TOWARD AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION TO HANDLE A SUSTAINABLE SPACE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH OF ICSO

摘要

Since two decades, the UN-COPUOS and IADC have set the current standards for Space Traffic Management, the registration rules, the debris mitigation guidelines, with some limitations. Recent initiatives have been launched to tackle this issue (CONFERS, UN Sustainability in Space Index...) Many states are bound by the existing international treaties and some of them have even adopted and implemented national laws and regulations. Space usual business is now getting accelerated: private massive constellations, in-orbit tugging, in-orbit servicing, in-orbit manufacturing and assembly (several parts from different countries into a single spacecraft), space resources exploitation (orbits, planets, asteroids) and space situational awareness move to private companies are raising issues that need quick and pragmatic answers. Sustainable Space Traffic Management is becoming a humankind concern. As mentioned in the IAA Space Traffic Management study, one can make a parallel with existing worldwide organization such as International Telecommunication Union, International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization. Discussions and workshops are already existing between UNOSA and ICAO. First part of this paper will give some inadequacies of current STM, Second part will present various options, ideas and proposal for an International Organization Third part will detail what could be the scope of such a Space Civil International Organization (ICSO), as a five level structure: 1. Maintenance of the technical rules (IADC heritage) 2. Registration and access to space permit delivery (enhanced UN registry) 3. Space Access fees collection. Funding for STM, enhanced SSA, and ADR could come from different sources of revenue: general government revenues and end-users of satellite services fees 4. Traffic awareness and control, which imposes a common situational awareness, above the national policies, starting with voluntary data exchanges, then the aggregation of