The Opening Keynote speaker and SSA (Space Situational Awareness) Policy Forum topics are set for the 2021 AMOS (Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies) Conference to be held on Maui, September 14-17, 2021
Day one of the 22nd AMOS Conference will feature Major General DeAnna M. Burt, Commander, Combined Force Space Component Command, U.S. Space Command; and Deputy Commander, Space Operations Command, U.S. Space Force, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. As Commander of U.S. Space Command’s Combined Force Space Component Command, she leads more than 17,000 joint and combined personnel with a mission to plan, integrate, conduct and assess global space operations to deliver combat relevant space capabilities to combatant commanders, coalition partners, the joint force and the nation. The general plans and executes space operations through four distinct and geographically dispersed operations centers, including the Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB, California; the Missile Warning Center at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colorado; the Joint Overhead Persistent Infrared Planning Center at Buckley Garrison, Colorado; and the Joint Navigation Warfare Center located at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico.
Maj. Gen. Burt entered the Air Force in 1991 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Her career has included numerous satellite operations and staff positions in Air Force Space Command and U.S. European Command. The general has commanded the 2nd Space Operations Squadron, the 460th Operations Group and the 50th Space Wing. She is a graduate and former instructor of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School and a graduate of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Prior to her current assignment, Maj. Gen. Burt was the Director of Operations and Communications, Headquarters Space Operations Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
Presented by Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), the conference organizers look forward to welcoming the SSA community back to Maui after going virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Early registration and demand for hotel rooms has been strong, showing us that people are keen to attend in-person in September,” said Sandy Ryan, Conference Director. “The conference does offer a virtual option with livestreaming of presentations for those unable to travel. On-stage presentations will be combined with virtual presentations and a virtual platform will be available to all registrants.”
SSA Policy Forum
The keynote presentation leads into the SSA Policy Forum which on Day 1 will address “Lessons Learned from Recent Satellite Servicing Missions.” In April 2020, the first commercial satellite servicing mission successfully docked with a satellite above GEO, followed by the second docking in GEO in March 2021; as well, there is a planned orbital debris removal demonstration in LEO in mid-2021. This panel will discuss how existing SSA capabilities were able to monitor and support these recent and planned satellite servicing missions and the lessons learned for conducting future servicing missions and future SSA requirements.
The SSA Policy Forum, coordinated in collaboration with Secure World Foundation, is held each morning of the AMOS Conference and explores international issues related to Space Situational Awareness in a panel format. It brings together the developers and implementers of SSA capabilities and the architects of SSA policy to interact at a time when the landscape is rapidly changing.
On Day 2, the Policy Forum will discuss “Large Constellations and Right-of-Way in Space.” Current practice leaves it up to individual operators to assess the risk threshold for an avoidance maneuver to prevent potential collisions and who will – or should – perform it. But as the deployment of mega-constellations in LEO continues, there will be an increasing number of close approaches between satellites from different constellations or operators with different risk criteria, maneuver protocols, and potentially competing interests. This panel will discuss the right-of-way for satellites and other potential solutions to mitigate this problem and improve the coordination and resolution of close approaches in space.
On Day 3 a panel will explore the “Results of the Recent UN Resolution on Norms of Behavior in Space.” In December 2020, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proposed by the United Kingdom that called on member states to provide their thoughts on threats to space security and proposals for dealing with those threats, including developing norms of behavior for space. This panel will discuss the inputs received from governments and civil society and what it means for future multilateral discussions on space security, and how SSA can help reduce misperceptions and misunderstandings and increase the transparency of space activities.
Moderators and panelists for the forums will be announced in coming weeks. For more than 20 years, Maui’s AMOS Conference has been the nation’s leading technical conference on space situational awareness. Bringing together policymakers and experts from the private sector, academia, the military, and government agencies, the AMOS conference attracts papers and presentations from the world’s foremost scientists working in the near-space arena. Programming includes technical sessions, keynote speakers, policy forums, and technical short courses on topics ranging from space law and collision avoidance, to space debris and the use of machine learning in SSA.
The AMOS conference is preceded by the 4th Annual EMER-GEN® program, a professional development opportunity for students and young professionals enthusiastic about careers in space. The program features mentoring sessions with renowned space specialists, along with professional development sessions designed to enhance the young professionals’ effectiveness in a global environment. A number of pre-event webinars will help the cohort prepare for the on-site program.
Registration is open for both events. Learn more about AMOS registration and EMER-GEN.