The Aerospace Corporation and the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) led the annual
International SSA/STM Policy Exchange on 13 April 2026. This invitation-only event was held in
conjunction with the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The session was cohosted by the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and the Space Agency of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luftund Raumfahrt (DLR).
The six desired outcomes were to; 1) Strengthen international cooperation and information exchange regarding space traffic by providing the status and plans for TraCSS, EU SST, and other commercial and international initiatives that have the potential to support spaceflight safety and sustainability; 2) Identify persistent policy barriers to closer international spaceflight safety coordination and information sharing, categorize recurring policy issues, (e.g., security/cultural, technical, bureaucratic, educational) and begin to collectively prioritizing and strategizing ways to overcome or bypass such barriers; 3) Identify where more-or-less equivalent space safety-related legal requirements, regulations, and obligatory standards exist or are emerging, and identify areas where together the most progress can be made quickly in overcoming complex issues that emerge from different approaches and areas of emphasis; 4) Discuss international policy solutions for bringing into the fold inexperienced and nonexpert satellite owners and operators; 5) Provide updates on current activities and progress by international, governmental SSA/STC/STM stakeholders.
The enduring goal of the annual International SSA/STM Policy Exchange is to provide an opportunity to develop and advance relationships and promote transparency among a community of key international SSA/STM policymakers and industrial actors as well as to share and explore relevant opportunities and challenges among domestic agencies/ministries and transnational entities. The exchange built upon the key findings from the 2025 SSA Data Operator Exchange workshop held in September 2025 during the AMOS Conference.
