CSPS Creates New Senior Advisory Council

“The addition of the council further strengthens the center as a critical resource to our customers and the entire space community,” said Steve Isakowitz, Aerospace president and CEO. “We’re excited about the support and guidance it will provide as part of our vital efforts to shape the future of the space enterprise.”

The council works as strategic advisers to the center’s research agenda and reviews individual projects. The current members are:

• Vice Adm. Manson Brown, USCG (Ret.)
• Carissa Bryce Christensen
• The Honorable Madelyn Creedon
• Adm. Cecil Haney, USN (Ret.)
• Lt. Gen. Larry James, USAF (Ret.)
• Maj. Gen. Susan Mashiko, USAF (Ret.)
• Col. Pamela Melroy, USAF (Ret.)

“We’re honored to have these luminaries supporting CSPS, who were each handpicked to offer us insights across the spectrum of space activity,” said Jamie Morin, the executive director of the Center.

As part of their first meeting, the Council was briefed on two newly released CSPS policy papers. The first paper, On-Orbit Assembly of Space Assets: A Path to Affordable and Adaptable Space Infrastructure, surveys the new on-orbit assembly paradigm and provides a roadmap toward reconfigurable space fleets. Authors Danielle Piskorz and Karen L. Jones discuss how the ability to build and reconfigure spacecraft on-orbit could overcome key limits imposed by building spacecraft on the ground and then launching them to orbit.

“We found that one important enabling step could be for the industry to establish and adopt standards for common interfaces, particularly in the areas of mechanical, electrical, power, thermal, and data subsystems,” said Jones. Piskorz added, “The best time to develop or adopt such standards is before key participants become too heavily invested in their own proprietary technology, because common standards lower barriers to entry and can encourage innovation.”

The second paper, Assurance through Insurance and On-orbit Servicing, examines the interplay between on-orbit servicing and the satellite insurance market. Author Rebecca Reesman, analyzes how repairing and upgrading components via on-orbit servicing could potentially revolutionize how satellites operate in space.

“On-orbit servicing could extend service life for aging satellites and could change the way the industry views risk and develops mission plans,” said Reesman. “For example, the technology could have big implications for the satellite insurance market. The insurance underwriting process depends on various factors, including the operating environment, new technologies, and business plans.