INTRODUCTION The International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (www.iaass.org) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to furthering international cooperation and scientific advancement in the field of space systems safety. IAASS is a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). The association exists to help shape and advance an international culture of space safety (technical, organisational and socio-political) which would contribute to make space missions, vehicles, stations, extraterrestrial habitats, equipment and payload safer for the general public, ground personnel, crews and flight participants. The association will also pursue a culture of safeguarding the on-orbit environment to allow unimpeded access to space by future generations.
The fourth IAASS Conference "Making Safety Matter" is an invitation to reflect and exchange information on a number of topics in space safety of national and international interest. The once exclusive “club” of nations with autonomous sub-orbital and orbital space access capabilities is becoming crowded with fresh and ambitious new entrants. Commercial spaceports are being planned and built, while some of the old ones are changing hands from government to private and commercial management.
In the manned spaceflight arena a commercial market may start finally to emerge with personal spaceflight and (government) demand for private cargo transportation services to orbit. Besides the national ambitions in space, the international cooperation both civil and commercial is also gaining momentum. The man who may one day land on Moon or Mars will probably carry a single international flag. In the meantime the robotic space exploration will accelerate and with it the need to internationally better regulate the necessary usage of nuclear power sources. Space bound systems and aviation traffic will share more and more a crowded airspace, while aviation will increasingly rely on safety-critical services based in near-space. Finally, most nations own nowadays important space assets, mainly satellites of various kinds and purpose, which as for human missions are under the constant threat of collision with other spacecraft and with the ever increasing number of space debris. Without proactive and courageous initiatives we risk to negate access and use of space to future generations. Awareness is increasing internationally (as solemnly declared since decades in space treaties) that space is a mankind asset and that we all have the duty of caring for it.
The fourth IAASS Conference will in addition dedicate a set of specialised sessions to two topics which need to get better attention in space programs: Atmospheric Re-entries Safety, and Safe and Rescue Interoperability. Space objects re-entry risk for the public on ground and travelling by air and sea will continuously grow in future thus requiring the development of advanced methods for mission-end planning and risk assessment. Instead the increasing number of countries operating autonomous human spaceflight systems, should lead to the development of interoperability capabilities to allow mutual aid in emergencies.
These special sessions will provide participants insight, innovative strategies and open discussion into these important aspects of space safety. |
