[Senate Hearing 116-579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 116-579

                  SPACE MISSIONS OF GLOBAL IMPORTANCE:
                    PLANETARY DEFENSE, SPACE WEATHER
              PROTECTION, AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                         COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                      SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION
                               __________

                           FEBRUARY 12, 2020
                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation
                             
                             
                [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
                
                              __________

                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
52-660 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2023                   
                


       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                     ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                  ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Chairman
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, 
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                      Ranking
TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               TOM UDALL, New Mexico
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee          GARY PETERS, Michigan
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               JON TESTER, Montana
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
RICK SCOTT, Florida                  JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
                       John Keast, Staff Director
                  Crystal Tully, Deputy Staff Director
                      Steven Wall, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
              Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                      Renae Black, Senior Counsel

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on February 12, 2020................................     1
Statement of Senator Wicker......................................     1
Statement of Senator Cantwell....................................     3
Statement of Senator Gardner.....................................    36
Statement of Senator Scott.......................................    41
Statement of Senator Blackburn...................................    46

                               Witnesses

Thomas Zurbuchen, Ph.D., Associate Administrator, Science Mission 
  Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.....     4
    Prepared statement...........................................     6
William Murtagh, Program Coordinator, National Oceanic and 
  Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center, 
  U.S. Department of Commerce....................................    11
    Prepared statement...........................................    12
Kevin M. O'Connell, Director, Office of Space Commerce, National 
  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of 
  Commerce.......................................................    14
    Prepared statement...........................................    16
Moriba K. Jah, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering 
  and Engineering Mechanics Department, Cockrell School of 
  Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin.................    20
    Prepared statement...........................................    21

                                Appendix

Response to written questions submitted to Thomas Zurbuchen, 
  Ph.D. by:
    Hon. Mike Lee................................................    49
    Hon. Deb Fischer.............................................    49
    Hon. Amy Klobuchar...........................................    50
    Hon. Tom Udall...............................................    51
    Hon. Kyrsten Sinema..........................................    53
Response to written questions submitted to William Murtagh by:
    Hon. Kyrsten Sinema..........................................    54
Response to written questions submitted to Kevin M. O'Connell by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    55
    Hon. Tom Udall...............................................    56
Response to written questions submitted to Moriba K. Jah, Ph.D. 
  by:
    Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    57
    Hon. Tom Udall...............................................    58
    Hon. Kyrsten Sinema..........................................    59

 
                  SPACE MISSIONS OF GLOBAL IMPORTANCE:
                   PLANETARY DEFENSE, SPACE WEATHER
             PROTECTION, AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

                              ----------                              


                      WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

                                       U.S. Senate,
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in 
room SD-216, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Roger F. 
Wicker, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Wicker [presiding], Gardner, Blackburn, 
Scott, and Cantwell.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI

    The Chairman. This hearing will come to order. Welcome.
    This morning's hearing on Space Missions of Global 
Importance will focus on three missions that often do not 
receive the level of attention they deserve: planetary defense, 
space weather protection, and space situational awareness. Our 
ability to prepare for and mitigate asteroid impacts, solar 
storms, and space debris is an important part of preserving 
global commerce, and even human life. Sounds like a movie 
script, but it is reality.
    And here we are, welcoming our panel, today, who will help 
the Committee and the public understand these issues. This 
morning we are joined by: Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate 
Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Mr. Kevin M. O'Connell, 
Director, Office of Space Commerce, Department of Commerce; Mr. 
William Murtagh, Director, Space Weather Prediction Center, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and Dr. Moriba 
Jah, Professor at the University of Texas.
    NASA is the lead agency tasked with detecting and 
monitoring celestial projectiles that could impact Earth. 
Avoiding a devastating asteroid or comet strike requires the 
cataloging of those objects, monitoring them, and developing 
capabilities to prevent an impact. This has been an education 
to me as Chairman of this Committee.
    Thanks to Earth's atmosphere, we rarely notice the impacts 
from thousands of objects hitting our planet every day. 
Fortunately, incidents such as the 1908 Tunguska event, which 
flattened 80 million trees over 2,000 square kilometers of land 
in Siberia, are exceedingly rare. Conservative estimates of 
that kind of event put the explosive force at 185 times 
stronger than the energy unleashed at Hiroshima. And sometimes, 
as our colleagues from Arizona know, the craters left behind 
from these events can become tourist destinations.
    NASA has identified many of the largest near-Earth objects, 
but more work is needed and we have given direction in this 
regard. Congress has previously directed the agency to conduct 
a survey of all near-Earth objects greater than 140 meters in 
diameter. The NASA Authorization Act, reported favorably by 
this committee, would require NASA to launch a space-based 
telescope to facilitate detection. We look forward to hearing 
about the future of NASA's planetary defense mission. The 
Committee's NASA authorization bill also supports efforts to 
study the physics of our Sun and its effects on Earth's 
magnetic field. NASA missions such as the Parker Solar Probe 
contribute to our understanding of the solar phenomena behind 
space weather. NASA's work is complemented by NOAA's Space 
Weather Prediction Center in Colorado.
    Last year, this Committee marked up the Space Weather 
Research and Forecasting Act sponsored by Senators Peters and 
Gardner. This legislation would clarify responsibilities for 
Federal agencies and establish an interagency working group to 
coordinate these efforts. I look forward to working toward 
passage of space weather legislation during this Congress.
    High-energy space weather events can significantly disrupt 
air travel, radio communications, and the electronic devices 
that underpin our digital economy. The committee would benefit 
from the witnesses' testimony on how the United States is 
preparing for these events.
    At the same time, hundreds of thousands of objects in orbit 
are increasingly making space more unforgiving. Over 2,000 
active satellites and over 500,000 pieces of debris larger than 
a marble are currently orbiting Earth. Space situational 
awareness programs and technology to track objects and avoid 
collisions are increasingly important as the private sector 
begins to populate space with so-called mega-constellations of 
hundreds or thousands of satellites to provide connectivity 
around the globe. In response to this challenge, the National 
Space Council, chaired by Vice President Pence, has issued the 
National Space Traffic Management Policy, which directs the 
Secretary of Commerce to take the lead role in providing basic 
space situational awareness data and space traffic management 
services to the public.
    Senator Cruz's Space Frontier Act would help the Department 
of Commerce implement its assigned role by elevating the 
current Office of Space Commerce to the Bureau of Space 
Commerce and designate its leader as an Assistant Secretary. 
This organization change--organizational change would give 
space situational awareness the higher profile it deserves.
    And one more paragraph. The United States has an 
indispensable role in addressing the challenges of planetary 
defense, space weather protection, and space situational 
awareness. We are the world's preeminent spacefaring nation. I 
look forward to hearing from our witnesses as to how we 
construct a policy framework to meet these challenges.
    And I now turn to our Ranking Member, my friend Senator 
Cantwell, for her opening comments.

               STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON

    Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman for holding this 
hearing.
    And welcome to the witnesses.
    I so appreciate having a hearing about the space mission of 
global importance. The space economy, to the State of 
Washington, is tremendously important. It's a $1.8 billion 
economy, and with companies like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and 
Aerojet Rocketdyne, thousands of jobs are dependent on how the 
country continues to move forward in this area.
    The U.S. Government, industry, and citizens are 
increasingly dependent on satellites for a number of critical 
activities, including financial transactions, national 
security, intelligence operations, forecasting of natural 
disasters, and the services provided by in-space assets are 
nearly ubiquitous in our daily lives, from everything from 
Google Maps to weather apps to data from NOAA's satellite 
fleet.
    Satellites are also critically important for improving our 
understanding of climate and how to help monitor our natural 
resources. Many of these satellites aren't owned by a country, 
but, instead, privately operated. The global commercial space 
industry is already worth $385 billion. As I mentioned, in the 
State of Washington it's a big economic impact, and we are 
certainly proud of the long history that we have had with the 
space industry.
    It is critical that we manage space in a way that allows 
that economy to continue to grow. Threats like orbital debris, 
a congested space environment, space and weather, and near-
Earth asteroids all pose a threat to the satellites. Despite 
the potential devastation of satellite collisions, a massive 
space or weather event, or other impact of large asteroids 
impacting Earth, we still don't know enough about these 
incidents and possibilities. So, it is long past time for the 
Federal Government to try to tackle these issues. For too long, 
our science and observations have needed improvements,which is 
why the Committee included a provision in our NASA 
Authorization Act requesting that the administration study new 
funding mechanisms to address missions of national importance.
    Take planetary defense, for example. While cataloging near-
Earth asteroids is critical to safety and even survival, the 
science of detecting these objects isn't at the cutting edge of 
where we need to be. For a long time, the only way a mission to 
detect these asteroids could be funded was by competing with 
other missions in NASA. And we certainly don't want to continue 
to see that happen. Consequently, an asteroid detection mission 
was not approved, because it was not considered high enough on 
the value chain for science. And the government needs to change 
that.
    Our understanding of space weather is still at its infancy, 
and forecasters cannot currently predict with confidence how a 
space weather event will impact life on Earth. And emissions 
from the Sun can disrupt electrical power grids, communication 
networks, and aircraft systems. In 1989, a geomagnetic solar 
storm caused a 12-hour blackout in the entire providence of 
Quebec, Canada. In 2005, solar activity severely degraded 
airline pilot communications over the United States. So, 
infrastructure in the high-altitude regions and such, as in 
Washington State, where we're very vulnerable to space weather, 
NOAA provides space weather warnings for the Nation. 
Unfortunately, some of the satellites NOAA uses for space 
weather forecasts are over 20 years old.
    So, finally, we must tackle the challenge of orbital debris 
and the congested space environment. There are currently more 
than 2,200 active satellites in orbit, and several companies 
have proposed launching new mega-constellations that could push 
that number to the tens of thousands. In addition, there are 
over a half a million pieces of orbital debris, much of which 
is not tracked, and a collision between these could also be 
very problematic. Near-collisions are happening with increasing 
frequency. The United States and other spacefaring nations need 
to improve our tracking of these objects. And today, the Air 
Force provides thousands of notifications of those potential 
collisions, most of which are ignored by the satellite 
operators because they cannot rely on an unpredictable system.
    We need to explore this and think about guidelines that we 
should have for this kind of orbital debris and making sure we 
don't have these collisions.
    We need to dramatically increase our research dollars in 
all of these areas. We need to ensure that agencies like NASA 
can fund missions and operations to improve our understandings 
of these threats and continue to give assessments to--here in 
Washington, to policymakers so we can move forward.
    My constituency is very excited about the future of space. 
I guarantee it. That's why we call it the Space Needle. And we 
will continue to want to push forward on this agenda. There are 
many pioneers there, but we also have to do our job here in 
making sure that we continue to fund the level of research and 
development necessary for us to continue to be leaders in this 
sector.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Senator Cantwell, how long has the Space 
Needle been around?
    Senator Cantwell. 1963 World's Fair.
    The Chairman. You know, it's still pretty special.
    Senator Cantwell. Very special. Very special.
    The Chairman. Impressive to a small-town Mississippi boy.
    So, who wants to go first? Shall we start with NASA?
    Dr. Zurbuchen, you're recognized for 5 minutes. And your 
entire statement--all of your entire statements will be 
submitted to the record. You're welcome----

        STATEMENT OF THOMAS ZURBUCHEN, Ph.D., ASSOCIATE

          ADMINISTRATOR, SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE,

         NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

    Dr. Zurbuchen. Thank you so much, sir. Usually, with my 
last name, I'm last, you know? So, Chairman----
    The Chairman. I know the feeling.
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I know.
    Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members of 
the Committee, I am honored to appear before you today. Whether 
through space weather observations, planetary defense, or 
studying the Earth, NASA science provides tangible benefits 
that help protect and improve life on Earth.
    Our ability to understand and predict space weather is of 
growing importance to our Nation's economy, national security, 
and the safety of our astronauts, too. NASA's role is 
threefold. We enable new understanding of how space weather 
works. We develop new technologies and instruments, and 
transition understanding models and technology for use by the 
operational space weather agencies, NOAA, and the Department of 
Defense.
    NASA is a critical research arm of the Nation's space 
weather effort. We study the Sun, how it influences the solar 
system and affects technology on Earth. NASA has a fleet of 
spacecraft strategically placed throughout our heliosphere, 
from Parker Solar Probe and the recently launched--this week, 
in fact--Solar Orbiter, nearest the Sun to the farthest human-
made objects, Voyager 1 and 2, now in interstellar space to 
provide research data on space weather.
    In preparation for future missions, NASA develops new 
technologies and instruments. For example, NOAA Space Weather 
Follow-on Mission relies, in part, on technologies developed in 
NASA's Research Program.
    NASA's scientists working closely with the Artemis Program 
in Johnson Space Center to support the human exploration of 
deep space. The multi-agency Community Coordinated Modeling 
Center team at NASA Goddard works with NOAA's Space Weather 
Prediction Center to provide data and forecasts to NASA 
Johnson, who can then assess space weather risks to the ISS. 
This experience will help NASA to protect Artemis astronauts 
from space weather impacts at the Moon and eventually on their 
way to Mars.
    NASA also supports improvements in space weather prediction 
models used by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, the U.S. 
Government official resource for space weather forecasts.
    Finally, in coordination with NOAA, we have initiated a 
pilot program to expand the interagency capability to improve 
space weather products and services for research to operations, 
and operations to research.
    The next risk I will talk about is planetary defense. 
NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office is the primary 
group responsible for the coordination of U.S. Government 
efforts to find hazardous near-Earth objects and guide planning 
for the response of any impact threat. This office detects, 
tracks, and characterize NEOs, and coordinates U.S. efforts 
within the national organizations. We fund the NEO Observation 
Programs, the activities of the Minor Planet Center, and the 
JPL Center for NEO Studies. When anyone around the world 
detects a NEO, they voluntarily report the detection to that 
office, which verifies the finding and coordinates follow up 
observations, and makes the data publicly available for study. 
JPL computes high-precision orbits for NEOs that are used to 
predict if a NEO will approach Earth anytime in the next 
century.
    NASA met the congressional goal of discovering 90 percent 
of the NEOs over 1 kilometer in 2011. Now we are focusing on 
NEOs greater 140 meters in size, using ground- and space-based 
capabilities. NASA and our partners have already discovered 
about one-third of the predicted population of these asteroids.
    The 2019 National Academy Study concluded none of the 
considered alternatives is competitive with a thermal infrared 
space telescope, in terms of detection capabilities or cost. 
NASA's current planning is consistent with the goal of 
implementing a NEO surveillance capability similar to the one 
described in that report. In addition, NASA's DART mission is 
scheduled to launch in 2021, will be the first planetary 
defense-driven test of a kinetic impactor technique.
    The United States lead the world in planetary defense, but 
we are not alone. The International Asteroid Warning Network, 
of which NASA is the leading member, is an operational network 
that links together worldwide data processing and analysis 
efforts.
    No discussion of space missions to protect our planet would 
be complete without touching on how we understand changing 
conditions here on Earth. NASA's Earth Science develops new 
observational capabilities and technologies to advance our 
fundamental understanding of how the Earth works and improves 
the lives of citizens in the United States and abroad. NASA 
fosters global observations of our Earth system from a unique 
vantage point of space, unlocking secrets and patterns in our 
changing climate by looking for long-term trends in Earth 
properties by following the National Academy's Decadal Survey. 
NASA plans to provide continued support for the Earth Science 
Division's important work to ensure the vast scientific 
information produced by NASA's instruments can be used by 
decisionmakers across the private sector and the U.S. 
Government.
    Thank you again for the invitation to be here with you 
today. And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Zurbuchen follows:]

             Prepared Statement of Thomas Zurbuchen, Ph.D.,
         Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate,
             National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members of the 
Committees, I am honored to appear before this committee to discuss 
Space Weather Protection, Planetary Defense and how we protect our home 
planet.
    NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) leverages space-, air-, 
and ground-based assets to answer fundamental questions about Earth, 
the solar system and the universe, and our place in the cosmos. Our 
scientists, engineers, and technologists work with a global community 
of researchers to provide the scientific discoveries that advance 
critical understanding and inform decision-making. Whether through 
disaster response, natural resource management, planetary defense, or 
space weather observations, NASA provides tangible benefits that help 
protect and improve life on Earth. At the same time, NASA is leading 
the quest to answer some of the most pressing human questions, among 
them how Earth and the universe evolved, how life emerged, and whether 
we are alone in the universe.
Space Weather
    Space weather is the result of complex interactions between the 
Sun, solar wind, Earth's magnetic field, and Earth's atmosphere. Our 
ability to understand and predict space weather is of growing 
importance to our Nation's economy, national security, and even NASA 
Astronauts. NASA's role in space weather is threefold: we enable new 
understanding of how space weather works, we develop new technologies 
and instruments, and we transition understanding, models and technology 
for use by the operational space weather agencies (NOAA and DOD).
    NASA's Heliophysics Division is a crucial research arm of the 
Nation's space weather effort, coordinating its efforts with NOAA, the 
National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 
and Department of Defense (DoD). This division continues to study the 
Sun, how it influences the very nature of space, the atmospheres of 
planets and in the case of Earth, the technology that exists in low 
earth orbit and on the surface. The extensive, dynamic solar atmosphere 
surrounds the Sun, Earth, and planets and extends far out into the 
solar system. Mapping out this interconnected system requires a 
holistic study of the Sun's influence. NASA has a fleet of spacecraft 
strategically placed throughout our heliosphere--from Parker Solar 
Probe nearest the Sun, observing the very start of the solar wind, to 
satellites around Earth, to the farthest human-made object, Voyager, 
which is sending back observations on interstellar space. Each mission 
is positioned at a critical, well-thought out vantage point to observe 
and understand the flow of energy and particles throughout the solar 
system.
    Several key missions are particularly focused on improving our 
understanding of space weather. The Parker Solar Probe traveling 
through the Sun's atmosphere, or corona, is now joined by the ESA/NASA 
Solar Orbiter mission, providing information about coronal heating and 
the source of the solar wind. The Advanced Composition Explorer along 
with NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory observe the solar wind as it 
travels away from the Sun toward Earth and the other planets. The Solar 
Dynamics Observatory, the Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, 
and the joint ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory all observe 
solar eruptions on the Sun. The Global-scale Observations of the Limb 
and Disk (GOLD) mission and the Ionospheric Connection (ICON) mission, 
launched last year, are improving our understanding of what is 
happening in the ionosphere. Each of these missions provide a different 
view of the complex system that leads to the space weather we 
experience. Looking to the future, the Heliophysics Division is 
beginning to implement the Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC) which 
will study the top-most region of the atmosphere that shields Earth's 
surface from solar radiation. In this region, there are >20,000 objects 
orbiting, including the International Space Station, weather, 
communications, and other operational Government assets. These assets 
may be adversely impacted when exposed to solar and geomagnetic 
activity. For example, solar and geomagnetic activity in the past have 
resulted in degraded communications, GPS positioning errors due to the 
ionospheric disturbances, increased space-to-surface transmission noise 
affecting military monitoring of the north pole region, satellite drag, 
and rerouting of flights due to potential impacts to airplane flight 
crew and passenger health.
    In preparation for these missions, NASA develops new technologies 
and instruments for measuring the effects and processes associated with 
space weather. For example, NASA's historic Parker Solar Probe mission, 
which has already completed four close approaches to our Sun, will 
swoop closer to the Sun's surface than any spacecraft before it, facing 
brutal heat and radiation conditions. The spacecraft will come as close 
as 3.83 million miles (6.16 million kilometers) to the Sun, well within 
the orbit of Mercury and more than seven times closer than any 
spacecraft has come before. To perform these unprecedented 
investigations, the spacecraft and instruments are protected from the 
Sun's heat by a 4.5-inch-thick (11.43 cm) carbon-composite shield, 
which needs to withstand temperatures outside the spacecraft that reach 
nearly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,377 degrees Celsius). The compact, 
solar-powered probe houses solar arrays that retract and extend as the 
spacecraft swings toward or away from the Sun during several loops 
around the inner solar system, making sure the panels stay at proper 
temperatures and power levels. At its closest passes the spacecraft 
must survive solar intensity of about 475 times what spacecraft 
experience while orbiting Earth.
    Through its Artemis program, NASA is accelerating its exploration 
plans and working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 
2024. To meet these objectives, we continue to accelerate development 
of the systems required to ensure success. The Artemis missions will 
send humans beyond the protection of Earth's magnetic field for the 
first time since Apollo, and expose our astronauts and the systems upon 
which they will depend to a potentially hazardous space weather 
environment. NASA's Heliophysics division is working closely with the 
Artemis Program to support the human exploration of deep space, and on 
potential approaches to measure the radiation environment on and around 
the Moon. These measurements would aid in the prediction and validation 
of the radiation environment to which our astronauts will be subjected. 
Looking further in the future to journeys to Mars, NASA astronauts will 
need the capability to autonomously generate their own space weather 
data and predictions. To this end, the Heliophysics Division is working 
with the Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) at the Johnson Space 
Center on possible experiments in cislunar space to develop the science 
and technology needed for such predictions.
    NASA will conduct many more science investigations and technology 
demonstrations on the Moon ahead of a human return through its 
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Several payloads 
among those already selected through this program earlier this year 
will provide data of interest to solar and space physicists, and future 
payloads could include dedicated space weather instruments. The Artemis 
Program seeks to establish a sustainable architecture with our 
commercial and international partners on the Moon and this architecture 
will support a future of scientific research.
    NASA already addresses space weather impacts on astronauts and 
spacecraft while maintaining the International Space Station (ISS) and 
protecting the astronauts living there. The Community Coordinated 
Modeling Center team at the Goddard Space Flight Center works with 
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center to provide data and forecasts to 
the SRAG, who can then assess risks to the ISS. This experience will 
help NASA as it considers how best to protect Artemis astronauts from 
space weather impacts. Space weather events are not only a concern for 
our astronauts and spacecraft; airline travel, communications and 
precision navigation and timing systems like the global positioning 
system (GPS), and the electrical power grid, on which we depend each 
day, can all be impacted by space weather.
    In addition to research missions discussed already, NASA supports 
improvements in space weather prediction models, such as those used by 
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, the U.S. government's official 
source for space weather forecasts. The multi-agency Community 
Coordinated Modeling Center plays a key role in supporting our sister 
agencies by transitioning space research models to space weather 
operations. NASA is also a member of the Space Weather Operations, 
Research, and Mitigation (SWORM) Interagency Working Group run by the 
National Science and Technology Council, which coordinates interagency 
efforts to carry out the actions and meet the objectives identified in 
the National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan.
    NASA's Space Weather Science and Applications (SWxSA) program works 
to effectively support the transition of heliophysics science results 
to applications that enhance the user communities' ability to address 
impacts caused by the dynamic space environment. This activity supports 
interagency space weather efforts and is consistent with the 
recommendations of the 2013 Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics. 
Under SWxSA, NASA competitively funds ideas and products, leverages 
existing agency capabilities, collaborates with other agencies, and 
partners with user communities. NASA established SWxSA in collaboration 
with sister Federal agencies, academia and industry. Recent 
achievements include the award of grants that target research efforts 
to advance science priorities identified by our operational agency 
partner, investments in high end computing and the community 
coordinated modeling center.
    Furthermore, in coordination with NOAA, we have initiated a pilot 
program to expand the interagency capability and improve space weather 
products and services for Research to Operations and Operations to 
Research (R2O2R). Together with NOAA, we are developing a shared 
framework for research to operations, and once we have established an 
effective and efficient process, we will explore the possibility to 
further integrate NSF, DoD, academia and private industry into the 
framework.
Planetary Defense
    NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) is the primary 
group responsible for the coordination of U.S. Government efforts to 
find hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs) and guide planning for the 
response to an actual impact threat. PDCO accomplishes this important 
task by supporting ground-and space-based assets in detecting, 
tracking, and characterizing NEOs, as well as by coordinating U.S. 
efforts for cooperating with multiple international organizations. The 
PDCO funds NASA's NEO Observations Program, the activities of the Minor 
Planet Center (MPC), and the JPL Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS). 
Operating under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union, 
the MPC is the central node for receiving observations from 
observatories worldwide and distributing the most up-to-date database 
of minor planets, comets, asteroids, and other small bodies in the 
solar system.\1\ The MPC operates from the Smithsonian Astrophysical 
Observatory at Harvard University. When any observatory around the 
world detects a NEO, it voluntarily reports the detection to the MPC 
for additional verification and follow-up observations, and makes all 
data publicly available for study. The CNEOS computes high-precision 
orbits for NEOs in support of the PDCO. These orbit solutions are used 
to predict NEO close approaches to Earth, and produce comprehensive 
assessments of impact probabilities of any NEO for at least the next 
century.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    These activities led to the accomplishment of the Spaceguard Survey 
goal of discovering and cataloguing 90 percent of the predicted NEO 
population greater than 1 kilometer in size, which was completed in 
2011. The Spaceguard Survey results determined that there is very 
little probability of a cataclysmic event in the next 100 years from 
NEOs greater than 1 kilometer in size, but discovery of new NEOs in 
this size range continue at the rate of about three to five per year. 
However, risks remain from smaller, undiscovered NEOs that could cause 
regional or localized destruction.
    In 2005, Congress tasked NASA with the George E. Brown (GEB) Survey 
of NEOs greater than 140 meters in size, with a goal of 90 percent 
completion by 2020. Discovery of NEOs greater than 140 meters in size 
is steadily progressing with current ground-, and space-based 
capabilities. Over the past 20 years, NASA, with assistance from 
partners, has discovered, tracked, and catalogued approximately one-
third of the predicted population of asteroids greater than 140 meters 
in size. There are several survey programs supporting this effort, 
including the Catalina Sky Survey, Pan-STARRS, and the NEOWISE project. 
Of the roughly 21,665 Near Earth Asteroids found to date, almost 8,915 
are larger than 140 meters in size, which translates to approximately 
36 percent of the estimated total population of NEOs of this size. A 
2017 updated report from the NEO Science Definition Team (SDT) has 
validated the population estimate with more complete statistical 
analysis and characterized the impact risk from NEOs larger than 140 
meters in size more accurately.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/2017_neo_sdt_final_e-version.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    There also has been increasing awareness that objects on the order 
of 30-140 meters in size pose a significant enough impact hazard that 
they ought not to be ignored. For example, the Tunguska event in 1908, 
which leveled trees over an area of about 2,000 square kilometers, is 
estimated to have been caused by an airburst of an object roughly only 
40-60 meters in size. The airburst over Chelyabinsk, Russia on February 
15, 2013, was caused by a 20-meter sized object exploding in the 
atmosphere. This well-documented airburst is estimated to have caused 
more than $30 million in damages, mostly due to broken windows. Over 
1,600 people reported to hospitals with injuries ranging from 
lacerations from broken glass to concussions and mild burns.
    In June 2018, the National Science and Technology Council Committee 
on Homeland and National Security published the National Near-Earth 
Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan (referred herein as ``the 
Action Plan'').\3\ The Action Plan is a whole-of-government approach to 
managing the NEO threat through all phases of a NEO impact timeline. 
Underpinning the national efforts are five strategic goals:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/National-
Near-Earth-Object-Preparedness-Strategy-and-Action-Plan-23-pages-
1MB.pdf

   Enhance NEO Detection, Tracking, and Characterization 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Capabilities

   Improve NEO Modeling, Prediction, and Information 
        Integration

   Develop Technologies for NEO Deflection and Disruption 
        Missions

   Increase International Cooperation on NEO Preparation

   Strengthen and Routinely Exercise NEO Impact Emergency 
        Procedures and Action Protocols

    The development of the Action Plan included representatives from 
the Department of Homeland Security (including the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency), Department of Defense, Department of State, NASA, 
Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, National Science 
Foundation, Department of Commerce, National Nuclear Security 
Administration, and Executive Office of the President. The Action Plan 
lays out a framework for addressing the variety of NEO impact hazards 
through coordination of U.S. Federal Departments and Agencies that are 
implementing the above goals.
    The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 
(NASEM), at NASA's request, produced the June 2019 report ``Finding 
Hazardous Asteroids Using Infrared and Visible Wavelength Telescopes'' 
\4\ that notes the importance of ground- and space-based survey assets.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25476/finding-hazardous-asteroids-
using-infrared-and-visible-wavelength-telescopes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To date, a space-based infrared (IR) mission has been considered by 
recent studies to be the most effective method to discover and 
initially characterize relevant NEOs and increase the NEO detection 
rate. IR CCD cameras would be capable of finding and characterizing 
NEOs that are darker and fainter than those observable with any 
telescope on the ground and would be more effective than a visible 
space telescope. A survey spacecraft at the L1 or L2 Lagrange point 
would allow for observation of asteroids both well ahead and behind 
Earth along its orbital path while maintaining constant communication 
range with Earth, allowing for the best and latest techniques in dark 
object detection and characterization processing to be used. Currently, 
NASA is continuing to mature concepts for a space-based NEO survey 
capability aimed at significantly increasing the NEO detection rate. 
This includes instrument and sensor development for a future infrared 
space-based asset. The 2019 NASEM study concluded none of the 
considered alternatives is competitive with a thermal-infrared space 
telescope in terms of detection capabilities or cost. NASA's current 
planning is consistent with the goal of implementing a NEO surveillance 
capability similar to that described in the report.
    Current research has identified three possible options that could 
be employed to divert an object on a likely collision course with 
Earth. The size of an asteroid and length of warning time influences 
the most practical methods for deflecting an asteroid. With a 
sufficiently long warning time, a gravity tractor could be used. A 
gravity tractor is a spacecraft that would rendezvous with an asteroid 
(but not land on its surface) and maintain a relative, optimal position 
to use the mutual gravity attraction between the spacecraft and the 
asteroid to slowly tug on it to alter the course of the asteroid. A 
kinetic impactor is currently the simplest and most technologically 
mature method available to defend against asteroids. In this technique, 
a spacecraft is launched that simply slams itself into the asteroid at 
a relative speed of several kilometers per second. For a complete 
overview of possible mitigation techniques, please refer to the 2010 
National Research Council report ``Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth-
Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies''.\5\ The limited 
discussion here is about the three most viable techniques at this time, 
due to their current technology readiness level. For large asteroids 
that are identified with relatively short warning time, high-energy 
release approaches, such as detonating a nuclear explosive device, may 
be the most effective or even the only feasible way of preventing a 
cataclysmic event.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12842/defending-planet-earth-near-
earth-object-surveys-and-hazard-mitigation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is a 
planetary defense-driven test of the kinetic impactor technique. DART 
is in Phase C of development and is led by the Johns Hopkins University 
Applied Physics Laboratory with support from other NASA centers. DART's 
primary objective is to demonstrate the effects of a kinetic impact on 
the small moon of the asteroid Didymos. NASA is developing the DART 
kinetic impactor demonstration for launch in summer 2021 and encounter 
with Didymos by October 2022.
    Bolstered by international communication and cooperation, the 
United States also has an accurate and up-to-date picture of global 
efforts in NEO activities. The International Asteroid Warning Network 
(IAWN), of which NASA is a leading member, is an operational network 
that links together the observatories and data processing and analysis 
of institutions in many nations that are discovering, monitoring, and 
characterizing the hazardous NEO population. The Space Mission Planning 
Advisory Group (SMPAG) is a forum of the space capable nations' space 
agencies and offices whose primary purpose is to prepare for an 
international response to discovered NEO impact threats. There are 
several nations (e.g., Europe, Russia, Japan, and China) leading 
efforts that incorporate varying degrees of coordination and 
cooperation with the United States, and provide opportunities to 
collaborate or include data from observations to discover, track, and 
characterize NEOs.
Protecting our home planet
    No discussion of space missions to protect our planet would be 
complete without touching on how NASA's missions help us understand 
changing conditions here on Earth. NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) 
plays a unique and essential role in today's rapidly changing world. 
ESD develops new observational capabilities and new technologies and 
uses them to advance our fundamental understanding of how the Earth 
works and improve the lives of citizens in the United States and in the 
world. The agency fosters global observations of our Earth system from 
the unique vantage point of space, the ISS, aircraft and in situ data, 
and regional to global Earth system models. These observations allow 
ESD to explore spatially, unearthing new discoveries in Earth's 
forests, ice, oceans, and solid Earth, but also temporally, unlocking 
secrets and patterns in our changing climate by looking at long-term 
trends in Earth properties.
    Two years ago, the National Academy of Sciences released the 2017-
2027 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space. The 
Decadal Survey gives us the compass for the future of Earth science, as 
well as a challenge. The reliance on Earth information in the daily 
lives of people and businesses has been built on sustained efforts to 
conduct exploratory and applied Earth Science. Sustaining and improving 
our ability to understand the Earth system is challenging when it 
changes (through both natural- and human-caused means) nearly as fast 
as we characterize it. A robust, resilient, and appropriately balanced 
Earth observation program will be necessary to meet the Nation's needs 
for the coming decades.
    The FY 2021 budget provides continued support for the Earth Science 
Division's important work to ensure the vast scientific information 
produced by NASA instruments can be used by decision-makers across the 
private sector and the U.S. government.
    Thank you for the invitation to be here with you today, and I am 
happy to answer any questions you may have.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much, Doctor.
    Mr. Murtagh.

             STATEMENT OF WILLIAM MURTAGH, PROGRAM

         COORDINATOR, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC

        ADMINISTRATION SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER,

                  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

    Mr. Murtagh. Good morning, Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member 
Cantwell, and members of the Committee. I am Bill Murtagh, the 
Program Coordinator for NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, 
or SWPC, in Boulder, Colorado.
    NOAA is the official U.S. Government source for civilian 
space weather forecasts, warnings, and alerts to the public, 
industry, and to government agencies. We do work very closely 
with the U.S. Air Force, who is responsible for all DOD and 
related national security needs for space weather information. 
We work with NASA and other Federal agencies, as well as 
private industry, academia, and international partners, to 
ensure access to data and analysis that support our 24/7 
mission to deliver products and services that protect our 
society and economy from space weather events. These events 
could drastically affect our electric power grid, 
telecommunications, GPS-dependent technologies, astronauts and 
space exploration, and, of course, aviation.
    Critical to our mission operations are four things: 
observations, forecasts and warnings, science, and 
partnerships. And I'll briefly highlight each one of these.
    For observations, NOAA uses an array of space- and ground-
based observations employing specialized instruments to support 
our space weather forecast operations and related research. 
NOAA operates at three viewpoints to acquire the space-based 
observations necessary to meet SWPC's operational requirements. 
Those three, in deep space, at the Lagrange point, located 1 
million miles from Earth, to observe the solar wind; a 
geostationary orbit for key observations of solar flares, of X-
rays, and energetic particle radiation; and lower-Earth orbit, 
for measurements of the ionosphere.
    NOAA leverages additional data from NASA and European 
satellites. NOAA is in the process of developing the Space 
Weather Follow-on Program, which will provide mission 
continuity and augment capabilities at the L1 point and in 
geostationary orbit.
    Ground-based data are also important to the SWPC 
operations; in particular, magnetic field observations provided 
by the USGS which are critical in our geomagnetic storm warning 
processes, also radio and solar observations provided by the 
U.S. Air Force and solar magnetic field maps from the NSF.
    In forecasts and warnings, once an eruption occurs, the 
forecasters feed these observations into computer models to 
determine the likely effects of solar events on Earth. These 
models help forecasters estimate when the effects will begin, 
how long they will last, and how severe the event will be.
    Similar to the categories we use to classify hurricanes or 
tornados, the space weather scales are used for communicating 
the severity of space weather storms. These scales address 
radio blackouts, solar flares, solar radiation storms due to 
the sun-emitted energetic particles, and geomagnetic storms 
from corona mass, ejected plasma, and magnetic fields. These--
the scales list possible impacts for each level of storming, 
and indicate how often such events happen. NOAA's space weather 
alerts and warnings are employed by Federal agencies and users 
across many sectors to aid in national preparedness and 
response to space weather.
    That category of science, NOAA is also advancing a 
Research-to-Operations process. This includes a new program, 
the Earth Prediction Innovation Center, or EPIC. EPIC will use 
the partnership with academic, the private sector, and relevant 
agencies to test and validate new capabilities, and transition 
those capabilities from research to operations, thereby 
improving our existing forecast and warning capabilities. NOAA 
is also exploring with NASA the potential for a space weather 
testbed to further accelerate the transfer of research to 
operations, and operations to research.
    And finally, in partnerships, strong public, private, 
academic partnerships are essential to maintain and improve the 
observing networks, conduct the research, create the forecast 
models, and supply the services necessary to support our 
national security and economic prosperity. NOAA is committed to 
working toward the growth of the private sector as our national 
infrastructure and technological base becomes more sensitive to 
the impacts of space weather, thus demanding more and improved 
space weather services. NOAA will continue to explore 
partnerships with commercial and academic community as we work 
to maintain and improve our operational capabilities.
    In closing, NOAA appreciates the ongoing support we have 
received from Congress for our critically important space 
weather programs. We will continue to work with other Federal 
agencies and the private sector in this effort to enhance 
American preparedness for, and resilience to, the effects of 
space weather. And I look forward to answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Murtagh follows:]

 Prepared Statement of William Murtagh, Program Coordinator, National 
    Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction 
                  Center, U.S. Department of Commerce
Introduction & NOAA's Role
    Good morning Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members 
of the Committee. My name is Bill Murtagh and I am the Program 
Coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in the Department of 
Commerce. Thank you for the opportunity to testify at this hearing 
about space weather. NOAA is the U.S. Government's official source of 
civilian space weather forecasts, warnings, and alerts to the general 
public, industry, and government agencies. NOAA works closely with our 
partners in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) 557th Weather Wing, who are 
responsible for all Department of Defense (DOD) and related national 
security needs for space weather information.
    Through the SWPC, NOAA's mission is to deliver space weather 
products and services that protect our society and economy from space 
weather events that could wreak havoc on our Nation's electrical grid, 
telecommunications, GPS-dependent technologies, astronauts and space 
exploration, and aviation.
    SWPC operates 24 hours a day providing observations/situational 
awareness, forecasts, and warnings of space weather storms with advance 
notice ranging from hours to days. In addition to the DOD, SWPC efforts 
are closely integrated with other agencies, including the Department of 
Homeland Security, National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
(NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Geological 
Survey (USGS), as well as commercial service providers, private 
industry, and academia. SWPC also works with international partners to 
ensure access to essential data and analyses that support our mission, 
and to ensure consistency in forecasts. It is SWPC's goal to produce 
accurate and timely space weather products and decision-support tools 
that protect national critical infrastructure.
Observation Platforms
    NOAA's space weather products and services start with observations. 
NOAA uses an array of space-and ground-based observatories that use 
specialized instruments that support our space weather forecast 
operations and related research.
    NOAA, through its National Environmental Satellite, Data, and 
Information Service, operates space-based observatories at three 
viewpoints to meet SWPC's operational requirements: deep space Lagrange 
point 1 (L1), the point located one million miles above the surface of 
the Earth for solar wind measurements; in geostationary orbit at 22,240 
miles for key observations of solar flares, x-rays, and energetic 
particle radiation enhancements; and in low Earth orbit polar-orbit at 
310 miles for measurements of the ionosphere. NOAA also ingests 
supplemental information by leveraging additional data from NASA 
research, and European research and operational satellites. NOAA is 
currently in the process of developing the Space Weather Follow-On 
(SWFO) program, which will provide mission continuity and augment 
capabilities at the L1 point and geostationary orbit.
    Ground-based data are also important in SWPC operations. The 
underpinning data used by NOAA to supply geomagnetic storm warnings and 
alerts are the ground-based magnetic field observations provided by the 
USGS Geomagnetism Program. These observations describe the local 
intensity of the changes in magnetic fields and allow NOAA to 
characterize the intensity of geomagnetic storms. NOAA also relies on 
the USAF Solar Electro-Optical Network (SEON) and NSF's Global 
Oscillations Network Group (GONG). SEON provides continuous solar 
optical observations and solar radio emissions from ground stations 
around the world. GONG consists of a network of six stations that 
provide continuous solar imaging and magnetograms.
Modeling and Product Dissemination
    Using these observations, forecasters predict the probability of 
eruptions on the Sun. When an eruption occurs, forecasters feed the 
data from the data collection platforms into computer models to 
determine the likely effects of solar events on Earth. The models help 
forecasters estimate when the effects will begin, how long they will 
last, and how severe the event will be. The model output will also 
provide critical infrastructure owners and operators with key decision 
points and thresholds for action, enabling more effective mitigation 
procedures and practices. NOAA is actively working with NASA and NSF to 
tap into their support of research and space weather modeling developed 
in the academic community to increase forecast skill.
    NOAA is also pursuing a more effective Research-to-Operations-to-
Research process through its new program, the Earth Prediction 
Innovation Center (EPIC). EPIC will utilize partnerships with academia, 
the private sector, and relevant agencies to validate and test new 
capabilities (e.g., products, models, observations, applications, and 
techniques), transition those capabilities from research to operations, 
and establish a process to evaluate and improve existing operational 
capabilities. As part of EPIC, space weather prediction models will 
benefit from the increased focus on enterprise collaboration.
    NOAA forecasters communicate current and forecasted space weather 
conditions using a variety of products. Similar to the categories we 
use to classify hurricanes, there are also Space Weather Scales for 
communicating the relative severity of space weather storms. Space 
weather scales communicate potential impacts such as Radio Blackouts 
(from solar flares), Solar Radiation Storms (due to solar energetic 
particles), and Geomagnetic Storms (from coronal mass ejections). The 
scales list possible impacts for each level and indicate how often such 
events happen. Watches, warnings, and alerts are issued by e-mail via a 
product subscription service and by telephone notification to critical 
customers such as power grid operators, FEMA, and Mission Control at 
NASA. NOAA's space weather alerts and warnings are essential for 
enhancing national preparedness for space weather.
    In September 2019, NOAA and USGS announced the release of the new 
Geoelectric Field model. This model indicates the level of space 
weather impact affecting the U.S. electrical power grid and helps 
operators mitigate effects on critical infrastructure. The model relies 
on USGS magnetometers (described above), and work has already begun on 
improving the product to include Canada and to add a prediction 
capability that will rely on L1 measurements.
Commercial Sector Engagement
    Additionally, NOAA continues to actively engage the commercial 
sector on opportunities to meet U.S. government requirements for 
weather and space weather information. NOAA ensures all space weather 
data, real-time and retrospective, and services are made available to 
the growing private sector service providers. The NOAA-private sector 
partnership plays a vital role in meeting the Nation's needs for space 
weather services. NOAA recognizes that a strong public-private 
partnership is essential to establish the observing networks, conduct 
research, create forecast models, and supply the services necessary to 
support national security and economic prosperity. NOAA is committed to 
working toward the growth of the private sector as the national 
infrastructure demands more space weather services. These activities 
are governed by the NOAA Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of 
Environmental Information, NOAA Commercial Space Policy, and the NESDIS 
Commercial Space Activities Assessment Process. NOAA will continue to 
explore partnerships with the commercial sector as it maintains its 
operational capabilities to provide space weather awareness.
NOAA's Interagency Coordination with SWORM
    On March 26, 2019, the National Science and Technology Council 
released the National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan. This is 
an update to the original Strategy and Action Plan published in October 
2015. The Strategy and Action Plan unites the U.S. national-and 
homeland-security enterprise with the science and technology enterprise 
to formulate a cohesive approach to enhance national preparedness for 
space weather. Key to the success of this update was input from the 
public on ways to leverage private capital and expertise on space 
weather research, observations, forecasts, and mitigation of effects on 
critical infrastructure. The National Science and Technology Council, 
Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation (SWORM) Interagency 
Working Group, comprised of over 20 Federal Departments and Agencies, 
is the interagency body that defines, coordinates, and oversees 
implementation of the objectives in the Strategy and Action Plan. This 
important update seeks to improve the government's coordination on 
long-term guidance for Federal programs and activities to enhance 
national preparedness to space weather events. The new strategy aligns 
with priorities identified by the Administration in the 2017 National 
Security Strategy and the Space Policy Directives.
Conclusion
    NOAA appreciates the on-going support we have received from 
Congress for our critically-important space weather program. We will 
continue to collaborate with other Federal agencies and the private 
sector to develop and strengthen our activities in space weather 
research and forecasting. Thank you for the opportunity to testify 
today. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Murtagh.
    Mr. O'Connell.

  STATEMENT OF KEVIN M. O'CONNELL, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF SPACE 
COMMERCE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, U.S. 
                     DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

    Mr. O'Connell. Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Chairman 
Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members of the Committee, 
for inviting me to testify today about the urgent need to 
improve the Nation's space situational awareness capabilities. 
It is essential that we deal with this problem now as a key 
enabler of our ambitious plans for space exploration and space 
commerce.
    Two weeks ago, on January 29th, two U.S. space objects, a 
decommissioned space telescope and an experimental payload, 
came into close approach in low-Earth orbit. Throughout the 
day, the probability of conjunction dramatically increased from 
1 in 1,000 to 1 in 20, signaling an extremely close approach. 
To place this in context, satellite operators begin collision 
planning avoidance maneuvers when the probability of collision 
reaches 1 in 10,000. Neither object had any ability to 
maneuver. Thankfully, the two objects narrowly passed, by some 
calculations at a distance of only 18 meters. Experts predict 
that if the two relatively large objects had collided, they 
would have created a cloud of new debris of up to 15,000 new 
debris objects.
    Because the Department of Defense's Space Domain Awareness 
Mission prioritizes threats to active satellites and the 
International Space Station, it did not initially assign space 
surveillance assets to this event. This is technically a 
debris-on-debris event. Second, LEO labs, one of a number of 
innovative U.S. companies already providing SSA services, 
provided the initial, and then subsequent, warnings of the 
possible conjunction. Third, this close approach between two 
objects was only one of five similar events during that day.
    Why does it matter? As challenging as the space debris 
problem is today, it is bound to grow more complex. Space 
debris creates risks to the International Space Station and the 
billions of dollars of U.S. investment in space, including the 
services they enable here on Earth. This year alone, if SpaceX 
and OneWeb plans are successful, they will launch over 1,000 
new satellites into low-Earth orbit, thereby increasing the 
number of active satellites by almost 50 percent. The United 
States and many other countries have very ambitious space plans 
over the next decade.
    Finally, as we consider the next wave of space commerce in 
areas like satellite servicing, space manufacturing, and 
tourism, and even early plans to remove space debris, those 
will require much more timely, accurate, and continuous 
monitoring of the space environment. Analysts are projecting 
significantly higher probabilities of collision, which could 
impact our ability to bring benefits to Earth from areas of 
space for an entire generation.
    Space Policy Directive 3 directed the Department of 
Commerce to assume on-orbit collision avoidance notifications 
for private sector and international users, a mission 
traditionally held by the Department of Defense. Drawing upon a 
range of national security sensors, DOD maintains a catalog of 
roughly 26,000 space objects larger than the size of a 
softball. DOD shares SSA-related data through agreements with 
foreign military and other organizations, and it provides 
information for space operator use through the Space-track.org 
website.
    The focal point for these activities in the Department of 
Commerce is my office, the Office of Space Commerce. We 
developed a strong partnership with DOD and the Space Force 
officials to ensure a seamless transfer of these 
responsibilities. Last year, the Department detailed the senior 
commerce liaison to the 18th Space Control Squadron at 
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, where DOD provides us 
access to their data, their systems, and their processes. We've 
also participated in exercises designed to explore effective 
integration of government and commerce SSA capabilities, 
including those of our allies. Our partnership with NASA is 
strong, and growing.
    Our work on SSA internal to the office is focused in key 
areas: industry engagement, improving international standards 
and best practices, and the development of a modern system, 
known as an Open Architecture Data Repository, or OADR. In 
order to achieve these, we must have the right mix of mission-
critical staff.
    In sum, the OADR is being designed to bring modern 
commercial technologies and business concepts to the U.S. space 
situational awareness enterprise. This will allow us to provide 
collision-avoidance notices to a growing number of private-
sector and international operators. Ultimately, the OADR will 
provide conjunction notice services that exceed current Federal 
support and encourage the continued growth of a commercial 
space safety industry.
    Improving SSA is also an imperative of sustaining American 
leadership in space. We've had extensive conversations with our 
allies about the OADR and how they can bring civil and 
commercial capabilities to bear as part of their 
responsibilities in space safety and sustainability.
    To summarize, the essential first step in creating a highly 
effective civil space traffic management system, as directed by 
SPD-3, is to improve space situational awareness. That system 
would start with the data from DOD's authoritative catalog, 
bolster it with commercial sensor capabilities, apply state-of-
the-art analytic and visualization tools, some from the space 
industry but also from others from the much broader analytics 
market, and use them in a modern operational concept in order 
to warn satellite operators in a trusted, timely, and highly 
accurate fashion.
    From our vantage point at the Commerce Department, Mr. 
Chairman, we see the elements necessary for a trillion-dollar 
space economy over the next two decades, if not sooner. 
Enabling an incredibly innovative U.S. ecosystem of 
entrepreneurs as one of them, avoiding the very bad day and 
decades-long consequences that space debris can cause is 
another.
    Thank you, and I'll look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. O'Connell follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Kevin M. O'Connell, Director, Office of Space
       Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
                      U.S. Department of Commerce
    Thank you, Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members of 
the Committee. I am pleased to testify before the Committee to talk 
about the urgent need to improve space situational awareness (SSA). My 
testimony will cover the work the Administration is doing to address 
this urgent need, and the responsibilities that have been given to the 
Department of Commerce by the President and the National Space Council 
in Space Policy Directive 3 on Space Traffic Management. I will also 
discuss how the space environment is changing, the tremendous 
opportunities to leverage commercial capabilities to enhance space 
safety and sustainability, and why it is essential to do so in order to 
achieve our ambitious pursuits from space exploration to space 
commerce.
    This hearing represents an important opportunity to discuss how our 
collective efforts will promote responsible U.S. innovation, 
investment, and space operations, and how commercial efforts can 
support our Federal missions and the U.S. economy. The United States 
currently has an opportunity to capture the lion's share of an expected 
trillion-dollar space economy by 2040.
The Department's Direction to Establish an Open Architecture Data 
        Repository (OADR)
    Space Policy Directive 3 (SPD-3) directs the Department of Commerce 
to develop a modern, open data repository as the place from which to 
ultimately provide conjunction notifications. This state-of-the-art 
open architecture data repository (OADR) will apply modern technology 
and business approaches to space situational awareness, providing 
conjunction analysis to private sector and international users.
    The OADR will provide conjunction notification services for 
participating commercial and international space operators that exceed 
current Federal models. Participating members will serve as 
contributors to the augmented space situational awareness repository as 
well as reap the benefits of protecting their assets in space through 
better understanding of the space traffic environment.
    We believe that innovations can be applied across the board, from 
sensors and analytic tools to new concepts of operations and warning 
systems.
    The OADR will also be designed to include a platform where 
companies can interact with one another to create new commercial 
service offerings around space safety and sustainability.
    This is also an imperative of sustaining American leadership in 
space. We have had extensive conversations with a number of U.S. allies 
about the OADR and their interest in participation; our allies have 
offered to consider bringing civil and commercial capabilities into the 
OADR as part of their contribution.
    The OADR will leverage commercial innovation to protect and enhance 
civil and commercial space activities in real-time.
A Very Near Miss in Space--One of Many
    Our work on the OADR cannot be timelier, as space traffic expands 
and near misses are common news. On January 29, 2020, expert and even 
public attention was captured by the close approach between two space 
objects--a decommissioned U.S. space telescope (Infrared Astronomical 
Satellite or IRAS) launched in 1983 and a U.S. experimental payload 
(Gravity Gradient Stabilization Experiment or GGSE-4) launched in 1967. 
Throughout the day, probability of a collision dramatically increased 
from 1 in 1000 to 1 in 20, in other words an extremely close approach. 
To place this in context, satellite operators begin planning collision 
avoidance maneuvers for active space objects when the probability of 
collision reaches 1 in 10,000.
    Neither object had any ability to maneuver. Thankfully, the two 
objects narrowly passed, by some calculations at only a distance of 18 
meters. Some experts predict that if the two relatively large objects 
had collided, at a relative speed of almost 33,000 miles per hour, they 
could have created a debris cloud of up to 15,000 debris objects, one 
of the largest such events in the history of spaceflight.
    Even if you followed the news reporting on that close approach, 
there are some things that you might not know. First, because the 
Department of Defense (DoD) national security mission of Space Domain 
Awareness prioritizes allocation of space surveillance and analysis 
assets at monitoring threats to active satellites and the International 
Space Station, DoD did not initially assign assets to this event (This 
was technically a ``debris on debris'' event). DoD did ultimately raise 
the priority for U.S. sensors as news of the possible conjunction 
broke. Second, LeoLabs, one of a number of innovative U.S. companies 
already providing space situational awareness services, provided the 
initial and subsequent warnings of the possible conjunction. Third, 
this close approach between two objects was only one of five similar 
events during that day.
Why Does it Matter?
    This recent event, and many like it, demonstrates the risk that 
space debris creates for the astronauts on board the International 
Space Station and the billions of dollars of U.S. government and 
commercial investment, both in terms of spacecraft and in products and 
services delivered on Earth. It also creates risks for the space 
investments of many other countries, including our allies. As 
challenging as the current space debris problem is, however, Space 
Traffic Management is bound to become far more complex, given current 
and planned future space operations.
    Let me elaborate. In 2020 alone, Space X and Europe's Arianespace 
have planned over twenty launches each. China is also planning over 
forty launches this year. Many of these launches are designed to 
release over twenty satellites. If the launch plans for Space X and 
OneWeb in 2020 go as planned, the two companies alone will launch over 
1,000 satellites, all to low earth orbit. Looking ahead, three American 
companies have applied for licenses to launch a combined 57,000+ 
satellites over the next decade.
    The problem is not confined to the launches of large satellite 
constellations: modern design practices for smaller commercial 
satellites may create vulnerability from smaller pieces of space 
debris. As Secretary Ross likes to say, even a paint chip travelling at 
thousands of miles per hour can do serious damage to a solar panel, 
fuel tank, or other critical part of a satellite.
    As new missions like satellite servicing, space tourism, and 
commercial space stations emerge, they will critically depend on an 
increased ability to understand the space environment in order to 
ensure space safety and sustainability.
    Analysts are projecting significantly higher probabilities of 
collision which, if they occur, will create space debris in and near 
operational orbits, potentially impacting the ability of commercial and 
government satellites to bring national and economic benefit to this 
Nation for a generation.
    One visceral response to this increased threat to space operations 
could be to limit launches or otherwise create a regulatory framework 
that might inhibit use of space in the hope of mitigating a crisis. 
This would be reactionary. In the Department's view, the best possible 
approach right now to ensuring that space is used in a safe and 
sustainable way is to better understand what goes on there. Only then 
can the best possible regulatory instruments be crafted to ensure space 
safety.
    Unless we carefully consider the impact of regulation, space 
operators will simply take their investment capital, ingenuity, and 
potential space risk and launch from another country. Such an approach 
will allow us to ultimately drive right-sized regulatory requirements 
at Federal and international levels.
    Let's look at this problem in another way. Today's growth in space 
commerce is partly based on the application of commercial efficiencies 
to what was a traditionally government-focused business model. The 
commercial launch industry has transformed the industry by implementing 
techniques such as launch vehicle reusability, miniaturization, 
efficient production, and continuous learning, which are resulting in 
the substantial lowering of costs associated with space access and 
operations. A failure to improve our understanding of the space 
environment and mitigate creation of additional space debris threatens 
adding costs and complexity once again. Space debris is the ``speed 
bump'' on the path to the trillion-dollar space economy.
Updating the Nation's SSA System--The Role of the Department of 
        Commerce
    SPD-3 directed the Department of Commerce, in partnership with DoD, 
to assume responsibility for private sector and international 
notifications worldwide. Two key rationales exist for this transition. 
First, DoD, through the Space Force, has been directed to provide 
freedom of operation for the United States in, from, and to space, and 
to protect the interests of the United States in the space domain in 
the face of rapidly changing threats. Second, as already mentioned, our 
current SSA system needs to be modernized in order to effectively 
coordinate activities in the rapidly changing space environment.
    The focal point for all of these activities is the Office of Space 
Commerce (OSC). At the Secretary's direction, OSC has moved quickly to 
implement the Department's SPD-3 responsibilities. OSC's efforts begin 
with leveraging the many different capabilities within the Department.
    OSC's work on improving SSA is focused in three key areas: 
improving standards and best practices, industry engagement, and the 
development of the OADR. In order to achieve these goals OSC first 
needs to have the right mix of critical mission staff.
    Commerce has developed a strong and continuing partnership with DoD 
and U.S. Air Force officials, at both senior leadership and staff 
levels, to ensure a seamless transfer of these responsibilities. Last 
year, the Department detailed a senior Commerce liaison to the 18th 
Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB), California, 
where DoD is providing access to their current data, systems, and 
processes for Commerce's awareness. Commerce is also participating, 
sometimes as co-lead, in exercises, experiments, and war games designed 
to help understand how to integrate government and commercial 
capabilities. Secretary Ross visited Vandenberg AFB in late 2018 for a 
first-hand view of the current SSA system and has spoken on numerous 
occasions about the importance of improving space safety.
The Need to Incorporate New Technologies and Processes
    For the past five decades, the operational support mission to 
satellite owners has been a mission of the Department of Defense. 
Drawing upon a range of radar and optical sensors designed for missile 
warning and other national security purposes, the Department of Defense 
maintains a catalogue of roughly 26,000 space objects larger than the 
size of a softball. The Combined Forces Space Component Command, an 
element of the United States Space Command, shares SSA-related data 
through a series of agreements with foreign military and domestic and 
international civil and commercial space organizations. It also 
provides information for space operator and public use through the 
Space-track.org website. While this approach served us well for the 
space environment of the past, it will not serve us adequately for the 
future.
    Why not? Our national SSA system has not kept up with modern 
technologies and organizational approaches characteristic of civil and 
commercial space operations, mostly because of the press of national 
security business. An improved understanding of the space environment 
will benefit from the application of new sensors, analytic and 
visualization tools, as well as a modern alerting and warning system. 
While these capabilities were initially developed via traditional 
government acquisition processes, today many of them are available in 
the commercial market. Some of these come directly from space-focused 
companies. Others come from the convergence of other technologies like 
machine learning and cloud computing. The Department and the Office of 
Space Commerce routinely engage with companies that have SSA-related 
sensor and analytic capabilities, as well as other companies that have 
ideas about innovative new services to help with space safety and 
sustainability.
    The Department of Commerce's SSA-related relationships are 
especially strong with DoD and with the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA). Commerce is currently evaluating the United 
States Air Force's Unified Data Library as an initial input to the 
future OADR, and we are working with the NASA Ames and Goddard Centers 
on their conjunction analysis tools and models of the space 
environment. Simultaneously, we are evaluating other technical and 
system architectural concepts.
    We cannot neglect attention to the downstream analytics and 
notification parts of the enterprise. As national sensor capabilities 
expand with the activation of the Space Fence, satellite operators are 
concerned that they will receive an overwhelming number of conjunction 
warnings per day if analysis and reporting tools are not upgraded as 
well. This is likely to result in inaction. One overarching goal of all 
of our efforts under SPD-3 is to produce actionable warnings that are 
more precise, accurate, and timely in order to optimize satellite 
operator actions.
Looking forward: FY 20, FY 21, and Beyond--
    FY 2021 is a critically important building block year as we move 
toward achieving the goals of SPD-3. In FY 2020, we have reprioritized 
our activities to ensure that significant strides can be made in our 
SSA-related activities.
    With these core foundations set, FY 2021 is an important year to 
continue our work on planning for the transition of SSA responsibility 
for on-orbit collision avoidance support from the DOD to a civilian 
agency. In FY 2021, the Department is aiming to achieve some key 
milestones on our critical path for standing up the OADR on schedule:

  I.    Further developing the OADR design and our acquisition strategy 
        approaches;

  II.   Engaging with Federal agencies and the private sector on 
        standards and best practices related to space safety and 
        sustainability;

  III.  Conducting SSA development activities with industry; and

  IV.   Continuing to expand international partnerships for enhancing 
        global cooperation on sharing SSA data.

    However, to ensure that the OADR can provide these critical 
functions, even more needs to be done, as our mission and the need for 
the OADR is essential.
Conclusion
    Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting 
me to discuss the Department of Commerce's vision for the OADR and the 
Office of Space Commerce. It is absolutely the right time to elevate 
our focus on how commercial innovation can enhance Federal space 
missions and protect the billions of dollars that U.S. companies are 
investing in both traditional and paradigm-shifting space operations.
    The Department appreciates Congress' ongoing support for these 
efforts, which have continued to ensure that the United States remains 
the flag of choice for space innovators and operators, and the ability 
for U.S. technology to drive dramatically improved protection of U.S. 
government missions and commercial assets. Thank you again for the 
opportunity to testify before the Committee today. I look forward to 
answering any questions you may have.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much.
    Dr. Jah.

          STATEMENT OF MORIBA K. JAH, Ph.D., ASSOCIATE

        PROFESSOR, AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING

   MECHANICS DEPARTMENT, COCKRELL SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, THE 
                 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

    Dr. Jah. Yes. Good morning. Thank you very much, Chairman 
Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, other members of this 
committee.
    I come to you today from the University of Texas at Austin, 
where I'm an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and 
Engineering Mechanics.
    So, near-Earth space is geopolitically contested, it's 
commercially contested, and it's in dire need of environmental 
protection, because it is a finite resource. All of outer space 
might be infinite, but near-Earth space, where we place our 
satellites, is a finite resource.
    We see lots of stuff in the news these days. We just heard 
a few members here talk about this near collision. If that 
would have happened, many thousands of objects would have been 
created, adding more and more to this population of rampant 
debris. We even hear things like Russian satellites that might 
be behaving in some way to generate extra interest in what they 
might be up to. And we also heard, from Ms. Cantwell; she 
described how ubiquitous space services and capabilities are to 
people's lives. And nothing is guaranteeing the protection of 
these things. There's no Space Vice, as it were.
    We launch satellites into common neighborhoods. OK? We 
don't just launch them anywhere in space. Common neighborhoods, 
think of these as shipping lanes. And these lanes are very 
dynamic. When most of the stuff in space kind of dies off, they 
tend to stay there well beyond our lifetimes and that of our 
children and children's children. That's something to really 
think about.
    We even have these things that are called ``graveyard 
orbits.'' So, you know, we're good at having landfills here on 
Earth, so we have an equivalent landfill in space. You know, 
what could go wrong with that idea?
    So, near-Earth space highways are becoming more crowded, 
but we still lack this global set of norms of behavior on how 
to manage that finite resource. Very recently, the European 
Space Agency had the satellite Aeolus. There was this predicted 
possible collision between Aeolus and one of SpaceX's Starlink 
satellites. Apparently, the European Space Agency tried to get 
a hold of SpaceX, wasn't able to, they decided to do an evasive 
maneuver. At the end of the day, SpaceX said, ``Well, based on 
the information that we had, it really didn't meet our 
threshold for making some sort of decision to get out of the 
way.'' All right. So, that means that not everybody has the 
same idea of what risk on orbit means, not everybody computes 
it the same way. Do we really want to get into this game of 
chicken on orbit? And I would say, not so much.
    We worry a lot about these collisions, but I'll say that 
our problems don't end there, they just begin with the whole 
collision stuff. Every domain of human activity suffers from 
malicious behavior. And space is no different. OK? We speak 
about space traffic management, except that we can't manage 
what we don't know, and we don't know what we don't measure. 
And so, fundamentally, one of the biggest hurdles in really 
being able to make space transparent and predictable is sharing 
of observational data. And we don't do that very well these 
days.
    We don't fully understand the effects and impacts of the 
space environment on how space objects behave. And I think one 
of the Achilles tendons of space situational awareness is that, 
oftentimes, many different hypotheses explain the same 
evidence, so there's a lot of ambiguity.
    ``Oh, my satellite stopped working. Why was it? Was it 
because the Sun hiccupped? Was it because somebody did 
something to me?'' It's very questionable. All this is 
happening right before our eyes.
    Space Policy Directive Number 3, signed June 18, 2018, laid 
out a nice path on how to move forward on space situational 
awareness, space traffic management. Goal number one, advance 
the research behind the science and technology that underpins 
that. And I can testify before you today that that has been 
significantly underfunded. We, in academia, are very much ready 
to do this research, but, overwhelmingly, you know, we have not 
seen that funding. I don't know where the National Academies 
stand on this issue. Where is the National Science Foundation? 
It doesn't really fund research in this area. And I can tell 
you, as an academic: all the time, I get people wanting to get 
students to fill this growing space commerce work force, and 
the guff is empty. We can't keep up with the demands to supply 
competent people to work in all these endeavors.
    So, I'll just say that Apollo did not happen without 
academia. GPS did not happen without academia. SSA and space 
traffic management can't really happen without academia.
    Thank you for your time, and I'm looking forward to 
answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Jah follows:]

   Prepared Statement of Moriba K. Jah, Ph.D., Associate Professor, 
 Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department, Cockrell 
        School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
    Mr. Committee Chairman Wicker, Ms. Ranking Member Cantwell, and 
other members of this committee, thank you for the invitation to appear 
before you today to share my perspectives regarding salient issues on 
space safety, security, and sustainability. It is an honor to be seated 
at this table with these great witnesses. It has been two years since I 
last testified to this great body's subcommittee on Space, Science, and 
Competitiveness. My name is Moriba Jah. I'm an astrodynamicist and 
space environmentalist. My perspectives have been shaped through a 20-
year aerospace engineering career in government, industry and academia. 
I started my career as a member of the technical staff of the NASA Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory. Whilst there, I contributed to the navigation of 
a variety of spacecraft to Mars and Asteroid Itokawa, and also 
developed advanced spacecraft navigation algorithms toward autonomy and 
improved orbital knowledge, beginning with Mars Global Surveyor and 
ending with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. After JPL, I 
worked as a Civil Servant in the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), 
where I led the design, development, and implementation of algorithms 
that have successfully and autonomously detected, tracked, identified, 
and characterized human-made objects in space, so called ``Resident 
Space Objects,'' to include orbital debris. My last position within 
AFRL was as the Mission Lead for Space Situational Awareness. Amongst 
my achievements, I was given the highest award that can be earned as an 
AFRL employee, that of AFRL Fellow. I currently serve on the faculty of 
the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department, in the 
Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. At 
UT Austin, I lead a transdisciplinary research program focused on 
delivering pragmatic solutions to problems regarding space safety, 
security, and sustainability. I am a Fellow of several organizations 
and professional societies and serve as a chair and member of several 
major space-related national and international technical committees. 
However, I am here today as an individual citizen and the views I 
express are mine alone. I'd like to also thank my wife Cassaundra, and 
children Denali, Ari, and Satyana for lending me to you, today.
Executive Summary
    Near Earth Space is (a) geopolitically contested (b) commercially 
contested and (c) a finite resource in need of environmental 
protection.
    The entire set of space events and processes that occur and can 
happen, as a whole, is unknowable for a myriad of reasons, not the 
least of which that we still do not widely share our observations of 
the space domain. If we wish to know something, we must measure it and 
if we want to understand something, we must predict it! What do we call 
this knowledge regarding causal relationships for things in space? We 
call it Space Situational Awareness.
    If we wish to protect ourselves from extraterrestrial hazards in 
the form of near-Earth asteroids, space environment effects and impacts 
on satellites and Earth-based infrastructure, as well as space 
activities and services from loss, disruption, or degradation, we must 
have timely and actionable Space Situational Awareness. Just a couple 
of weeks ago, two dead satellites in Low Earth Orbit were predicted to 
have an alarmingly high probability of collision \1\ but these 
probabilities were quite varied: one entity said 1 in 10, another 1 in 
100, another 1 in 1000. The decisions anyone might make given each of 
those might be extremely different. Is there consensus in the combined 
Space Situational Awareness? No! Case in point? Recently, there was a 
predicted conjunction between Aeolus, a European Space Agency satellite 
and a Starlink satellite belonging to the SpaceX Internet constellation 
\2\. The European Space Agency attempted to contact SpaceX to 
coordinate an evasive maneuver but antiquated methods (relying on e-
mail) of communication conjured a systemic obstacle in meaningful space 
debris mitigation. The European Space Agency maneuvered Aeolus to 
prevent the predicted collision. SpaceX stated in hindsight, obviating 
the communication snafu, that they would not have maneuvered anyway 
because their Space Situational Awareness and decision threshold 
indicated it not sufficiently risky to them. Do we want to be ``playing 
chicken'' in our orbital commons? We have no ``rules of the road'' for 
space. The world's space debris experts agree that there is a very high 
rate of non-compliance with space debris mitigation guidelines. It's 
common practice to operate satellites long past their intended safe and 
useful lifespan. Last but not least, the global Astronomy community has 
taken issue with the exponential growth of resident space objects as 
these ``corrupt'' their astronomical images and negatively impact the 
science \3\. Humanity as a whole is left to suffer the consequences of 
these behaviors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ https://spacenews.com/potential-satellite-collision-shows-need-
for-active-debris-removal/
    \2\ https://spacenews.com/esa-spacecraft-dodges-potential-
collision-with-starlink-satellite/
    \3\ https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/01/30/
dangers-to-astronomy-intensify-with-spacexs-latest-starlink-launch/
#337a38a56a57
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A safe, secure, and sustainable space domain requires improved 
transparency, predictability and for us to develop an independently 
corroborated body of evidence of space activities, events, and actor 
behaviors that can be used to hold people accountable and can inform 
meaningful space policies, rules, regulations, and norms of behavior.
    U.S. National Space Policy Directive #3, signed by President Trump 
on June 18th of 2018, laid out very succinct goals to address these 
issues. Its first goal is to advance Space Situational Awareness and 
Space Traffic Management Science and Technology. It further states that 
the United States should continue to engage in and enable Science and 
Technology research and development to support the practical 
applications of Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic 
Management. These activities include (a) improving fundamental 
knowledge of the space environment, such as the characterization of 
Resident Space Objects, (b) advancing the Science and Technology of 
critical Space Situational Awareness inputs such as an openly 
accessible and curated set of multi-source observational data, 
algorithms, and physics-based models necessary to improve Space 
Situational Awareness capabilities, and (c) developing open-source 
software to support big-data science and analytics. In summary, we must 
develop the required science and technology to reliably deter, predict, 
operate through, recover from, or attribute cause to the loss, 
disruption, or degradation of any given space service, activity, or 
capability. This means making space transparent and predictable, and 
having the evidence to hold entities accountable.
    Beyond examples I previously listed, I can personally attest to the 
fact that we are significantly behind in this endeavor as evidenced by 
our inability to accurately and precisely infer unique or unambiguous 
causal relationships between space domain events and observed satellite 
anomalies. You can read about these in the news frequently these days. 
Satellites are experiencing malfunctions where the evidence could have 
more than one explanation: was it the environment? was it caused by 
another entity? If so, was it intentional? The information collection, 
curation, analysis, and dissemination requirements for Space 
Situational Awareness does not end with collision risk assessments or 
re-entry predictions; they only begin there! The much more difficult 
and critical requirement is to assemble the evidence of events, 
processes, and activities in space that would need to be used to assign 
culpability of negligent behavior, for instance, or assessing 
compliance or the lack thereof with space policies. Nobody is 
quantifying these needs. Every domain of human activity has experienced 
malicious behavior and to think otherwise is naive at best. In the face 
of a next ``space race'' or ``gold rush'' equivalent, driven by global 
space commerce, it's not a matter of if, but when! The space domain is 
holistically poorly monitored. We are unprepared and ill-equipped to 
deal with disputes resulting from space activities and events.
    The U.S. is home to some of the world's top-ranked research 
institutions; these should be brought to bear to, once and for all, 
bring us out of the dark ages in terms of space domain decision-making 
knowledge and actualize us in order to meet the great demands of space 
commerce, exploration, and other activities. A well-funded and 
dedicated Space Situational Awareness Institute could undertake the 
Science and Technology research and development we desperately require. 
Europe and other countries are becoming leaders in these endeavors. 
Academia, the source of the purported workforce to meet the demands of 
operating so-called mega-constellations, has been mostly neglected in 
this area. As a professor at a top-tiered research university, I alone 
find myself turning away over a dozen qualified U.S. citizens every 
year, from joining my research program due to an absence of resources 
and financial support to perform clearly needed research.
    The National Science Foundation does not fund Space Situational 
Awareness research although there are many basic research problems 
still salient in this mission area. The Air Force Research Laboratory 
and Air Force Office of Scientific Research have been the only real, 
and overwhelmingly underfunded, organizations making any semblance of 
investments in Space Situational Awareness research. I know this 
because I was the Mission Lead for Space Situational Awareness at the 
Air Force Research Laboratory for several years. The National Academies 
has several relevant boards that should be invoked to engage in studies 
that inform a nationally committed roadmap of Space Situational 
Awareness Science and Technology Research. Moreover, these research 
outputs must be committed to being transitioned into operationally 
relevant environments that could directly support the U.S. Department 
of Commerce's stewardship of providing Basic Space Situational 
Awareness and Space Traffic Management services and products to the 
global community.
What are the next steps required to put this into effect?
   Per National Space Policy Directive #3, provide the 
        Department of Commerce with an adequately funded and resourced 
        mandate to: 1) have a Space Traffic Management Pilot Program to 
        work with USSPACECOM and the community to provide the first 
        instance of a Civil Space Traffic Management system and 2) 
        begin collecting, curating, and exploiting multi-sourced 
        resident space object (e.g., non-Space Surveillance Network 
        tracking) data for orbital safety and sustainability purposes 
        that is open and widely accessible, with multi-tiered access 
        and dissemination (e.g., ASTRIAGraph \4\).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ http://bit.ly/astriagraph

   Create or expand the existing role of NASA to: 1) uniquely 
        focus upon leading the scientific and technical requirements 
        for a robust, effective, and meaningful Civil Space Traffic 
        Management System, and 2) to work closely with other government 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        agencies, industry, and academia.

     Conjunction Analysis concerns itself with predicting 
            so-called ``close approaches'' between any two Resident 
            Space Objects \5\; it is a growing and changing field, and 
            research into new methods is critical to keep up with the 
            rapidly changing and marginally predictable space 
            environment. NASA already has an effort in this area (the 
            CARA Program at Goddard Space Flight Center) that can be 
            leveraged along with 30+ years of developing and executing 
            this capability for use by civil space operators. It is 
            government's role to retire risk, invest in Science and 
            Technology (S&T) Research and Development (R&D), and share 
            the results with the community to encourage growth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ http://astriacss03.tacc.utexas.edu/ui/min.html

   Invest in and expand the role of University Affiliated 
        Research Centers (UARCs) as foundational, dedicated, and 
        focused government-academic partnerships to solidify science 
        and technology (S&T) research and development for critical 
        space-related core technical competencies and technology risk-
        retirement needed by the U.S. Space Exploration program and 
        Commercial Space Industry \6\.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ https://www.arlut.utexas.edu

   Engage and craft mechanisms for Industry to get their 
        investment and participation in a Civil Space Traffic 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Management System:

     Satellite manufacturers

     Satellite launch providers

     Space Insurance Brokers and Providers

     Commercial Space Situational Awareness Providers

     Space Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists

     Space Service Users

    At The University of Texas at Austin, we are taking our own steps 
in a meaningful direction by (a) becoming the first academic partner to 
the USSPACECOM in Space Situational Awareness Data Sharing, (b) 
collaborating with the NASA CARA program, hosting their tools at the 
Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and leveraging our large scale 
computing platforms to improve current state-of-practice regarding 
collision risk assessments, (c) finalizing a fully executed set of 
Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with the 
Department of Commerce's space weather prediction center and NOAA 
satellite operations facility in Suitland MD, (d) advancing the state-
of-the-art in developing the world's first crowdsourced space traffic 
monitoring system, ASTRIAGraph, initially funded by the Federal 
Aviation Administration, (e) leading a dedicated transdisciplinary 
academic programs in space safety, security, and sustainability.
    Mr. Chairman, we have some wicked problems to solve in near earth 
space and we need Congress to act now. Perfect is the enemy of good 
enough! We know that we won't have a perfect system at the start but 
let's create a system that is agile and adaptive to meet the growing 
demands and as a community, we will iteratively refine our tradecraft 
and collaboration and get better. This committee should provide the 
required leadership; the opportunity to act is before you.
Narrative
    In my vast travels around the globe, speaking to and collaborating 
with space scientists, engineers, and policymakers, it is evident that 
``American Exceptionalism'' is still invoked and desperately yearned 
for, by many. America's leadership in the space domain, underscored by 
taking on and delivering upon what seemed to be an impossible feat, to 
send humans to another celestial body and return them safely, has 
inspired not only our great nation, but an entire planet, and seeded 
some of the world's most creative and innovative ideas.
    Exploration is critical to who we are as a species; it drives our 
growth and evolution. When our minds and bodies are idle, we tend to 
self-defeating behaviors. What brings out the best in us? Rising to 
great challenges, and working as a nation to overcome them. What got us 
to the Moon and back, safely and repeatedly? Government, Industry and 
Academia working seamlessly, together. No one sector could do it by 
themselves.
    The U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) currently has over 26,000 
records active in its space situational awareness database, commonly 
referred to as the Department of Defense ``catalog.'' Of these, well 
over 18,000 records correspond to well-tracked, well-understood 
Resident Space Objects in Earth-centric orbit, roughly 3,000 of which 
are operational satellites; the rest are so-called ``space junk.'' The 
remaining records in USSPACECOM's active space situational awareness 
database are not as well-tracked or understood, which creates increased 
uncertainty when operational satellites are screened against them to 
identify possible orbital safety hazards, or conjunctions. The number 
of Resident Space Objects is increasing given an increase in launches, 
and on-orbit breakup events (i.e., when one Resident Space Object 
collides with another, a satellite explodes, or breaks on its own due 
to space aging and material fatigue and stresses). If we could track 
every detected object, we could wrap a sensible Space Traffic 
Management system around that and even develop empirically-based 
policies and regulations. Unfortunately, it is hypothesized that we can 
only track a few percent of the total number of Resident Space Objects 
that can cause loss, disruption, or degradation to critical space 
services, capabilities, and activities. In other words, we have an 
orbital iceberg equivalent of sorts. The ability to track a Resident 
Space Object depends on two main factors: our ability to detect the 
object AND our ability to uniquely identify the object. This is to 
underscore that an object that is detectable does not imply it is 
trackable, and this is a critical distinction to make moving forward.
    Tracking an object means that we know where it was, a notion of 
where it is, and have some idea of what it is and where it will be. 
Think of how we track air traffic, where the aircraft is in the 
``custody'' of someone who monitors its motion and relationship to 
other aircraft. The following Figure (1) puts into perspective the 
problem we face in our inability to track more of the objects we can 
detect. It was generated from real data collected by the U.S. Space 
Surveillance Telescope, currently in Exmouth, Australia. It is worth 
mentioning that we have the long-awaited Space Fence on Kwajalein, and 
I've been told that the initial results are much like with the Space 
Surveillance Telescope, as seen in Figure 1. When one has an exquisite 
sensor and it's unique, you'll get very accurate observations during a 
very small part of the total orbit and you'll be observing things that 
other sensors will not or cannot. Think of a hula-hoop. An exquisite 
sensor is having one hand on this hoop. Think about the variety of ways 
in which the hula-hoop can rotate if you only grab it with one hand. 
This is like the ambiguity you will have with a unique and exquisite 
sensor. It will help but you'll have a large number of objects that you 
can detect but will be unable to track.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    So, what prevents us from doing better at tracking objects in 
space? First, we don't have ubiquitous observations, meaning we don't 
persistently detect all objects all of the time. In fact, we generally 
have very sparse observations on any given object in space. Globally, 
we do not share observational data as a community. This lack of data 
sharing is perhaps the single biggest problem in us having a more 
robust space traffic monitoring and management capability. Secondly, 
every single object in the world's largest space object catalog (that 
of our DoD) is represented and modeled as a sphere, a cannonball in 
space! Needless to say, there aren't many human-made cannonball-shaped 
objects in space. Only those Resident Space Objects whose motion is not 
significantly different from that of a sphere in between observations, 
are ones we can ``track.'' Gravity is what I call an equal opportunity 
accelerator: just tell me where you are and I will tell you your 
acceleration due to gravity, regardless of your size, shape, material 
constitution, orientation, etc. However, there are non-gravitational 
forces experienced by every single Resident Space Object and all of 
these depend on the object's physical characteristics. Thus, the lack 
of a rigorous Resident Space Object characterization and classification 
scheme is a strong contributor to our inability to track more objects 
in space. When we wish to understand any population of things, we first 
``tag'' individuals in that population and then ``track'' these 
individuals through time, space, frequencies, and evaluate their 
interaction with other individuals and their environment. We formulate 
hypotheses, test them, and draw conclusions based upon evidence. We do 
not do this, rigorously and scientifically, for Resident Space Objects, 
in great part because we cannot physically go to them and tag them. If 
we wish to someday have Norms of Behavior for Near Earth Space that led 
to safety, security, and sustainability, we will need to know how many 
classes or species of Resident Space Objects there are, and how each 
class or specie moves, behaves, is influenced by the local space 
environment, etc. Trucks carrying hazardous fuel are regulated 
differently than Vespa scooters, Oil Tankers on our seas are regulated 
differently than kayaks and canoes. So, why would we treat all Resident 
Space Objects as the same thing . . . cannonballs? The following figure 
(2) is a cartoon to show the difference between the limitations imposed 
by assuming space objects to be cannonball-like versus what they 
actually are like.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Lastly, regarding our inability to track more objects in space, are 
the mathematics and physics we use to process the observed data and 
infer physical quantities regarding these objects. It really matters . 
. . call these our algorithms. Our representation of uncertainty is 
demonstrably and inarguably oftentimes flawed, unrealistic, and 
inconsistent amongst our software and tools. The following figure (3) 
shows a picture our current problem with having multiple detections at 
multiple times and having to find clever methods of uniquely 
identifying objects in order to make them go from detectable to 
trackable. Most Resident Space Objects are defunct and therefore do not 
self-report their identities.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    If the Resident Space Object population was held constant, I'd say 
we'd might have more time on our hands to figure this all out. However, 
our global space environment is finite, getting increased traffic, and 
all in the absence of global governance related to safety and 
sustainability.
    We don't even agree on what is on orbit or where it is. I know this 
because I have developed the world's first crowdsourced space traffic 
monitoring system, called ASTRIAGraph \7\ at The University of Texas at 
Austin, initially funded by the FAA. Here, we combine multiple 
independent sources of information and can visualize these all in a 
common frame of reference.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\ http://bit.ly/astriagraph
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Figure (4) shows an example of what this combined database of 
Resident Space Objects looks like.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Our eventual goal is to make this like a ``Waze'' for space. To 
wit, we seek to create a so-called participatory sensing capability 
that openly allows and encourages those with sources of information 
about anything in space, to make contributions and benefit from the 
information that can only be inferred from the aggregated big-data 
science and analytics.
    To my earlier point, if one only had the USSPACECOM public catalog, 
Figure (5) shows you what your space traffic map might look like.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Alternatively, if one only had the Russian JSC Vimpel catalog, 
Figure (6) shows you what your space traffic map might look like.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Which source does one believe as accurate? These sets of 
information reflect a very different space traffic picture. This is a 
major source of ambiguity. Moreover, the problem gets a bit worse. 
Figure (7) shows you an example of multiple opinions on a single common 
Resident Space Object (FLOCK 1C 10 in this case).

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The difference in positions between these is on the order of a few 
hundred meters. However, when it comes to predicting a collision, this 
variance alone could be the difference between a high or really low 
collision probability and hence could lead to flawed decisions that 
could have dire consequences.
    As the cost of access to space is decreasing, the number of space 
actors is increasing. It's like what the Transcontinental Railroad did 
for helping businesses explode, connecting the East Coast and Western 
Frontier. In the past 3 years, we saw a record-braking 104 satellites 
being deployed by India's PSLV space capabilities. Unfortunately, while 
they did assess potential collisions amongst these 104 satellites, no 
one performed analyses of potential collisions between those 104 newly 
deployed satellites and the remainder of the current Resident Space 
Object population. OneWeb just recently launched their first batch of a 
few dozen satellites with the aim of deploying over 1000 satellites 
that will aim to provide global internet. SpaceX is well on its way 
toward the same goal, having several hundred satellites already on 
orbit and will surely aim to launch a planned 4000+ satellites.
    As was experienced in the Western Frontier of old, the 
environmental impact of runaway mining and prospecting was harsh and 
detrimental in many instances. Examples are mercury poisoning, silt in 
our water sources, etc. Our space environment is becoming much more 
commercially driven and populated. Many ``New Space'' companies or 
start-ups are getting significant investment from Angel Investors and 
Venture Capitalists who are focused on getting a Return On Investment 
(ROI) within a few years, believing Space Traffic and Orbital Safety to 
be someone else's problem. I have personally found an absence of space 
operations expertise amongst the workforce driving some of these ``New 
Space'' ventures, causing me further concern regarding orbital safety 
and long-term sustainability of space activities. There is a mentality 
of ``take risks and fail often.'' While this worked well for software 
companies in Silicon Valley, we can't afford to have this mentality in 
space.
    We should look to so-called tenets of Traditional Ecological 
Knowledge (TEK) as a model for achieving space sustainability. Some of 
our indigenous peoples have learned how to become sustainable over many 
millennia. One tenet underscores the need to quantify the carrying 
capacity of the environment before making decisions on how to interact 
with it. My personal experiences have shown me that ``Mother Nature'' 
tends to seek states of equilibrium. Do we know what the carrying 
capacity is for different orbits? If we launch 60+ satellites every 
several weeks, to we know what the equilibrium state of the environment 
will be? We are operating in the space domain well beyond our ability 
to make sound and sustainable decisions, and this will be to our 
eventual detriment.
    I propose that Congress move to create a Civil Space Traffic 
Management (CSTM) system led by the Department of Commerce (as directed 
by national space policy) that will:

   Accelerate the pace and reduce the costs of Civil Space 
        Traffic Management development by modernizing approaches to 
        Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management, with 
        focus on long-term sustainability of space activities, through 
        the creation of new federated data standards, measurement 
        standards, models and ontologies, open source software, and 
        big-data management and analysis techniques that aid in the 
        scientific evaluation of the efficacy and safety of space 
        operations, and attendant policies.

   Act as an entity that could create consortia of industry, 
        academia, and government for collaboration and sharing of 
        databases, computational techniques, and standards.

   Operate a Civil Space Traffic Management system that 
        provides the accuracies and products necessary to safely enable 
        innovative and non-traditional commercial uses of space.

    The Civil Space Traffic Management Mission should be to:

   Assure the safety of operations in space.

   Maximize, encourage, and incentivize the use of commercial 
        capabilities and data sources.

   Provide transparency, advocacy of informed guidelines, and 
        safety services as a public good to preserve the space 
        environment.

    The Civil Space Traffic Management Primary Functions would be to:

   Observe and Monitor: Space Domain and Traffic Observations, 
        Space Situational Awareness (SSA)

   Track and Catalog: Identify, Characterize, and Catalog 
        Objects; Relational Statistics, Catalog Updates, Traffic 
        Attribution, Achieve Track ``Custody''

   Analyze and Inform: Information Dissemination, Safety 
        Products, Conjunction Data Messages

    The Tenets of a Civil Space Traffic Management system would be to 
provide and incentivize:

   Open observational data--All collected or acquired data will 
        be made open and available for 3rd party analysis to improve 
        learning and enable high Quality of Service domain analysis.

   Open catalog of space objects and events--All derived 
        conclusions from Civil Space Traffic Management data will be 
        made open and available for 3rd party verification and peer-
        review of results and conclusions.

   Open Safety Advisory Services--As these services are 
        intended to be a global public good, they will be made 
        available to the world.

   Open and objective verification of data and analyses--As the 
        Civil Space Traffic Management capabilities and processes 
        improve, impartial feedback will be made available to all 
        service providers in the spirit of achieving increasingly 
        effective Quality of Service.

   Open Market--It is not the role of the Department of 
        Commerce to define the economics of the data and/or analysis 
        marketplace. The intent of the Civil Space Traffic Management 
        is to empower industry to stay involved in the provision of 
        service to all space domain actors.

   Open Workforce Development--It is to the benefit of all for 
        the specialized skills required of effective space traffic 
        managers to proliferate globally. To this end this Civil Space 
        Traffic Management will support mechanisms which result in the 
        education of additional skilled space traffic managers and 
        analysts.

    The Benefits of a Civil Space Traffic Management system are that it 
would:

   Provide standard and benchmark data sets that enable 
        quantifiably consistent comparative analyses between competing 
        tools, techniques, and algorithms.

   Provide the government with a transparent mechanism to guide 
        and exploit Civil Space Traffic Management activities and 
        capabilities AND a sustained/focused investment in STEM 
        education.

   Provide industry with a free foundational Civil Space 
        Traffic Management service and a marketplace of focused, cost-
        shared and openly available sciences and technologies that it 
        can ``pick up'' and operationalize/commercialize for its own 
        profit.

   Provide academia with a sustained scientific and 
        technological Civil Space Traffic Management research and 
        educational investment, to ensure that the U.S. is stocked with 
        capable and skilled workforce to handle the scientific and 
        technological problems of tomorrow.

    How does industry profit from such an activity, financially? It can 
easily wrap profit-making services around the foundational ``for public 
good'' layer of basic space situational awareness and space traffic 
management services and products. It lowers the bar for entry for new 
space initiatives as they don't need to shoulder the burden of self-
providing of these basic space situational awareness and space traffic 
management services. It's like the benefit of the U.S. developed, 
owned, and operated Global Positioning System (GPS)! Think of not only 
the paradigm-changing science but explosion of commerce that has 
resulted from this U.S. Government investment and service. Many 
companies have developed profit-making applications which exploit the 
layer of foundational service provided by GPS.
    I also propose that the U.S Government create the NASA Space 
Situational Awareness Institute using Cooperative Agreements (like the 
NASA Astrobiology Institute) as a mechanism under which an academic 
consortium could be assembled, invested in, and properly leveraged to 
deliver on goal #1 of Space Policy Directive #3. The funding would need 
to be appropriated and delivered to NASA with a strategic roadmap on 
how the S&T is developed and transitioned to both government and 
industry. Several University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) should 
also be invoked, invested in, and leveraged, to be foundational 
partners in this NASA Space Situational Awareness Institute. The UARCs 
could provide foundational capabilities and sciences to NASA and those 
Space Situational Awareness Institute academic members could then focus 
uniquely on SSA needs and requirements, working closely with the 
government and commercial communities.
    The motto of my research program at UT Austin is:

        Ex Coelestis, Scientia . . . Nihil Arcanum Est! This loosely 
        translates to, ``from the heavens, knowledge . . . nothing 
        hides!''

    As Ever,
                                       Moriba K. Jah, Ph.D.

    The Chairman. Wow. Well, thank you very much.
    Who--among the three of our first witnesses, who wants to, 
sort of, summarize the division of authority and 
responsibilities?
    Mr. O'Connell, can you help us differentiate what you do 
and what Mr. Murtagh does and what Dr. Zurbuchen does?
    Mr. O'Connell. So, I would summarize it this way, Senator. 
What Mr. Murtagh and I do are actually highly complementary. 
We're both within NOAA right now.
    The Chairman. Right.
    Mr. O'Connell. We actually strive to work much closer 
together. What he's doing in the space weather arena is very 
much complementary to what we're trying to do in the SSA arena, 
on the one hand.
    I think a commonality--I wouldn't speak to the authorities, 
per se, but I'd say there's a strong commonality across all 
three mission areas, in terms of the need to do better modeling 
of objects in space, better analytics and prediction of how 
things move, where they move, et cetera. And I think all of us 
would agree that that kind of work needs to be done across all 
three of these areas.
    The Chairman. But, there's a reason to have two separate 
offices in NOAA.
    Mr. O'Connell. So, my office is in the Office of Space--is 
the Office of Space Commerce.
    The Chairman. Right.
    Mr. O'Connell. Bill Murtagh is in the Space Weather 
Prediction Center. We're just in different pieces of NOAA right 
now.
    The Chairman. And, Dr. Zurbuchen, do you want to add 
anything to that?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I mean, generally speaking, I think, in all 
of these domains--and I agree with the professor over there 
that, in space situational awareness piece, perhaps at lesser 
levels at this moment in time as we're reacting to a--the Space 
Policy Directive--but, in all these domains, NASA provides 
research and support from that, and seeks to transition that 
research to operational capabilities in other agencies. The one 
exception, I would say that is there is that, in a case of, you 
know, planetary defense, we do have an operational role, as 
well; namely, the monitoring of the objects out there. There's 
not another agency to transition that to. The response to it, 
of course, is a multi-agency response.
    The Chairman. OK. Now, I don't know if all four of you can 
deal with this in the 3 minutes that I have left, but we've got 
the Tunguska event in 1908, hundreds of times stronger than the 
bomb at Hiroshima. You've got this air burst over Russia in 
2013 caused by a 20-meter-sized object exploding. And then, Mr. 
O'Connell, you mentioned in your testimony this near miss that 
could have resulted in thousands of debris objects.
    Ideally, how serious would these have been to folks living 
on the Earth? And if we had the resources, how would you stop 
these? What would you have done, back in 1908 or 2013, if you 
had the resources?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. On the impactor, the 1908 one, with the 
tools that we currently have, our hope would be that we would 
see it coming. So, we actually saw it on an early orbit, and we 
should see them coming. Now, the reason I'm saying it, our hope 
will be----
    The Chairman. See it coming and you run?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. No. Well--so, the first--see it coming. In 
many cases, the right answer to, ``How do we react to that?'' 
is, in fact, running, because it--depending on which angle 
we're at, you know, that--the idea is to get out of the way of 
harm. Just like we evacuate our population with a hurricane, we 
would, in this case, evacuate people from that. In some future, 
we currently don't have, but we're working on, what we'd 
actually like to see is the option of deflecting it. That's why 
we do the collision experiment with DART, to learn that 
technology, how to deflect an object out of its path, away--
either in the ocean or away from Earth entirely. That takes 
energy, but that's a future that we want to build. At this 
moment in time, the answer, mostly, is to know exactly where 
it's coming, and protect life and property, wherever possible.
    Mr. Murtagh. Senator----
    The Chairman. I'd like to comment briefly. The----
    Mr. Murtagh.--one thing to add to the list, you didn't 
mention--so, there was an event, a space weather event in 2012 
that was a near miss. We often categorize it as a century-class 
event. It was--the eruption occurred on the other side of the 
Sun. It wasn't facing the Earth. But, we believe that that 
particular event was similar to a big event that occurred in 
1859, and it would have a significant impact on Earth, and 
especially the electric power grid. So, everything we're 
talking about with the observations, the research, and getting 
the research into operations, is all about better predicting 
those kind of big events.
    The Chairman. If you know it's coming, what do you do?
    Mr. Murtagh. We alert the power grid, in particular, as 
much notice as possible, and they take the action necessary to 
mitigate from the induced current that's going to occur once 
that eruption hits us here at Earth. It's all about timely and 
accurate notification, and they must do the right thing.
    The Chairman. Why don't the other two of you take half a 
minute each.
    Mr. O'Connell. Thanks, Senator.
    By coincidence, the event that I discussed took place in 
low-Earth orbit over Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But, in fact, 
people on Earth were not really expected to be impacted, had 
there been a collision. And, in fact, many of the objects might 
have burned up coming through the atmosphere. Almost all of 
them would have burned up.
    The threat we're really concerned about is the----
    The Chairman. Almost all of them.
    Mr. O'Connell.--the threat to investment, to all of the--
threat to investment of all the billions of dollars that we 
have invested in space, and those of our allies, et cetera, for 
the services that we expect on Earth. And that's what we're 
really worried about. Less, the debris coming down. There are 
rare occurrences of debris falling around the world. Very, very 
small numbers of examples. But, the impact we're really worried 
about is the effect on space commerce and our national security 
satellites and the Space Station, and things like that.
    The Chairman. Dr. Jah.
    Dr. Jah. I don't have too much to add to what has 
previously been said, except for the fact that--what I tell my 
students is, in order to know something, you have to measure 
it. And if you want to understand it, you have to predict it. 
And we can't predict very well. And so, we--that really hinders 
our decisionmaking process.
    The Chairman. Senator Cantwell.
    Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Murtagh, following up, writ large, on space weather 
forecasting, why not launch a satellite sooner than 2024?
    Mr. Murtagh. So, we--the satellites we have in place right 
now, the DSCOVR spacecraft, we had an issue with it, but, 
fortunately, it'll be back in operations by the beginning of 
next month. And that's our solar wind satellite. And we've also 
still have the NASA ACE spacecraft. So, we've got two 
spacecraft up there now providing us this key information. So, 
the planned launch in 2024, we believe, and Dr. Zurbuchen can 
correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think ACE should be good, 
fuel-wise. True----
    Dr. Zurbuchen. Absolutely.
    Mr. Murtagh. --2025.
    Dr. Zurbuchen. Absolutely.
    Mr. Murtagh. So, we have two spacecraft up there right now 
that will provide those critical solar wind measurements. So, 
the timing should be just right to get that into orbit, the new 
space weather follow-on, by----
    Senator Cantwell. So, there's no additional information or 
support that you would like to see?
    Mr. Murtagh. So, the--we have--currently, our biggest 
concern is the SOHO spacecraft. The SOHO was launched December 
1995. You mentioned earlier that--how old some of these 
spacecraft are.
    Senator Cantwell. Right.
    Mr. Murtagh. There's a coronagraph onboard that spacecraft. 
It is a single-point failure, to some degree. But, NASA--again, 
thank you--have a STEREO mission, and the STEREO spacecraft 
that's going around the Sun in the next 4 or 5 years will be in 
a location that it will--and it has a coronagraph--will help 
us. So, we won't be blind. We'll be hurting a little bit if we 
lose that spacecraft, but we won't be blind. But, we have to 
get the coronagraph and the solar wind measurements in space by 
2024.
    Senator Cantwell. Yes. Well, mark me down as somebody who 
wants to be more aggressive in this space. So, I think this is 
critical data and information and we should be as aggressive as 
we can possibly be.
    I feel the same way about satellites for our information as 
it relates to weather. We're seeing dramatic shifts in weather 
events. And having data, since you can measure every algorithm 
in a storm now, means you have greater predictability. I feel 
the same way about space.
    Mr. Murtagh. Yes. I----
    Senator Cantwell. We're not staying ahead. I'm--you know, 
we're not--I don't know that we're hearing about European space 
forecasts, but we're definitely hearing about European weather 
forecasts that have become the standard above ours. So, look, 
if we want to be the leaders here in space, then we need to 
have the information.
    Dr. Jah, we haven't gotten enough to you today on the other 
aspect. You know, it's so interesting. There are so many bills 
in Congress, saying, ``Let's map the oceans. Let's get the 
information out there.'' And yet, here we are, with all this 
debris in space. And it could be very easy to map it and do 
something to better measure that. And yet, we're not doing 
that. You mentioned that this, you know, space situational 
awareness, the--you know, the data and algorithms that could be 
developed and that it could be open source, which is also 
interesting, so then we can pair this big data and analytics 
with it. I mean, that's, like, ``Well, let's go.'' When you say 
things like that, I'm, like, ``Let's go. What's holding us back 
from doing that?'' Because that's just really basic, you know, 
almost, like, software and information application to a problem 
that we know we have that's probably a pretty low-cost 
development. It's, like, that doesn't cost us a lot of money to 
get that done, particularly if you're adding in open source.
    Dr. Jah. Yes. So, thank you very much for that.
    One of the things that I'll say is, everybody thinks it's a 
good idea, but who's going to go first? And I think that's been 
part of this issue, is that, by and large, there has been no 
dedicated funding to actually make this happen. And so, it's 
all best-efforts basis. What--you know, it's the ``stone soup'' 
sort of model. The ``stone soup'' model is slow. It's a bit 
lethargic. I feel that if there were some dedicated resources 
to making this happen, you're going to find no shortage of 
people, not just in the United States, but even abroad, who 
would be willing to contribute to this, and really build it up.
    Senator Cantwell. Not to put you on the spot, but maybe 
your Senator will show up here, at some point in time, and say, 
``Yes, let's give it to the''--you're at University of Austin? 
Where are you? Texas. University of Texas. So, with a small 
amount of money, you could start that project.
    Dr. Jah. Yes, absolutely. I would say that we have started 
already, actually. We've started, initially funded by the FAA, 
to build this sort of crowd-source space-traffic monitoring 
system. We're partnering with Department of Commerce, with 
CRADAs, with NASA, with Space Act Agreements to get their 
information. Also, we're the first academic partner to U.S. 
Space Command for SSA data-sharing. So, we're piecing these 
things together. But, it's not--it could be accelerated if 
there was dedicated funding.
    Senator Cantwell. Yes.
    Yes, Mr. O'Connell.
    Mr. O'Connell. Thank you, Senator.
    This is exactly the idea of this open architecture data 
repository that we're talking about. Again, we're working with 
Dr. Jah and a number of other people to do this. What we really 
want to do--by definition, the data that Defense provides is 
limited because of classification and sensitivity and things. 
So, the data that they send out on Space Safety, by definition, 
control. We're going to take that as the basis for what we do 
in the architecture, add commercial data, and allow for a truly 
open exchange between commercial vendors, allies, and others, 
and apply this heavy analytics that you're--you've spoken about 
previously. This is a problem that is ripe for a big-data 
analytics problem. When Defense got into this originally, those 
capabilities did not exist. Increasingly, they are coming 
forward in the market at rapid speed, both in the space 
business, but also from a much larger----
    Senator Cantwell. Right. From the larger----
    Mr. O'Connell.--commercial base.
    Senator Cantwell. Right. That's why I'm saying this isn't 
really that hard. It's just, like, ``Let's give some money to a 
university, or whoever, to get the project going.''
    Mr. O'Connell. And this is exactly our plan at Commerce, as 
well.
    Senator Cantwell. You have a budget request? Is that what--
--
    Mr. O'Connell. Yes, we----
    Senator Cantwell.--you're saying?
    Mr. O'Connell. Yes, ma'am, we absolutely do.
    Senator Cantwell. What is it?
    Mr. O'Connell. The President's budget request is $15 
million for the Office of Space Commerce for 2021.
    Senator Cantwell. OK. But, that includes this----
    Mr. O'Connell. Oh, absolutely, the----
    Senator Cantwell.--development of a software open-
architecture system.
    Mr. O'Connell. Yes, ma'am, absolutely.
    Senator Cantwell. OK.
    Mr. O'Connell. The bulk of our resource request in 2021 is 
for the Space Situational Awareness Mission that I've described 
here today.
    Senator Cantwell. Is that enough, Dr. Jah, to do the kind 
of mapping that we're talking about?
    Dr. Jah. Yes. So--you know, I've been looking at this for 
quite some time, and I would say that if we had something on 
the order of $15 million a year to bring just--not just 
University of Texas, but other research institutions to work as 
a consortium toward this, I think we'd start seeing very quick 
results, and you'd start seeing things turn around in a 
positive direction rather quickly.
    Senator Cantwell. Great.
    Thank you very much.
    Senator Cantwell [presiding]. I think--Senator Gardner.

                STATEMENT OF HON. CORY GARDNER, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO

    Senator Gardner. Thank you, Ranking Member Cantwell.
    And, to the panelists today, thank you very much for being 
here today to help educate us on needs, but also your service 
to our country. Thank you very much.
    Dr. Murtagh, welcome from Boulder, Colorado. We're proud of 
the work that you do, grateful for it. So, thank you very much.
    In preparation for today's hearing, I checked out 
SpaceWeather.com and was looking--learned a couple of things 
there. Number one, the satellite, SOHO, that we've talked about 
is flaking insulation and makes the coronagraphs a little--look 
a little streaky. I've learned about that. And I also learned 
that cosmic rays are surging, which sounds a little too hip for 
Congress right now, so I don't know if you could talk, in 
SpaceWeather, in terms of what that means, and then get into a 
little bit about the Space Weather bill that we have.
    Mr. Murtagh. Well, the cosmic-rays-are-surging piece, first 
of all, it's--the sun goes through an 11-year cycle--solar 
maximum, solar minimum. And when it's solar maximum, the--we 
see a lot of sunspots. And, essentially, the Sun, during its 
maximum, it prohibits the influx of cosmic radiation from deep 
space, from outside the sphere of influence from the Sun. But, 
during solar minimum, when things quieten down, it allows for 
more enhanced cosmic radiation. So, it comes into play for 
NASA, for the astronauts. It even comes into play for aviation 
interests at high latitudes. So, really, it's just an inverse 
cycle. Right now, in solar minimum, the Sun is quiet, we're not 
seeing big eruptions, but we are seeing the highest levels of 
background cosmic radiation. So, that's what that's about. It's 
easily predictable. It's just up and down with the--an inverse 
with the solar cycle.
    Senator Gardner. Very good. Thank you.
    And, you know, Senator Peters and I have been working on, 
as you know the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act 
since 2016. The bill is aimed--as we've talked about here 
today, the bill is aimed at ensuring that we have a clear, 
unified Federal approach on space weather. We're continuing to 
work with our colleagues in the House on this measure. And in 
your witness--in your written testimony today, you described 
NOAA's work with its Federal partners. And so, if you could 
just, to the Committee, why, from your perspective, it's 
important to have a clear, unified, long-term strategy to space 
weather at the Federal level.
    Mr. Murtagh. The space weather impacts so many different 
technologies, so many different critical infrastructures. It 
was--we recognized, a decade ago, we needed to--all the Federal 
departments and agencies needed to work together to--we needed 
some kind of cohesive approach to address this threat. So, at 
the White House, in the last administration, continuing through 
this administration, the Space Weather Operations and Research 
and Mitigation Committee, or Task Force, was formed with 20 
different Federal departments and agencies to define the 
actions necessary to mitigate this threat of space weather. 
What we're very excited about with the action in Congress is, 
this will codify many of the actions that we have defined in 
that action plan. An action plan--as you know, an action plan 
or strategy, in itself, sure, it's good, but it doesn't have 
the force of law, if you will. We either need executive order 
or we need something from Congress to really move this thing 
along, especially when you've got so many different agencies, 
so many different departments involved in it. That's what the 
legislation is doing. I commend you for your leadership on 
that. It identifies lots of the things that we've identified in 
the strategy and action plan that must happen if we are going 
to make this Nation more resilient to space weather.
    Senator Gardner. Very good. And you mentioned NSF, as well. 
This Committee has done a lot of work on the National Science 
Foundation, and increased funding along the way. Could you talk 
about which NSF directorates the administration is working with 
and consulting to bolster its space weather efforts?
    Mr. Murtagh. Sure. So, we work with different groups in the 
NSF. For different--for instance, we get the GONG information, 
which is a ground network, where we work with the National 
Solar Observatory. That information is critical for our 
prediction. We work with the NSF headquarters, the GEO group on 
the information that they provide. They do a lot of funding for 
some of the critical research needs, so we work closely with 
them. They're part of that White House group I was mentioning. 
So, they're in lockstep with us every step of the way and with, 
also, NASA. We actually have an MOU, a memorandum of agreement, 
between the three different agencies, identifying roles and 
responsibilities and how we can work best together.
    Senator Gardner. Very good. Thank you.
    And I'm going to cut it short, because I've got to go vote, 
as has everybody on the Committee. So, I'm going to put the 
Committee in a brief recess for a few minutes. Senator Wicker--
Chairman Wicker will be right back to resume the hearing 
immediately. So, we'll have a few minutes of a break, and then 
we will get back to business.
    So, with that, I will put the Committee into recess.
    The Chairman has just taken the Committee out of recess, 
so----
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman [presiding]. Well, hello. So, what did I miss?
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. I don't--you know, I don't know why the 
leadership does this to us. It's--we're in the middle of four 
votes. And normally, we wouldn't have these until, say, noon or 
maybe early afternoon. But, for some reason, it was deemed 
proper to have them at 10:30 today. And so, here we are.
    I'll tell you that Mr. Thune, our Whip, denies any 
responsibility for causing this.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. So, what have we missed? Let's summarize. Who 
would like to--let's pretend I'm the last questioner, which I 
will not be. What would you like to follow up on that other 
Senators have asked about?
    Mr. O'Connell.
    Mr. O'Connell. Thank you, Senator.
    I wanted to go back to your question a few minutes ago on 
authorities, and I'd like to frame it in a slightly different 
way.
    The Chairman. OK.
    Mr. O'Connell. Because people sometimes ask me, Why would 
the Commerce Department be involved in this mission area? And 
I'd like to say that we are already tapping into a wide range 
of skills and expertise within the Department. On the one hand, 
with NOAA, my colleague Bill Murtagh here, the Space Weather 
Prediction Center--and again, there's a nice technical affinity 
between space weather and what we have to do on space 
situational awareness. But, obviously, as we sit here, NOAA's 
protecting satellites from space debris 24/7 at a facility not 
too far from here. And so, we're drawing upon that expertise. 
But, that's only one part of what we're doing in pursuit of our 
SSA mission. We're drawing on the National Institutes for 
Standards and technology and their role in both evaluating and 
organizing standards development. Dr. Jah talked about the need 
for rules of the road, which is different from the technology 
architecture that I mentioned as well. We have NTIA, other 
parts of the Department. And so, what we're trying to do from 
the office in pursuit of this specific mission is leverage the 
entire Department to help out as we try to improve the Nation's 
space situational awareness capabilities. And, as well, we're 
working very closely with NASA--in particular, up to at Goddard 
and out at Ames, the two centers there, because they have 
activities underway which are centrally related to what we're 
doing on SSA.
    The Chairman. OK. Anybody want to follow up on that?
    OK, there--we had testimony, before I left the room about a 
near miss, where, basically it was described as a ``game of 
chicken.'' And--was that your testimony, Dr. Jah? And, 
basically, those were two objects that are operational and 
could have been moved. And I think one eventually was. How--
what percent of the Defense and space-related potential 
accidents would be described in that category, as opposed to 
the ones where--that you can't move them at all, it's just a 
matter of hoping they don't hit and dealing with that if it 
happens?
    Dr. Jah. Yes. So, I can't give you actual percentages, but 
I can tell you this. We've created a conjunction streaming 
service--it's a website that anybody in the public can access--
where you can actually see, over a continuous 20-minute window, 
how many things come within, say, 10 kilometers of each other. 
And it happens a lot.
    The Chairman. Who has access to that?
    Dr. Jah. Yes, you do right now on your cellphone.
    The Chairman. OK.
    Dr. Jah. Yes. I--I'll give you the website here in----
    The Chairman. Well, come up here and help me. No, no, I'm 
just kidding.
    [Laughter.]
    Dr. Jah. OK. Yes, but these things happen very frequently 
all the time between debris-on-debris, one thing works and the 
other thing's dead, two things are working. I would say one of 
the major issues that we have is ignorance. We're very ignorant 
of what's happening in space. The domain, as a whole, is poorly 
monitored----
    The Chairman. I mean, even people at the scientific 
knowledge level of you four gentlemen, there's a lot you don't 
know----
    Dr. Jah. Oh, yes.
    The Chairman. that you're ignorant about.
    Dr. Jah. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. The thing is--look, let me put 
it this way. The world's largest, most awesome catalog of 
objects orbiting the Earth, maintained by the Department of 
Defense, are all modeled as spheres, they're all assumed to be 
cannonballs. You know how many of those things look like 
cannonballs? Not much. So, the thing is, we don't have a 
taxonomy, a classification scheme, for these human-made objects 
in space. You know, we treat Vespa scooters and semis 
differently, and we regulate them differently. We treat kayaks 
and oil tankers differently on the oceans. But, in space, 
everything's, like, the same thing. And it's not. So, there's a 
lot that we don't know, actually.
    The Chairman. In a situation that you've described, the 
parties were SpaceX, on the one hand, and what was the other--
--
    Dr. Jah. The European Space Agency.
    The Chairman. OK. And in the end, the European Space 
Agency----
    Dr. Jah. Made the maneuver.
    The Chairman.--out of an abundance of caution, made the 
maneuver.
    Dr. Jah. Yes.
    The Chairman. I take it there's not an international 
protocol about how that should be resolved.
    Dr. Jah. Correct.
    The Chairman. OK. And is that something we need on a global 
basis, some----
    Dr. Jah. Absolutely.
    The Chairman.--International----
    Dr. Jah. Yes, that is critical, that we get something like 
that in place. And I would say, even more so, the body of 
evidence that people have to make those decisions are all 
different. And so, based on my information, looks like it's not 
a hazard. Oh, but based on my information, it looks like--
there's no common pot of shareable knowledge to where everybody 
can infer stuff from that same body of evidence so that they 
can reach some sort of standard or some consensus.
    The Chairman. OK. Are we anywhere down the road in 
approaching some sort of international protocol?
    Yes, Mr. O'Connell.
    Mr. O'Connell. Senator, if I may.
    As we speak, there's an interagency group in Vienna, at the 
United Nations, the Science and Technical Working Group in 
Vienna, which is actually working to promote space safety 
standards. OK? It's been a long history there. And, in fact, 
the Russians actually stalled the most basic of principles--
they're known as the 21 Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines--
for the better part of a decade. Our diplomats, NASA, even 
Commerce are in Vienna right now arguing for reasonable 
approaches to international cooperation on this.
    One of the aspects that they have explicitly included in 
their efforts is the role of the private sector in space, and 
how it's growing, and the extent to which we have to 
accommodate a growing commercial space world into those rules 
and standards. But, that part of the discussion, as well as 
industry-based standards and best practices, have to be part of 
this rules-of-the-road discussion that is--needs to happen in 
parallel, some of the technical developments.
    The Chairman. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is meeting in 
Vienna next week. Do you think I should take time out to run 
over to that office and chat with them?
    Mr. O'Connell. Sir, you're certainly more than welcome to. 
I think the discussions are underway right now and this week, 
so I don't think they'll still be in play. There is a--the U.N. 
Space--Office of Outer Space Affairs that you could certainly 
visit.
    The Chairman. And that is a U.N. office----
    Mr. O'Connell. That is a U.N. office.
    The Chairman.--that is----
    Mr. O'Connell. Absolutely.
    The Chairman.--located----
    Mr. O'Connell. And, of course, the U.S. mission in Vienna 
is actively involved in this, as well, and they could probably 
give you a readout of the developments that are taking place 
this week.
    The Chairman. OK.
    Responses by Mr. Murtagh or Dr. Zurbuchen?
    Mr. Murtagh. From the space weather perspective, it's 
interesting that--just--you know, you're looking at this panel 
here, Senator, and we are actually going to take one of Dr. 
Jah's students in, in our center, this summer to work with us. 
And we just sent one of our people into Kevin's office to work 
with him, because the space environment--they--the density of 
where these spacecraft are orbiting in low-Earth orbit can 
change during space weather. And we get these big eruptions, 
all of a sudden the spacecraft is traveling at this speed. It's 
here now, it's supposed to be here in an hour from now, but 
it's not. Why? Because one of these big eruptions. Obviously, 
that plays into calculations of--for debris and collision 
avoidance. So, that element of space weather is key. Dr. Jah 
talked to me before this meeting just about how we're going to 
work this together. But, it's a key piece. We've got to be able 
to predict that better so they have the information, so that we 
have the information necessary to protect these critical assets 
in lower-Earth orbit.
    The Chairman. OK. Just one moment. Let me check on--let me 
try to be situationally aware of my colleagues.
    We're--this first 15-minute vote is taking longer than 15 
minutes.
    So, let's do this. If we leave this hearing with one or two 
takeaways, and if the listening public needs to know the basic 
bottom line, who will help us with those goals? You want to 
start, Dr. Zurbuchen?
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I would say that the first bullet in a 
summary like that would be that all of these elements that 
we've talked about are absolutely important, and they're 
increasingly important as we advance as a technological 
society. Some of them have been with us for--well, all of them 
have been with us for millennia. But, the impact of these 
issues is increasingly important.
    The second element is that the--there are multiple roles to 
play. All of them need to be done in a coherent and a 
deliberate fashion. The roles include research. There's much of 
what we're looking at, in any one of those domains, that we 
don't currently understand. We need to advance our 
understanding to that. The second element is, there are 
government regulatory functions that are in other agencies and 
operational functions that need to be stood up. But, in all 
cases, I think it's critical to understand that the 
regulations, as well as the research, need to involve a broad 
community of stakeholders outside of the government, such as 
academia, and, increasingly, I believe, the commercial sector, 
at the level that has been stated.
    So, that's how I would summarize it.
    The Chairman. All right.
    Dr. Murtagh--Mr. Murtagh.
    Mr. Murtagh. The--Senator, the observations that we rely on 
to provide the alerts and warnings are critical. So, my message 
would be that we have to support and recognize the value of 
that information to our operations. Should we lose some of 
those key spacecraft that we talk about, I won't say we're 
blind, but we're darn close. It will impact our ability to 
support this Nation's need for space weather services. And I 
don't want to see that happen. So, observations are critical.
    And one other piece I'd like to touch on--and Dr. Zurbuchen 
just kind of teed it up for me--he talked about the research, 
recognizing there's so--we have so much we need to do to better 
understand and predict space weather. But, the next piece on 
that is getting that research into operations, the--to have a 
formal process to transition research to operations. Much like 
the National Weather Service had for the--has for meteorology, 
we need that in space weather. There's an awful lot of money 
been pumped into the research, into the science community, some 
great work being done, but there's this funnel. We need to get 
that information into our operations center to improve our 
predictions for the Nation.
    The Chairman. Good.
    Let's do this. We'll recognize Senator Scott at this point, 
and then we do want to give our other two witnesses an 
opportunity to summarize and follow up on what has been said by 
the others, later on.
    So, at this point, Senator Scott.

                 STATEMENT OF HON. RICK SCOTT, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA

    Senator Scott. First, I want to thank Chairman Wicker for 
holding this important hearing.
    For Chairman Wicker's State and my State, the space 
industry is a pretty big deal. And we're--it's very--you know, 
we've got Kennedy Space Center. I just--I've only been here a 
year. I finished 8 years as Governor, and we put a lot of money 
into trying to--we--trying to make sure the Kennedy Space 
Center and our entire Space Coast thrived. Right before I 
became Governor is when the Obama administration stopped manned 
flight, and it had a pretty big impact. But, now we can't find 
enough people to work in our space industry, which is really 
nice.
    So, what do you think that we can do at the Federal level, 
what can Congress do, to more effectively promote, you know, 
at--both at the Federal level, at the State level, and at the 
private level, growth and innovation in our space industry? 
What do you think there are things we should be doing that 
we're not doing? Or we should be doing better, or more of?
    Mr. O'Connell. If I may. Thank you, Senator. Nice to see 
you again.
    Senator Scott. Nice seeing you.
    Mr. O'Connell. There are a wide range of things that are 
already underway. The first is to encourage the 
entrepreneurship we see in this country. One of the best things 
that I see in my job at the Office of Space Commerce is the 
wide range of entrepreneurs that knock on our door every day. 
The state of space entrepreneurship in this country is 
absolutely incredible. It's backed by an ecosystem of finance 
and insurance that actually helps enable it.
    I think what we're trying to do is do a couple of things. 
We're trying to streamline regulations related to that. And we 
need your assistance in helping with that, modernizing some of 
the legal basis for regulations that we have today. And then, 
to the point of this hearing, we think the space situational 
awareness mission is critically important.
    Let me come at it from a slightly different perspective. 
The growth that we're seeing in space commerce is really based 
on the fact that we're applying business efficiencies to a 
traditional government business model, if you will. And this is 
why we see concepts of reusability and lean manufacturing, and 
things like that. And the result of that has been that that has 
lowered the cost of access to and operations in space.
    The--one of the risks of space debris is that it will raise 
those costs and complexities once again. And that's why, in the 
plan that we have in Space Policy Directive 3, the initial 
emphasis is on improving space situational awareness so people 
understand where they are, where there's risk, and it's done in 
a highly timely and accurate fashion for the kinds of space 
missions that we see coming into space today.
    Mr. Murtagh. I'll just piggyback a little bit on that. And 
the proposed legislation from Senators Peter and Senator 
Gardner on space weather kind of covers this. And it is 
bringing in the private sector more into our community. We're a 
little bit different, because we're the space weather. We've 
got a budding kind of space weather services community out 
there doing some really good work, really interesting work. One 
company is--centers on the NOAA buoys. We arrange that through 
the U.S. Air Force so that we're getting sensing the ionosphere 
out in that remote area of the ocean, which will be very useful 
to us. Another company is working with the Texas power grid on 
assessing how vulnerable the grid is in Texas to geomagnetic 
storms.
    So, the private-sector growth, I think, is something we 
should be supporting the legislators' language in the 
legislation that helps do that. So, that's something I'm--I 
feel very positive about that's coming out of Congress.
    Dr. Zurbuchen. I spent the weekend at Kennedy, and we had 
one of the most beautiful launches I've ever seen. It's really 
great to launch in a full-moon night.
    I believe one of the things that we're already doing--and 
I'm excited to be doing with the kind of regulations that are 
being set up, which is to take advantage of the industry that's 
out there, in the sense that we actually can do things in a 
different fashion. For example, as we go to the Moon, we do so 
with commercial lunar payload services as the fastest element 
of it, in which we--instead of building our own landers, we 
actually go out there and say, ``Can we buy services from 
companies that say that they can do so?'' And there are 
companies all over the country that have built and are actually 
in that segment now. The same is true with Earth observation 
data. We have companies, for their own motivation, commercial 
motivation, which is how a company should work, have built 
satellites that are looking at the Earth in novel fashion, and 
in a way we wouldn't have done with NASA. We now try to become 
customers of those data by taking the data and actually finding 
out what the right value is to make that data available to the 
scientific community at large; and therefore, both helping the 
companies, because there's an additional customer, but, at the 
same time, also enhance the scientific community by making that 
data available. So, it's elements like that, I think, will be 
an important part of that answer.
    Dr. Jah. I think, you know, for me, I remember the days of, 
you know, at least studying, not personally, the renaissance 
and how scientists used to have a lot of knowledge in different 
parts of physics and mathematics. And these days, we've become 
so specialized and problems have become so difficult that we 
have these stovepipes of excellence. And I think we need a 
better renaissance. We need to have a new renaissance for space 
that recognizes that space weather, you know, planetary 
defense, space situational awareness, all these things have 
interdependencies and play with each other. So, there needs to 
be a more holistic view in how to approach the problem. And I 
think we could achieve great things if we did that.
    Senator Scott. I have another question. Do you--are we out 
of time?
    The Chairman. You know, in light of the attendance, take as 
much time as you'd like.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Scott. So, in many areas, China has become our 
adversary. And, I think, in space it's an area where China has 
become an adversary. How, from a national security standpoint, 
are we able to make sure that our advances, our innovation is 
not being stolen and used by the Chinese government?
    Dr. Jah. I'll put it this way. In my own research program, 
one of my postdocs is from China. And when you go to a lot of 
U.S. universities, you see a lot of people that are from China 
and go back. Last year, I was invited to go there to give some 
short courses on methods of orbit determination, and I will say 
that they have very, very smart people over there.
    One of the things that I've always done to try to make sure 
that I'm at the leading edge is just to make sure that I'm out 
in front of everybody else. We're not going to be able to 
occult or become so insular that we can make sure or prevent 
China from doing this, that, or the other. We just need to be 
better. And to do that, we actually need to provide resources 
to, again, get great U.S. citizens through that process of 
STEM. And I think we're failing when it comes to that.
    There are so many students, so many, they e-mail me all the 
time, ``Dr. Jah, can I be part of your research program?'' ``I 
don't have the resources to bring you on.'' And so, I'm turning 
U.S. citizens away because--not because we don't have room. We 
just don't have the support.
    Senator Scott. Yes, sir.
    Mr. O'Connell. Senator, we know that China has very 
ambitious space plans. One of the things we're doing in the 
Office of Space Commerce is, we're hearing routinely from 
industry about the kinds of behaviors that they are 
experiencing in the market from Chinese competitors. And so, 
many people in the U.S. Government are focused on the totality 
of the China Space Program. We're focused on things like unfair 
pricing, economic espionage, anticompetitive practices, things 
like that. And we're going to increasingly call attention to 
those kinds of behaviors as we see it in the market. Very 
important problem to pay attention to.
    Dr. Zurbuchen. Within NASA, of course, we have a series of 
regulations that limit us from interaction with China at a 
certain level, and we follow those rules. I would like to say 
that, for us, relative to out-innovating everybody, whether 
it's the Chinese, the Europeans, or anybody, is certainly a 
goal that I see. I think we should always, every time, even in 
a place where we're in a leadership position, we should be 
nervous about that leadership position, because leaders who are 
nervous remain leaders. And so, for me, I'm nervous, and I make 
everybody nervous around me about that. And I will continue to 
do so as I'm working in this agency.
    I do believe that the second way of really leading in this 
is to establish the standards of behavior, and internationally 
enforce them. That is--and some of the--how science is done--
largely speaking, if you want to be a scientists of any 
international stature, you have to follow the rules that, 
largely, were developed in our society, were developed in our 
agencies, and so forth. I want to be in the business to, kind 
of, be first in places so we can actually establish the rules. 
And I believe some of the discussions that we have on space 
situational awareness, some of the other discussions, follow 
that paradigm, as well. I think it's important that we set the 
rules and we also, frankly, enforce them, whether it's in the 
civil space or elsewhere.
    Senator Scott. The Chinese government is clearly sending 
people over here to steal our--steal--I mean, they're sending 
them to our universities, they're doing a--they're 
participating in research projects, basically, to steal things. 
I mean, they--I mean, they are--they're clearly an adversary. 
They don't want to play by the rules. They're never going to--I 
don't care what they agree to, they're not going to do it. I 
don't believe, in the new trade deal, they're comply with it. 
So, I'm glad the Trump administration is trying things like 
that. I just don't believe the Chinese government's ever going 
to comply with anything. They never have in--they never have, 
this Chinese government hasn't. So, I think we all have to be 
very vigilant to stop the espionage and really understand they 
are an adversary, they're not a friend.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Thank you very much.
    Dr. Jah, I've got, here, on the smartphone, 
astriacss03.tacc
.utexas.edu----
    Dr. Jah.--Ui/min.html. You got it.
    The Chairman. There we go. OK.
    Now--so, I press ``Go.'' How does the uninitiated, typical 
Senate Committee Chairman----
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman.--understand this graph that's got dots going 
up and out? Is there a part of that website that gives us, as 
laymen, some idea about actually what we're seeing?
    Dr. Jah. Well, as you say exactly what you're saying, I'm 
secretly e-mailing my grad students to create such a mechanism 
to better inform you about what you're seeing. But, I can give 
you a quick soundtrack. OK?
    The Chairman. OK.
    Dr. Jah. Basically, what we're doing is, we're taking all 
the information that we believe we know about stuff in space, 
and we're predicting, over a continuous 20-minute window, how 
many of those objects, two at a time, might come within 10 
kilometers of each other. And if there are any predicted 
conjunctions, as we call them, any predicted two objects that 
are going to come within, say, 10 kilometers of each other, it 
plots that. And so, what you see is this sliding window. You 
see these dots. The red dots are: both objects are debris, they 
can't move, just like the stuff that happened over Pittsburgh, 
recently. You will see some yellow dots: one of the things 
could move, the other one, presumably, is defunct. And then the 
green dots are: both could actually do something about it.
    Twenty minutes is not long enough for it to be actionable. 
Consider it a crawl-walk-run capability. But, it shows you that 
there are many predicted conjunctions that are happening right 
now, and continuously. So, even though conjunctions doesn't 
equal collisions, thank goodness, because then, you know--yes, 
we'd have a bigger problem on our hands. But, it tells you 
there are many things crisscrossing each other constantly.
    Now, one of the other things that you're going to see on 
the top, you're going to see some histograms. The top-right 
histogram is relative speed. And you're going to see a spike 
somewhere around 15 kilometers per second. Yikes.
    The Chairman. It's right there, yes.
    Dr. Jah. Yes. So, 1 kilometer per second is the speed of a 
bullet, 15 kilometers per second, you know, is quite fast. And 
so, the damage that a very small thing could do at that speed 
is considerable. And so, this is part of what we need to be 
concerned about, is that, you know, we're sitting here in this 
room, talking about these things, but things in space are 
happening, regardless of what we discuss. So.
    The Chairman. Good.
    Well, I'm going to run, vote, and leave the gavel with 
Senator Blackburn. I will be back.
    Thank you so much.

              STATEMENT OF HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM TENNESSEE

    Senator Blackburn [presiding]. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And thank you all for being here. I have to tell you, it's 
a fascinating hearing.
    And, Dr. Jah, it must be fascinating to be in your class. I 
am sure that your University of Texas students enjoy taking 
your class and learning from you.
    Mr. O'Connell, I want to come to you first. Space Policy 
Directive 3--and, of course, we apologize for being in and 
out--in transferring from DOD to Commerce, if you would 
comment--I don't know if anyone's asked you, but we would like 
an update on how that transition is going, what you see as 
problems, or has there been anything identified as needing 
extra attention.
    Mr. O'Connell. So, Senator, thank you very much for the 
question.
    We have moved out, from day one of Space Policy Directive 3 
at the Commerce Department, to actually implement that. And I'm 
not sure if you were here during part of my testimony. One of 
the first things we did was establish a very close partnership 
with the Department of Defense, and now the Space Force 
officials who are going to actually help that. We actually 
assigned a senior Commerce liaison at Vandenberg Air Force 
Base, California. So, he is literally sitting there, watching 
how the system currently exists, how it operates today.
    And, for those that don't know, Space Policy Directive 3 
mandates this transition, for two important reasons. One, 
because the Department of Defense has other missions it needs 
to tend to in space. But, second, because the system that we 
have in place today is in need of modernization. In particular, 
it would not scale to the kind of commercial space world that 
we're heading into at lightning speed.
    And so, the partnership has been absolutely outstanding, so 
far. Having somebody on the ground there at Vandenberg is very 
important.
    Another thing that we've done is that the Air Force shared 
with us something called the Unified Data Library, which is a 
tool that they have of sensor data as kind of a first step for 
us to look on what we would put into our open architecture as 
we develop it. And so, we've been evaluating that tool, what's 
useful about it, you know, where are the places that we won't 
be able to use it, even as we think about how to create this 
architecture. We're thinking, partly, of leveraging some of 
NOAA's cloud computing resources.
    You know, some of this is really about applying modern 
technology--a lot of this is about applying modern technology 
and business concepts to the space situational awareness 
enterprise. And I'll give you one simple example. If you were 
to go to Vandenberg, you have an extensive operations floor for 
the many different missions the Department of Defense operates 
there. And sometimes people will say to me, ``Hey, Kevin, are 
you trying to create another Vandenberg?'' Absolutely not. The 
piece of this that we're going to transition is the on-orbit 
collision notifications piece for the private sector and for 
international actors. And so, in my mind, I have a modern 
version of an operations center, a small activity. In fact, 
Bill Murtagh, in the Space Weather Prediction Center, has a 
modern government version of that kind of an operations 
center--small number of people, lots of data, globally, that 
they can leverage. We've also seen many commercial examples of 
that.
    And so, the partnership, again, is--been very strong. It's 
continuing. It starts at the Secretary Ross and General Raymond 
level, but it goes all the way down throughout the organization 
and the different things that we have to do to move this along.
    Senator Blackburn. Well, some of us that are working from 
the Defense end on great-power competition----
    Mr. O'Connell. Yes, ma'am.
    Senator Blackburn.--and are needing those bright young 
minds to come in, we realize, fully, that we need to think 
differently about how we look at 21st-century warfare, how we 
look at the utilization of everything that is going to be done 
with spectrum that we're going to do with satellites, that 
we're going to--how we're going to utilize these technologies, 
and that, many times, we don't need to in-house something that 
we need to do more to engage the commercial sector. So, we have 
been interested in following this and looking at what you all 
are going to do, and then rebooting the potential between NASA 
and NOAA, and bringing Commerce to bear in this.
    You all have been patient with us. I do have a couple of 
other questions.
    Dr. Murtagh, let me come to you. When we talk about 
hazardous space weather, what are the limitations that are--
that you deal with when you are looking at the predictability 
of space weather? Where are your limitations?
    Mr. Murtagh. They are many.
    Senator Blackburn. I know there are many----
    Mr. Murtagh. Yes.
    Senator Blackburn.--but----
    Mr. Murtagh. And it'll----
    Senator Blackburn.--build out a little bit of a framework.
    Mr. Murtagh. Sure. It's--I'll start right at the Sun. We--
what we're looking for in the Space Weather Prediction Center 
is the development of sunspots. That's kind of the----
    Senator Blackburn. OK.
    Mr. Murtagh.--localized magnetic stressed areas in the Sun 
that will produce the eruptions. We have no real capability to 
predict when those sunspots are going to----
    Senator Blackburn. OK.
    Mr. Murtagh.--occur. So, we could be sitting, today, very 
quiet, and, 2 days from now, have a major sunspot cluster 
evolve.
    Senator Blackburn. OK.
    Mr. Murtagh. So, that's a big drawback in our ability to 
predict this stuff. And when they do occur, and the eruption 
occurs, this coronal mass ejection is shot out into space, 
sometimes right toward Earth. It's like a magnet just got shot 
out into space. We don't know the magnetic structure within 
that coronal mass ejection, we call it, so it takes, maybe, 20 
or 30 hours to get from the Sun to the Earth, but, until it 
hits that spacecraft, our buoy in space, that it's DSCOVR or 
ACE spacecraft, we don't know what the magnetic structure is 
like. And that is everything to us, because that'll tell us how 
these two magnets, Earth's magnetic field and this Sun magnet 
that just got shot out, how are they going to couple together.
    Senator Blackburn. And so, this is----
    Mr. Murtagh. But, that's a great----
    Senator Blackburn.--what causes the national security and 
the grid security risk.
    Mr. Murtagh. That's correct. That last piece is the big 
piece. We've got to get that information out to the grid. We 
have a process where we notify the North American Electrical 
Liability Corporation Reliability Centers, 20 of them around 
the entire United States and Canada. As soon as we detect these 
things and we recognize that they--the magnetic response will 
be big, we get that information out to them immediately so that 
they can redistribute that information to all their power-
generation and transmission entities in their areas of 
responsibility to take the appropriate action to keep the 
lights on.
    Senator Blackburn. We thank you for that.
    With that, no one else is here. Let me close our hearing.
    The hearing record will remain open for two weeks. During 
this time, Senators are asked to submit any questions for the 
record. Upon receipt, the witnesses are requested to submit 
their written answers to the Committee as soon as possible.
    At this, I want to thank the witnesses for being here 
today.
    And the Committee is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:27 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

      Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Mike Lee to 
                        Thomas Zurbuchen, Ph.D.
    Question 1. The Utah State University Space Dynamics Lab has long 
partnered with the University of Arizona and NASA's Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory on the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveillance Mission. The 
main purpose of the NEO Surveillance Mission is to help discover and 
characterize potentially hazardous asteroids, which enables us to take 
preventative action should we find an asteroid that is on a life-
threatening path towards Earth.
    Could you provide a status update on the NEO Surveillance Mission?
    Answer, The NASA Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission (NEOSM) 
Science Mission Directorate (SMD) flight project now in formulation 
would accelerate the discovery of undetected NEOs (and therefore, the 
completion of the George E. Brown (GEB) survey) by positioning a 
spacecraft operating in the infrared part of the spectrum at the Sun-
Earth L1 gravity Lagrange point. A space-based, infrared capability was 
recommended by the June 2019 National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report ``Finding Hazardous Asteroids 
Using Infrared and Visible Wavelength Telescopes.'' In addition to 
development and delivery to orbit, NASA capabilities include the 
necessary analysis of data for detection, tracking and characterization 
of potentially hazardous objects. NASA estimates that the GEB survey 
goal would be achieved approximately 10 years after the mission begins 
on-orbit operations.
    FY 2020 funding for the mission is $35.6 million, consistent with 
FY 2020 appropriations report language which allowed entry into the 
formulation phase. As such, a mission management structure has been 
established with all key stakeholders. The mission recently completed 
its System Requirements Review (SRR)/mission definition review (MDR) 
life-cycle review. It is anticipated that NEOSM will be ready to 
complete the Key Decision Point-B (KDP-B) milestone by the end of 
calendar year 2020.

    Question 2. Is there a target launch date for the NEO Surveillance 
Mission? And are there any current barriers that are delaying the 
launch date?
    Answer. The current budget projection for the Planetary Defense 
Program supports a LRD of no earlier than 2029.There are currently no 
technical barriers influencing the launch date.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Deb Fischer to 
                         Thomas Zurbuchen, Ph.D
    Question. The Planetary Protection Independent Review Board issued 
several recommendations in October 2019 regarding NASA's policy on 
planetary protection. Given those recommendations, what will be NASA's 
next steps to update the planetary protection standards, and will NASA 
ensure those standards are not so burdensome that they stifle 
commercial space activities?
    Answer. NASA has already begun updates to its internal policies, 
releasing two NASA Interim Directives on July 9, 2020--one for missions 
to the Moon and one for future human missions to Mars. An update of the 
NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) for Planetary Protections is 
underway and currently going through the formal Agency review process. 
In addition, the Office of Planetary Protection is writing a NASA 
Technical Standard that will provide clear guidance on the technical 
processes and details missions can use to comply with the NPR. The 
draft Standard reduces the burden of reporting and encourages missions 
to incorporate technical innovations based on industry standards from 
healthcare, biosafety, and other relevant sectors.
    NASA continuously seeks the input of stakeholders on issues of 
planetary protection, including the private sector. The Planetary 
Protection Independent Review Board (PPIRB) chartered by NASA consisted 
of members from multiple aerospace companies, research institutes, 
academia, and a commercial trade organization. As NASA began the 
process of implementing the recommendations of the PPIRB, it requested 
that the Space Studies Board of the National Academies of Science, 
Engineering, and Medicine create a Committee on Planetary Protection 
(CoPP) to provide advice on planetary protection policy. CoPP would 
also provide advice on the knowledge and capability gaps NASA will need 
to address in order to set planetary protection requirements for future 
missions. NASA explicitly required that the CoPP members come from a 
broad range of backgrounds and sectors, including commercial entities.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to 
                        Thomas Zurbuchen, Ph.D.
    Question 1. In your testimony, you note that several agencies--
including NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of 
Commerce--share responsibility for planetary defense from near-earth 
objects such as the asteroid that exploded over Russia in 2013, 
injuring over a thousand people. What steps is NASA taking to carry out 
these defense efforts, and would additional resources enable NASA to 
improve the effectiveness of these efforts?
    Answer. In 2016, NASA established the Planetary Defense 
Coordination Office (PDCO) to manage the ongoing mission of its 
planetary defense program. The PDCO carries out a variety of planetary 
defense efforts and works with several departments and agencies, 
including the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Defense (DoD) and 
Energy (DOE). Specifically, PDCO's responsibilities include:

   Managing NASA's Planetary Defense Program;

   Ensuring the early detection of potentially hazardous 
        objects (PHOs)--the subset of NEOs whose orbits predict they 
        will come within 5 million miles of Earth's orbit, and of a 
        size large enough (at least 30 to 50 meters) to reach Earth's 
        surface;

   Tracking and characterizing PHOs and issuing warnings about 
        potential impacts;

   Providing timely and accurate communications about PHOs;

   Studying strategies and technologies for mitigating PHO 
        impacts; and,

   Performing a lead role in coordinating U.S. Government 
        planning for response to an actual impact threat.

    The highest priority for Planetary Defense is to find any potential 
impacting object as early as possible to enable more options to 
mitigate it. The President's FY 2021 budget request includes $150 
million for planetary defense efforts, as NASA plans to continue 
support for current NEO survey projects, enhance NEO detection and 
tracking analysis capabilities, and continue instrument formulation for 
a potential space-based infrared capability, the NEO Surveillance 
Mission, that would support NEO survey objectives as identified in the 
2019 National Academies study.

    Question 2. NASA's missions are critical to efforts to address the 
growing skills gap in our economy and inspire the next generation of 
scientists and engineers. My bipartisan legislation with Senator Rubio, 
the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act, encourages veterans and 
military spouses to pursue study in STEM fields and was signed into law 
last week. What actions does NASA plan to take to continue its outreach 
to encourage students and veterans to pursue careers in STEM fields?
    Answer. NASA can only reach a sustained presence at the Moon 
beginning in 2024, if we make a concerted effort to broaden 
participation across all groups, but especially non-traditional 
students and veterans who served our Nation. NASA funds over 8,000 
interns each summer, many from minority-serving institutions. Veteran 
preference regulations already assist our efforts to help veterans in 
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. For 
outreach, NASA participates at air shows, Walter Reed Medical Center, 
U.S. Science and Engineering Festival and other large-scale public 
events to inspire students and veterans to pursue STEM fields.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to 
                        Thomas Zurbuchen, Ph.D.
Near Earth Orbit Tracking
    Question 1. Do you think we are overly reliant on medium and large 
space monitoring telescopes and satellites for Near Earth Orbit 
tracking?
    Answer. No, there are currently no medium or large space-based 
telescopes that perform NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) tracking 
efforts. One small space telescope being used by NASA, NEOWISE, is 
nearing its end of life. NASA's Planetary Defense Program sponsors 
projects through its NEO Observations Program that employ a variety of 
ground and space-based telescopes to search for NEOs, determine their 
orbits, and measure their physical characteristics.

    Question 2. Is there a role for small satellites fulfill that 
mission or, at the least, be used to fill the gaps in current data sets 
for Near Earth Orbit object tracking and warning?
    Answer. Numerous methods for increasing the NEO detection rate, 
including use of small satellites, have been assessed over the years by 
multiple organizations, including the National Academies. These studies 
concluded that small satellites could indeed increase the NEO detection 
rate, but that a space-based telescope with at least a 0.5-meter 
aperture looking in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum would 
accelerate the discovery of undetected NEOs more quickly than any other 
alternative. This size telescope is currently beyond small satellite 
capabilities.
DoD and NASA Cooperation
    Question 1. How can DoD and NASA better share data to further 
planetary defense from impacts from outer space?

    Question 2. Should DoD take a more pro-active role in this effort?
    Answer. Currently, NASA and DoD share data related to planetary 
defense, and both have an active role in implementing the National NEO 
Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan--the goal of which is to help 
organize and coordinate NEO-related efforts within Federal Departments 
and Agencies, with a particular focus on efforts that are already 
existing and resourced. The NASA NEO Observations program receives data 
from DoD assets capable of detecting and tracking asteroids, such as 
the new Space Surveillance Telescope about to begin operations in 
Australia, and on bolides--large, naturally occurring meteors--as they 
impact Earth's atmosphere. NASA, DoD, and others also routinely 
exercise NEO impact emergency procedures and action protocols, thereby 
improving emergency preparedness and response/recovery timelines. These 
activities allow for satisfactory communication and data sharing across 
not only NASA and DoD, but all Federal and international entities 
involved.
Small Satellite Deployment
    Question. How should we employ small satellites for research and 
development of systems that are able to resist space weather effects on 
our satellites?
    Answer. Small satellites (SmallSats) have opened the window of 
space research and technology development in many ways. Heliophysics, 
and space weather in particular, can benefit greatly from multi-point 
observations that are made possible by SmallSats and SmallSat 
constellations. Due to SmallSats' size and their ability to make 
coordinated measurements across vast regions in space, Heliophysics is 
able to leverage them to make in-situ observations that help inform our 
understanding of space weather effects. This improved understanding 
helps enable the development of future systems that can resist space 
weather effects on our satellites. Three examples relevant to space 
weather research and development of resistance systems are:

  1.  Investigations of the variability of the ionosphere, which is key 
        to understanding the impact of space weather on global 
        navigation, communications, and positioning systems: Over the 
        last year and in the next 24 months, no fewer than 12 SmallSats 
        have been or will be launched to conduct research relevant to 
        characterizing space weather effects on spacecraft and their 
        instruments. Each investigation has a particular stand-alone 
        focus on research or technology development that together, will 
        act as pathfinders for future constellation missions of 
        SmallSats. These investigations will provide information that 
        can be used to improve spacecraft design, engineering, and 
        operations in order to protect spacecraft and instrumentation 
        from harmful radiation. The missions are: Auroral Emission 
        Radio Observer (AERO), Daily Atmospheric Ionospheric Limb 
        Imager Mission (DAILI), Electron Losses and Fields 
        Investigation (ELFIN), Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment (E-
        TBEx), International Satellite Program in Research and 
        Education (INSPIRESat1), Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling 
        Experiment (LAICE), Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere 
        Enhancements in Density (LLITED), Oxygen Photometry of the 
        Atmospheric Limb (OPAL), Plasma Enhancements in the Ionosphere-
        Thermosphere Satellite (PetitSat), Scintillation Observations 
        and Response of the Ionosphere to Electrodynamics (SORTIE), 
        Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT), 
        and Vector Interferometry Space Technology using AERO (VISTA). 
        Additionally, NASA takes advantage of rideshare opportunities 
        to advance space weather research. Space Environment Testbeds 
        (SET-1) is a rideshare with the U.S. Air Force Demonstration 
        and Science Experiments (DSX) mission. SET-1 studies how to 
        protect satellites in space by characterizing the harsh space 
        environment near Earth and how it affects spacecraft and their 
        instruments.

  2.  PUNCH and SunRISE selections: SmallSat constellations are being 
        developed to image the solar wind (PUNCH) and to study the Sun 
        in radio waves (SunRISE). The Polarimeter to Unify the Corona 
        and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will be a group of four small 
        satellites that will provide real-time images of the solar 
        atmosphere, studying the Sun's corona and monitoring for 
        coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The Sun Radio Interferometer 
        Space Experiment (SunRISE) mission will be an array of six 
        CubeSats operating like one large radio telescope and will 
        investigate how giant space weather storms from the Sun are 
        accelerated and released into planetary space.

  3.  Access to inter-planetary space: Increased and enhanced access to 
        inter-planetary space is enabling research with SmallSats 
        directly related to space weather around the Moon, at the Sun-
        Earth Lagrange 1 point, and closer to the Sun with one 
        particular mission using solar sails.
Space Weather Mitigation Technology
    There are several NASA programs that leverage suborbital flight for 
research and tech development.

    Question. Is there a role for these in developing space weather 
mitigation technologies or practices?
    Answer. Yes, suborbital flight programs for research and tech 
development play a significant role in developing space weather 
mitigation technologies and practices. The NASA suborbital sounding 
rocket program has for over 40 years advanced technology and science, 
much of which is relevant for developing technologies that help advance 
our understanding of space weather. Compact in-situ measurement 
techniques, sensors, and mirror technologies have been developed 
through the sounding rocket program that are appropriate for SmallSats, 
as well as large missions. Additionally, the Heliophysics Flight 
Opportunities for Research and Technology (H-FORT) program element 
supports Low-Cost Access to Space (LCAS) initiatives including 
investigations conducted using suborbital vehicles (e.g., sounding 
rockets, balloons, commercial reusable suborbital launch vehicles), as 
well as CubeSats and the International Space Station (ISS).
    Technologies utilized in H-FORT feed future dedicated Heliophysics 
missions. Space weather research and technology development has been 
and continues to be a beneficiary of these important programs; key 
space missions directly relevant to space weather are enabled by 
technologies and measurement techniques developed and matured through 
these programs. Some examples of missions are: Advanced Composition 
Explorer (ACE), Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAS), Solar and 
Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO), Time History of Events and Macroscale 
Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), and Transition Region and 
Coronal Explorer (TRACE). Recent technology advancements in detectors 
and measurement techniques on sounding rockets such as the High 
Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) and Chromospheric Layer 
Spectropolarimeter (CLASP) show great promise for advancement and 
improvement of future missions for space weather. Hi-C is a sub-orbital 
telescope designed to take high-resolution images of the Sun's corona 
and CLASP is an ultraviolet sun-gazing instrument used to study the 
solar atmosphere. Both Hi-C and CLASP are launched from the White Sands 
Missile Range in New Mexico.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to 
                        Thomas Zurbuchen, Ph.D.
Detecting Near-Earth Objects
    Thank you, Chairman Wicker and Ranking Member Cantwell, for holding 
this hearing and to our witnesses, for holding today's hearing.
    As Ranking Member on the Aviation and Space Subcommittee, I'm proud 
to have joined Subcommittee Chairman Cruz, Chairman Wicker, and Ranking 
Member Cantwell in introducing legislation to address a number of space 
missions of global importance.
    Late last year, this committee passed our NASA Authorization Act of 
2019, which includes language directing NASA to ensure that missions of 
national importance do not have to compete for funding with high-
priority science missions.
    In the Space Frontier Act, which passed the Senate unanimously last 
Congress and passed out of this committee last year, clearer rules of 
the road for orbital debris mitigation and space weather forecasting 
are established.
    This is a pivotal time for our national security and space 
leadership. Decisions we make and legislation we pass now will 
determine if we are prepared for the future development of space.
    We must address these challenges head-on with strong bipartisan 
solutions.
    Our leadership on planetary defense, space weather, and space 
situational awareness will set global standards and ensure America's 
national security remains strong.
    As you know, in 2005 Congress passed the George E. Brown Jr. Near-
Earth Object Survey Act, which requires NASA to plan, develop, and 
implement a program to survey threats posed by near-Earth objects, or 
asteroids, which could collide with Earth. Congress required NASA to 
catalog at least 90 percent of near-Earth objects by December 30, 2020. 
With the deadline now less than a year away, NASA is not on track to 
meet this goal.
    Last summer, the National Academies of Science found that in order 
to meet its congressionally mandated goal, NASA should fund a dedicated 
space-based infrared telescope.
    Fortunately, researchers from the University of Arizona and NASA's 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory have spent the past decade developing the 
type of telescope recommended by the National Academies. I am pleased 
that NASA finally announced last fall that it would fund this project 
but I am concerned that the administration has waited this long to 
fulfill a Congressional mandate. Additionally, just this week, the 
administration failed to dedicate funding for this mission in their 
budget proposal.

    Question 1. Now that you have committed to the mission, how do you 
plan on funding it and how long does NASA expect it will take to launch 
the mission and complete the George E. Brown Jr. Survey?

    Question 2. And how can this committee help to ensure that the 
survey is completed as quickly as possible?
    Answer. The President's FY 2021 budget requests $150 million for 
NASA's Planetary Defense Program, including funding for an infrared 
instrument project for detection and tracking of NEOs. The current 
mission concept, the Near-Earth object (NEO) Surveillance Mission, 
would accelerate the discovery of undetected NEOs (and therefore, the 
completion of the George E. Brown survey) by positioning a spacecraft 
operating in the infrared part of the spectrum at the Sun-Earth L1 
gravity Lagrange point. We estimate the George E. Brown survey would be 
completed approximately 10 years after the launch of a space-based 
infrared mission. Ultimately, an important step Congress could take is 
to fully fund the Administration's budget request for Planetary 
Defense.

    Question 3. Given that NASA has failed to prioritize the completion 
of the George E. Brown Jr. survey and the development of a space-based 
infrared telescope mission until now, do you believe that NASA is the 
appropriate agency to handle planetary defense missions?

    Question 4. Why should this committee not assign that 
responsibility to another Federal agency that will be able to act more 
quickly?
    Answer. NASA leads the world in the detection and characterization 
of NEOs, and NASA-sponsored NEO search projects are responsible for the 
discovery of over 96 percent of all NEOs found since our program began 
in 1998. NASA leads a wide array of activities related to NEOs, 
including a long-standing, ground-based observing campaign, focused 
flight missions to study both asteroids and comets, as well as 
conceptual studies and technology development to improve our ability to 
find NEOs. NASA uses radar techniques to better characterize the 
orbits, shapes, and sizes of observable NEOs, and funds research 
activities to better understand their composition and nature. NASA also 
funds the key reporting and dissemination infrastructure that allows 
for world-wide follow-up observations of NEOs as well as research-
related activities, including computer modeling, sample analysis, and 
workshops to disseminate information about NEOs to the larger 
scientific and engineering community.
    Because of this history and expertise, NASA's Planetary Defense 
Coordination Office (PDCO) is uniquely suited to handle planetary 
defense missions and is considered the primary Government group 
responsible for the coordination of U.S. Government efforts to find 
hazardous NEOs and guide planning for the response to an actual impact 
threat. In this role, NASA coordinates with other Government agencies, 
such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of 
Defense, on planetary defense activities and to implement the National 
NEO Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan--which seeks to leverage and 
enhance existing assets and capabilities to effectively manage the 
risks associated with NEOs.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to 
                            William Murtagh
Space Weather Prediction
    While NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center is a model for 
coordinating and disseminating information related to space weather 
events, I am concerned that the satellite infrastructure NOAA uses to 
make space weather predictions is rapidly aging. Currently, NOAA's 
solar-monitoring satellites do not have total coverage of the sun, 
meaning it is possible to fail to immediately detect a coronal mass-
ejection.
    Fortunately, researchers at Arizona State University have developed 
a proposal for a cube-satellite, called the Space Weather and Impact 
Monitoring Satellite. If a network of these cube-satellites were 
funded, NOAA could be guaranteed to have 360-degree coverage of the 
sun, to ensure that any coronal event was detected as early as 
possible.

    Question 1. Do you believe there could be value in a cube-sat 
constellation being deployed to better predict space weather?
    Answer. Cube satellites (cubesats) have the potential to lower 
costs and provide greater diversity of coverage relative to our current 
generation of observational satellites. However, the sensors that 
provide our solar observations are currently too large to be flown on 
cubesats. NOAA is continually monitoring the evolution of satellite and 
sensor technologies to determine how smaller satellites (smallsats), 
including cubesats, could provide greater utility for NOAA's space 
missions in the future; particularly the NASA and NSF-funded technology 
development, demonstrations and science missions that enable 
heliophysics smallsat constellations. NOAA also sees future 
possibilities for in situ measurements from cubesats in low earth orbit 
and geostationary orbit, as well as possibilities for complementing the 
solar imaging provided on NOAA geostationary platforms and the 
hemispheric imaging coverage provided by geostationary payloads like 
the recently launched NASA Global-scale Observations of the Limb and 
Disk mission manifested on a commercial satellite.
    Technology demonstration missions, such as those proposed by 
research institutions like Arizona State University, are important 
early incubation steps necessary to advance miniaturization, artificial 
intelligence, and constellation operation concepts. The recently 
completed multi-year NOAA Satellite Observing Systems Architecture 
(NSOSA) study considered the use of smallsats to meet future space-
weather in situ and solar imagery needs. The findings and conclusions 
of the study can be found in the response to Question 2 below.

    Question 2. What would the advantages or disadvantages of a space 
weather cube-sat constellation be to the work currently done at the 
Space Weather Prediction Center?
    Answer. The observing requirements for the National Weather 
Service's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) are independent of the 
particular type of satellite that is taking the measurement(s). With 
respect to coronal imaging, SWPC requires a robust continuous view of 
the Sun with high dynamic range and low data latency.
    NOAA currently collects observations from several highly capable 
smallsats, including NOAA's DSCOVR mission and NASA's Advanced 
Composite Explorer mission. NOAA's Space Weather Follow-On represents a 
new smallsat mission that will be continuing these observations 
starting in 2024. The NSOSA study considered the use of smallsats to 
meet future space-weather in situ and solar imagery needs. The study 
found that the expected size, weight, and power requirements of the 
current instruments indicated a need for spacecraft larger than 
cubesats to meet NOAA's current space weather mission. To provide 
future solar observations NOAA will embrace a hybrid constellation with 
many sizes of satellites matched to mission need. NOAA recognizes the 
need to incorporate critical new technology development and 
demonstration; will continue to study cubesat and related emerging 
technologies; and will evaluate their applicability to our mission.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                           Kevin M. O'Connell
Civilian Space Situational Awareness Funding
    This Administration has proposed shifting the responsibility for 
alerting commercial satellite operators about potential in-space 
collisions from the Department of Defense to your office at the 
Department of Commerce. In order to consider such a shift, Congress 
needs to know what resources are needed and how exactly the Department 
of Commerce will use those resources.

    Question 1. If Congress approves giving the Department of Commerce 
civilian space situational awareness responsibilities, how much funding 
will the department need to perform these operations?
    Answer. The President's FY 2021 Budget includes $15 million for a 
consolidated Office of Space Commerce (OSC) and Commercial Remote 
Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) in the Office of the Secretary. 
Current spend plans anticipate over $10 million to be devoted to 
establishing the Department's commercial space situational awareness 
(SSA) services and information responsibilities in FY21. This includes 
an increase (of 13 FTE) in space-qualified staff and will allow OSC to 
further leverage commercial capabilities that are already in the market 
through new SSA-related sensors, analytic tools, visualization 
capabilities, and more.

    Question 2. Is this a shift of funding from the Department of 
Defense or new resources?
    Answer. Currently, the 18th Space Control Squadron (18 SPCS) at 
Vandenberg Air Force Base provides the space traffic management (STM) 
function for military, commercial, and civilian satellite operators. 
The Department of Defense (DOD) systems primarily support the larger 
space domain awareness (SDA) mission and contribute to performing the 
STM function for military, civil, and commercial satellite operators as 
a subset of the SDA mission. These resources cannot be transferred to 
the Department of Commerce (DOC) as DOD requires use of these systems 
for the broader SDA mission including continued STM for military 
satellite operators. DOC's implementation will allow DOD to devote its 
full attention to the increasingly complex national security defense 
needs in space, and DOC to build a modern infrastructure that builds 
upon DOD SDA data and capitalizes on commercial SSA data and other 
capabilities.
Orbital Debris Regulations
    Current Federal guidelines require that satellites deorbit within 
25 years after the end of operations.

    Question. Given the congestion of space, should that requirement be 
revisited?
    Answer. Last year, the U.S. Government revised its U.S. Government 
Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices (ODMSP). As part of that 
update, the 25-year rule was reaffirmed as a minimum requirement for 
the government's space assets. However, the revised ODMSP also 
identified disposal options that involve immediate removal of the space 
object from Earth orbit as preferred disposal options, and specified 
for the first time that objects disposed of via passive atmospheric re-
entry should be left in orbits that will limit orbital lifetime to a 
period that is ``as short as practicable.'' In April, and as part of a 
rulemaking proceeding occurring in parallel with the ODMSP revisions, 
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Further Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking that sought comments on possible requirements to 
facilitate the ``as short as practicable'' approach. These requirements 
include a possible requirement for spacecraft maneuverability or 
shorter timeframes for post-mission orbital lifetimes such as five 
years. Further, there are many older space debris objects left on-
orbit. This has adversely impacted specific orbital debris regimes. DOC 
led a Commercial Orbital Debris Interagency Working Group to inform the 
FCC rulemaking process.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to 
                           Kevin M. O'Connell
Department of Commerce Involvement in Space
    Question 1. How does the Department of Commerce fit into space 
operations?
    Answer. Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3) directs the Department of 
Commerce (DOC) to provide on-orbit collision avoidance support 
services. The Department of Defense (DOD) currently provides these 
services to commercial, civilian, and military operators; however, DOD 
will only be required by law to provide these services in the interest 
of national security beginning in 2024. Two key rationales exist for 
this transition: first, DOD has been directed to further focus on its 
mission to protect and defend the space domain against current and 
emerging hostile threats. As commercial space activities expand and 
grow more complex, DOD plans to exit the commercial notifications part 
of the business to focus on national security. Second, there are 
opportunities to modernize the SSA system that we use today with a wide 
range of new sensors, analytics, and visualization to enhance SSA and 
enable a modern alerting and warning system. Commercial companies are 
the source of much of this innovation and modernization. DOC has 
ongoing and substantive interaction with the U.S. commercial space 
community and is aware of these developments, and is able to leverage 
these capabilities in the implementation of SPD-3.

    Question 2. Why should the Department of Commerce be involved in 
Space Traffic Management over any other civil agency?
    Answer. DOC has a wide range of resources, skills, capabilities, 
and experience in the many areas necessary to successfully complete the 
transition of space situational awareness services from DOD. Key 
Commerce organizations include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), which has deep experience in space situational 
awareness (SSA) and space traffic management (STM), most importantly 
protecting 16 essential satellites from space debris in four space 
orbits, as well as in the related field of space weather prediction. 
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has 
experience in promoting standards--essential to the ``rules of the 
road'' needed for space safety--as well as cybersecurity and repository 
expertise. The National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration (NTIA) promotes rules related to the prevention of 
radiofrequency interference, including for space, as well as important 
relations with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The 
Department's National Technical Information Service (NTIS) works with 
academia, industry and non-profits on approaches to data science and 
improved decision-making: these computational methods will continue to 
be essential for improving the accuracy of conjunction assessments. 
Externally, we have also been working closely with the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on their collision 
avoidance efforts for NOAA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 
satellites, space science collaboration, and established relationships 
with international partners.
    Further, the Department is one of the Nation's lead ``data 
agencies'' with a wide range of experience using complex data sets, 
including those related to public safety. It works with large volumes 
of data, giving it considerable experience with cloud-based data 
management, analytics, and dissemination approaches for public 
consumption. As the number of government and commercial satellites 
grows, and our understanding of the space environment improves, 
improved management of and access to space debris data will be key to 
space safety. The DOC's experience and relationship with industry can 
be further leveraged to create a cost effective, efficient and scalable 
solution to enhance SSA and improve orbital safety while helping to 
grow and expand the overall space economy.
DoD and Space Traffic Management
    Major General Stephen Whiting, who oversees space traffic 
management for the Department of Defense, recently said that the 
Department of Defense is ``eager'' to transfer space traffic management 
responsibilities to the Department of Commerce.

    Question 1. What is the current collaboration between the 
Department of Commerce and the DOD on space traffic management?
    Answer. Since the announcement of Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3), 
which directs the Department of Commerce (DOC) to provide on-orbit 
collision avoidance support services, DOC has developed a strong and 
continuing partnership with the Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Air 
Force, and U.S. Space Force officials, at senior and at working levels, 
to ensure a seamless transfer of these responsibilities. Last summer, 
DOC detailed a senior Commerce liaison to the 18th Space Control 
Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB), where the U.S. Air Force 
presently conducts the space situational awareness (SSA) mission. DOD 
is providing access to their current data, systems, and processes for 
DOC awareness, and ongoing bi-weekly discussions cover issues such as 
data validation, data architectures, and synergies across the two 
Departments. These discussions also include the ultimate drive for 
efficiency in data buys and other commercial interactions. DOC has 
participated, sometimes as co-lead, in exercises, experiments, and war 
games designed to help understand how to transition and integrate 
national and commercial capabilities. Secretary Ross visited Vandenberg 
AFB in November of 2018 for a first-hand view of the current SSA 
system.
    In addition to the new SSA functions directed to DOC in SPD-3, the 
Office of Space Commerce performs a vital advocacy mission on behalf of 
the U.S. Commercial Space Industry. Title 51 U.S.C. has long provided 
authorities to the Office of Space Commerce in DOC to foster conditions 
for economic growth and technological advancement of U.S. space 
commerce industry, streamline and anticipate licensing/regulatory/
export reforms, and promote international norms, standards, sustainable 
practices. As recent examples, the Office of Space Commerce has worked 
on streamlining the regulatory environment for commercial space 
operators through changes in the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory 
Affairs rules.

    Question 2. Would the space traffic management system be able to 
utilize the investments of the Department of Defense, such as Space 
Fence, to execute the civil and commercial mission?
    Answer. DOC's space situational awareness-related relationships are 
especially strong with DOD and with the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA). DOC has spent significant amount of time 
evaluating the United States Air Force's Unified Data Library as an 
initial input to the future Open Architecture Data Repository, and we 
are working with NASA on their conjunction analysis tools and models of 
the space environment. DOC will continue to leverage DOD systems and 
products as we migrate to a commercial based service that will support 
our basic operation requirements and facilitate commercial market 
development to include advanced products for various stakeholders. DOC 
will also continue to be integrated with DOD to ensure the safety of 
our space environment.

    Question 3. What, if anything, needs to happen from a policy and 
funding standpoint so that the Department of Defense can focus more on 
its priority mission areas instead of space traffic control?
    Answer. SPD-3 tasked DOC with providing on-orbit collision 
avoidance support services, a role which DOD currently supports. DOC 
has moved aggressively to implement the SPD-3 responsibilities for 
space traffic coordination and management within current resources. The 
President's FY 2021 Budget includes additional resources to ramp up 
these support services at DOC.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to 
                          Moriba K. Jah, Ph.D.
    Question. Current Federal guidelines require that satellites 
deorbit within 25 years after the end of operations. Given the 
congestion of space, should that requirement be revisited?
    Answer. I have yet to see how sensitive the answer is to the 
underlying modeling and data assumptions. To wit, I've never seen a 25-
year rule study that I would consider to be either rigorous or subject 
to wide peer-review and scrutiny. For instance, there are half a dozen 
or so scientific models for the Earth's atmosphere. How do the results 
from the 25-year rule studies vary if each one is used independently? 
What about the assumptions regarding how actively controlled satellites 
will behave? Currently, SpaceX has automated much of the Starlink 
Satellite maneuvers. No one knows what is the onboard logic making 
maneuver decisions. So, there is no way that any U.S. Government study 
can say it has rigorously or comprehensively assessed the impacts and 
effects on space traffic and space debris for this 25-year rule. Yes, 
this should not only be revisited but a group of experts should be 
brought to bear to jointly perform this study and assessment, 
leveraging high performance computing capabilities and physics-based 
models, as well as gathering operationally relevant inputs from the 
actual satellite operators, with an agreement to properly protect their 
intellectual property. In fact, the National Academies via one or 
multiple boards, should be brought to bear on this subject. I'm 
currently not a member but would gladly volunteer to be directly 
engaged in this if it came to be.
                                 ______
                                 
     Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to 
                          Moriba K. Jah, Ph.D.
International Cooperation on Space Issues
    Last year I introduced Senate Resolution 386, which supports 
international cooperation and continued U.S. leadership to maintain 
access to space while achieving advances in space technology. I have 
heard from stakeholders in the space industry in New Mexico that it is 
important that the United States work with other countries to address 
concerns that a growing level of space traffic is posing.

    Question 1. What is your perspective on the United States working 
with the UN Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space to advance the 
21 guidelines to promote sustainable and safe operations in space?
    Answer. I strongly believe that one of the best things the United 
States could do to both demonstrate leadership and aid in the long-term 
sustainability of space is to make as many of the 21 UN COPUOS LTS 
Guidelines into U.S. Space Law. In fact, I formally briefed at the 2019 
UN COPUOS STSC in February in Vienna on this topic \1\. The actual 
slides I used are in the footnotes of this page. One caveat with making 
one or more of these guidelines into law is how to enforce? Moreover, I 
argue that one cannot enforce what is unknown, and one cannot know what 
is not measured. Therefore, the basis of making these guidelines into 
successful space law is to first focus on comprehensive space activity 
monitoring and assessment, and identifying the required body of 
evidence required to enforce any given space law.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ https://www.dropbox.com/s/tip2dod3wpqab6u/
AIAA%20Presentation%20-%20M%20Jah%
20-%20COPUOS%20STSC%20-%20Vienna%20-%20Feb2019.pdf?dl=0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Another issue to consider is that there is no open and transparent 
global Space Traffic Monitoring system. The closest thing to that is 
perhaps ASTRIAGraph \2\ and this is not an operational platform. The 
Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (KIAM), in Moscow, Russia, has 
signed an agreement with the UN Office of Outer Space Activities (UN 
OOSA) to deploy low-cost telescopes to developing space nations for 
educational purposes \3\. We all know that these sensor observations 
will also be feeding Russia's Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) 
capabilities. The U.S. is being left behind in these endeavors and 
other nations are filling up the apparent leadership vacuums. We in the 
U.S. could establish a U.S. led academic consortium for Space 
Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management that could then 
incorporate international academic partners, strategically. We would 
need the support and financial resources to make this become manifest, 
but I am fully confident that we at UT Austin could organize and lead 
such an effort.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ http://bit.ly/astriagraph
    \3\ http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=55062
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To be sure, an academic consortium does not provide the complete 
and consistent operational capability required to address the precise 
real-time needs of the planet's space traffic. Among other concerns, 
academia is unlikely to ever have the exquisite sensing capabilities 
that governments and industry possess. This is what industry must work 
with the Department of Commerce to deliver.
    Nevertheless, an academic consortium serves several valuable roles: 
(a) pragmatically demonstrates what a meaningful partnership looks 
like, (b) explores the art of the possible, and (c) delivers this 
tradecraft into the current state of practice. We are continuing to 
expand our partnerships with academic institutions worldwide in this 
shared computational and research environment we've begun to develop at 
UT Austin.

    Question 2. Do you see a value in Congress expressing its support 
for this effort?
    Answer. Indeed, and in fact I do not see this being successful or 
meaningful in the absence of significant congressional involvement and 
shepherding.
Autonomous Satellites
    Companies like SpaceX and others are trying to develop satellites 
that can autonomously maneuver in space when there is a danger of a 
close approach or collision.

    Question. Do you think there is promise in the near term for 
satellites that can autonomously avoid debris?
    Answer. I believe that ultimately, space operations autonomy is the 
only long-term solution to collision avoidance. However, what SpaceX 
has done is to prematurely deploy this capability based upon flawed 
information. Yes, we should automate maneuvers but not do so in the 
absence of quantifying the effects and impacts (to included possible 
unintended consequences) in the presence of flawed and incomplete 
information because we actually risk making matters worse than before.
Independent Space Situational Awareness Institute
    In the opening remarks that you provided to the Committee, you 
state that the U.S. should consider creating a, ``well-funded and 
dedicated Space Situational Awareness Institute [that could] undertake 
the Science and Technology research and development we desperately 
require.''

    Question 1. In your opinion, should this organization have a degree 
of independence to carry out its work?
    Answer. Indeed, this organization should be comprised of research 
institutions that could be funded in part by Cooperative Agreements 
with the U.S. Government. A great example is the NASA Astrobiology 
Institute. This proposed SSA Institute should also have an advisory 
board comprised of interagency government staff and should be given a 
mandate to host an annual workshop where the National Space Council is 
directly briefed on research results and how these are being 
successfully transitioned into operationally relevant environments. The 
National Academies should be invoked to help the SSA Institute in 
making it successful. The National Science Foundation should have a 
portion of its budget dedicated to supporting the fundamental research 
of the SSA Institute.

    Question 2. And would the Federally Funded Research and Development 
Center model be a good fit for such an institute?
    Answer. I believe that a more effective model is having a 
consortium of research institutions, FFRDCs and University Affiliated 
Research Centers included, via Cooperative Agreements; 5-year terms can 
be put in place and those that are thriving and relevant can re-
compete. The NASA Astrobiology Institute is an example as a potential 
model.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to 
                          Moriba K. Jah, Ph.D.
University Collaborations on Space Situational Awareness
    As the number of satellites in-orbit increases, the risk of a 
collision in-orbit increases. We can all agree that a more 
comprehensive system of space traffic management is needed as low-earth 
orbit becomes increasingly commercially viable.
    There are not yet sufficient resources available at the Department 
of Defense, Department of Commerce, or NASA to develop a modern-day 
space traffic management system, universities have been stepping up.
    For example, at the University of Arizona, Dr. Vishnu Reddy and a 
team of five undergraduate students build the RAPTORS telescope, which 
can track satellites and debris in low-earth orbit. The students were 
able to build two 24-inch telescopes in seven months for about $30,000. 
The RAPTORS telescopes have been used in NASA-led international 
exercises, and the University is now exploring opportunities to use the 
telescopes to support work being done at the Air Force Research 
Laboratory.
    This is one example of how universities are able to make critical 
contributions to space missions of national importance. More often than 
not, universities complete their missions on-time, and under-budget.

    Question 1. As we consider how to best mitigate orbital collisions, 
what roles can universities play?
    Answer. First, thanks for this question. I was actually a member of 
the faculty recruitment committee that hired Vishnu Reddy and I 
consider him to be both a colleague and friend. He's awesome. In fact, 
my ASTRIANet telescopes were initially designed by him!
    In terms of orbital collision mitigation, we at UT Asutin have 
developed and deployed the world's first Conjunction Streaming Service 
(CSS) that can be viewed here: http://astriacss03.tacc.utexas.edu/ui/
min.html
    What you'll see are some dotted lines streaming continuously, over 
the next 20 minutes. What we have done is take the currently available 
public space object catalog and computed which pair of objects are 
predicted to come closer than 10 kilometers from each other, and those 
that meet that criterion are plotted. Green dots are a pair of working 
satellites, yellow dots are when one is working and the other is not, 
and red dots re two dead objects or debris.
    I feel confident that universities could collaborate on scaling 
this to a week-long predictive window and on top of that, compute 
collision risks and deliver an automated service to the community for 
those objects with high likelihood of collision. This would require so-
called Conjunction Data Messages (CDMs) as inputs, and in turn these 
CDMs are a result of statistically comparing predicted space object 
trajectories. These space object trajectories are informed by sensor 
observations. Ultimately, we universities require sensor observations 
to then level-up the information to eventually yield these collision 
alerts. The problem is in hand if we can receive the sensor data.
    Universities tend to be funding sinks not sources, so we would need 
funding to either have our own sensors and/or purchase senor data (or 
receive these from the U.S. government as Government Purpose Rights 
data).

    Question 2. Are their programs at the Department of Defense, 
Department of Commerce, or NASA to support university collaborations?
    Answer. The answer to this is quite varied. For the DoD, there is 
some S&T research funding via the Air Force Research laboratory (AFRL) 
and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). The funding 
from AFRL is disparate, inconsistent, and oftentimes funding redundant 
things. In other words, it is not coordinated across the enterprise. 
There is no AFRL-strategic funding for SSA/STM research. There was a 
Senior Scientist for Space Situational Awareness, but that position 
disappeared when Dr Tom Cooley accepted the position as Chief Scientist 
for the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate. I'd highly suggest creating 
this Senior Scientist for SSA position again.
    Regarding AFOSR, there was a Program Office for SSA there, but that 
position has gone away since Dr Stacie Williams accepted a position 
with DARPA. IT is unlikely that AFOSR will fill that with another SSA 
person unless they are encouraged to do so. Moreover, anything less 
than say $6-10M per annum for this SSA portfolio would not do the area 
any justice so to speak. I would say that having a AFOSR 
Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) on SSA would 
make a lot of sense and really start to tackle the foundational 
scientific roadblocks that currently exist.
    Regarding Dept of Commerce, no, there is no funding for SSA/STM 
there. There should be, given Space Policy Directive #3.
    Regarding NASA, there is also no funding for SSA/STM. My 
recommendation has (and is) to have a NASA SSA Institute (set up like 
the NASA Astrobiology Institute) whereby research institutions are 
enlisted via Cooperative Agreements (5-year terms) and NASA Goddard 
could administer it under the leadership of Lauri Kraft Newman who 
currently leads the NASA CARA project which is the most relevant to 
this mission area.

    Question 3. What further steps can this committee take to promote 
further collaboration?
    Answer. I would recommend the following:

  1.  Enable the development and sustainability of a core academic 
        consortium within the U.S. to focus uniquely on the scientific 
        and technological (S&T) hurdles regarding space safety, 
        security, and sustainability relevant to Space Situational 
        Awareness and Space Traffic Management needs, per national 
        Space Policy Directive #3. This can be done via:

      a.  AFOSR/AFRL MURI on SSA

      b.  NASA SSA Institute via Cooperative Agreements

  2.  Have this consortium become indispensable partners to the 
        Department of Commerce and focus the relationship on successful 
        Tech. Transfer into their Open Architecture Data Repository 
        (OADR) and operationally relevant frameworks.

  3.  Incentivize Industry partnership by requiring companies to take 
        the S&T developed by the academic consortium and finish 
        maturing/operationalizing these for the Department of Commerce. 
        Have industry contribute some of their own resources/funding to 
        be a part of this endeavor, like a membership fee that goes to 
        helping develop and mature the S&T.

  4.  Enlist the National Academies to also work with this academic 
        consortium on exploring the solution space to meet national and 
        international SSA/STM needs.

  5.  Require the academic consortium to host an annual symposium to 
        report out on S&T research results, with at least some aspect 
        of this open to the public. Have it in DC!

  6.  Resurrect the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) and use it as 
        a sort of sabbatical for academics to allow them to work 
        directly with government staff on these SSA/STM problems.

                                  [all]