back in July we hosted a CSM Workshop in the Washington DC area Our intent was to have our orbital analysts lead a discussion on the CSM and field questions from the flight dynamics personnel from satellite operators T he JSpOC briefer began the workshop with an overview presentation on the JSpOC mission areas of which Ci is only one although a very important one The next briefer provided a line-by-line explanation of the data fields of the CSM AFSPC then covered how we use o o ephemeris and how receiving ephemeris from more o o would improve the accuracy ofour conjunction warnings NASA gave two presentations the Goddard briefer explained hO v they have used the JSpOC's data to develop a risk assessment tool for NASA's robotic missions and the NASA Johnson representative provided examples on how they use JSpOC data to decide whether to maneuver the shuttle and or ISS The workshop was so successful that we are having another one the week of 18 October at the European Space Agency's ESA's Operations Center in Darmstadt Germany We're primarily inviting European and Asian satellite operators to the October workshop However we are considering hosting a third workshop probably back in the States in the spring timeframe for those unable to attend the first two The intent of these workshops is very simple to educate satellite operators on the contents of the CSM so they can provide a fact-based recommendation to their company or government on whether they should maneuver their satellite or not weighing the cost and risk as only the o o can do I think we can all agree that it's not in the interest of any nation for another collision to pollute the space environment An argument could be made that because of how dependent the US is on satellites that we would suffer the greatest from another collision So I guess you could say that we're being selfish by trying to ensure all o o make educated decisions about close approaches using the best data while walking that line between transparency and security INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR CONJUNCTION MESSAGES But there's more to avoiding a collision than merely identifying the close approach in enough time to conduct a maneuver We' ve got to communicate the message from the JSpOC to the o o Part of that is having valid contact info for each o o but an equally important part is the o o understanding the data in a timely fash ion In recent years the benefits of developing international standards for space data have become more prevalent Recently we began working with the Consultative Committee on Space Data Standards and next month I'll be presenting a concept paper at their semi-annual meeting proposing that we develop an international standard for conjunction messages As I mentioned earlier Orbit Data Messages such as the Orbital Ephemeris Message the Orbital Parameters Message and the Orbital Mean-Elements Message have already been accepted as international standards Don' t be surprised if you see OMMs posted on space-lrack org alongside the TLE data Over the next couple months we will be working with commercial and governmental organizations also interested in a standardized conjunction message Within the next couple years we hope to see a Conjunction Assessment Message CAM added to the list of orbit data messages already accepted as international standards In addition there is some talk about collaborating on a Launch Conjunction Message in the future as well · A WORK IN PROGRESS Despite periodic upgrades to the space surveillance network using the most accurate data and screening those objects not shared publicly occasionally our data is not as accurate as we would like For example for several days after launch we reported a satellite was still in its geosynchronous transfer orbit when in actuality it had already proceeded into geosynchronous orbit In this case the JSpOC did not request data from the o o which could have prevented us from posting inaccurate positional data Internally we had been tracking the satellite in geosynchronous orbit as an analyst sat one of the 6 000 not posted and were able to correct the error a ler several days of reliable tracking As I mentioned this situation could have been prevented had an operator at the JSpOC contacted the o o and requested ephemeris As a result of this situation we have modified our procedures to ensure JSpOC operators understand they can contact the o o in the future Any time a launch takes place it takes several days of observations from a variety of sensors for our analysts to properly catalog the pieces To facilitate that process we encourage all o o to let us know some basic information about the upcoming launch like how many pieces they expect to be in orbit when the stages are scheduled to separate what trajectory they plan to use etc By working with us we can catalog the objects correctly sooner and in the event something goes v rong provide essential data to assist in anomaly resolution WAY AHEAD The US Air Force recently reaffirmed its commitment to replace the hardware known as the Space Defense Operations Center SPADOC computer and the Astrodynamics Support Workstation ASW currently in use at the JSpOC with the acquisition of the JSpOC Mission System JMS With the incremental delivery schedule we hope to start seeing infrastructure improvements in the next year Over the next five years we expect to make orbital information available to others net-centrically by implementing a service-oriented architecture at the JSpOC In addition we have high hopes for new sensors such as the Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite whose launch date is less than two weeks away Other new sensors include the Space Surveillance Telescope located in the desert southwest of the United States the Space Fence a major acquisition program for two or three S-band radars that should increase our ability to track small objects and decrease the time it takes to catalog an object particularly those in the manned spaceflight orbit We also hope to increase our international ties as other countries bring new telescopes radars and satellites to bear and to incorporate data from existing sensors already operating even though they are not part of the space surveillance network Despite having integrated diverse data for years we have our work cut out for us But please don' t think that procuring new hardware is the only way to succeed We' re also looking at ways to work smarter with the existing resources we have For example we' re looking to determine if the way we' re tasking the sensor network is as optimally as possible We're also interested to see just how accurate our conjunction assessment predictions are and how we can accurately inform an o o how accurate our data is In fact we' ve recently conducted an informal study with some friends from ESA and are looking into some interesting research other analysts are conducting By sharing data we hope to learn ways to tackle this problem from a different perspective We' re also looking at smarter ways to identify on-orbit conjunctions - maybe our screening volumes should be larger or based on something other than a pure miss distance Finally now that USSTRATCOM has the authority to sign SSA Sharing Agreements with commercial organizations expect our JS directorate to be contacting commercial satellite operators The services we can provide include conjunction assessment and launch support both tracking and launch CA but also anomaly resolution re-entry or de-orbit support disposal end-of-life support and electromagnetic interference resolution We hope to be given the authority to sign agreements and start sharing data with other governments as well but the process to get that authority from our government has not been completed yet CLOSING In summary the last 18 months have brought on vast changes in the way we conduct and share SSA Many decades-old policies have been changed as a result of rationally questioning why the policy was originated In some cases we have re-looked at security issues and decided the risk of not sharing the data out-weighed the risk of sharing it Just like I could not have predicted a year ago that we'd be sharing CSMs developing an international standard and accepting o o ephemeris from commercial operators I don' t know what we'll be doing this time next year but ifwe continue working with o o both foreign and domestic space will continue to be a safe frontier for all into the next generations