USAF_General_C._Robert_Kehler

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has entered into a space situational awareness (SSA) international sharing agreement with the Department of Defence of Australia, making it the first government-to-government memorandum to permit an advanced exchange of SSA data.

The US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) commander air force general Robert Kehler signed the agreement on behalf of the US.

The agreement will simplify the process for the Australian Government to request data through Stratcom’s SSA sharing agreement programme.

SSA data exchanges will help partners with activities such as launch support, manoeuvre planning, support for on-orbit anomaly resolution and electromagnetic interference reporting and investigation.

“Many nations share the space domain, and it is in our best interest to create an environment where the sharing of SSA data facilitates transparency and improves flight safety."

US Strategic Command general Robert Kehler said: "Many nations share the space domain, and it is in our best interest to create an environment where the sharing of SSA data facilitates transparency and improves flight safety."

The agreement builds on agreement signed in November 2010 agreement, when the two countries agreed to cooperate on space situational awareness activities.

It allows the Australians to make specific requests about space data accumulated by Stratcom’s Joint Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, US.

The space data includes locations of about 23,000 man-made objects in space and is critical in planning launches into the space domain.

The agreement also paves the way for similar ones between the US and its closest allies and partners, and is designed on commercial agreements Stratcom has forged with commercial firms over the past three years.

Image: US Strategic Command general Robert Kehler has signed the space situational awareness (SSA) international sharing agreement with Australia. Photo: courtesy of US Department of Defense.

Defence Technology