Recommendations and Government Relations

September 13, 2024

Comment on Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s (ISED) consultation on the Policy, Licensing and Technical Framework for Supplemental Mobile Coverage by Satellite (SMCS)

OSI Fellows and Junior Fellows submitted this comment in response to ISED’s proposed framework for the allocation of certain radio frequency bands to mobile services coverage via satellite, with the intention of highlighting the potential threats to radio and optical astronomy that could come from these satellites.

This comment was further endorsed by the President of the Canadian Astronomical Society – Société Canadienne d’Astronomie (CASCA), the Executive Director of the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), and astronomers from across Canada.

June 17, 2024

Moby’s Recommendations on Lunar and Cislunar Security

On March 1 and 2, 2024, the Outer Space Institute convened a group of experts (the Expert Group) from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines, and countries on Salt Spring Island, Canada, to discuss existing and foreseeable security-related challenges arising from activities on and around the Moon.

The Moby’s Recommendations on Lunar and Cislunar Security – named after one of the venues in which the Expert Group met – are the result of those discussions and are directed toward governments, inter-governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and other space actors.

June 7, 2024

OSI response to NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy (OTPS) Lunar Non-Interference Questionnaire

A response prepared by OSI Fellows and Junior Fellows to a May 2024 Lunar Non-Interference Questionnaire developed by NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy (OTPS). This processes intends to survey the lunar community to “inform the development of a framework for further work on non-interference of lunar activities.”

December 20, 2023

Comment on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed rule on “Mitigation Methods for Launch Vehicle Upper Stages on the Creation of Orbital Debris”

Comment provided by Ewan Wright, Charlotte Hook, Aaron Boley and Michael Byers

March 21, 2023

Montreal Recommendations on Aviation Safety and Uncontrolled Space Object Reentries

In February 2023, the OSI, McGill Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), and the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) hosted a group of interdisciplinary experts in Montreal, Canada for two days of discussion on the risks that uncontrolled space object reentries pose to commercial aviation activity. The Montreal Recommendations are the result of these discussions. You can also find the workshop’s opening remarks by Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar, the Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) here.

April 19, 2022

Statement by OSI Co-Directors on US ASAT Missile Test Ban

On 18 April 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the United States would commit to not conduct destructive, direct-ascent ASAT (anti-satellite) missile tests. Read a statement by OSI co-directors Aaron Boley and Michael Byers on the development.

April 20, 2020

The Vancouver Recommendations on Space Mining

In early March 2020, two dozen experts convened at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Brought together by the Outer Space Institute, they came from a wide range of countries and backgrounds, including government, industry, and academia. The composition of the group was very transdisciplinary, with representation from astronomy, planetary science, engineering, environmental science, international relations, and international law. The experts adopted the following Recommendations concerning space mining: PDF . The Recommendations were drafted in consultation with industry leaders, the CSA, GAC, and NRCan.

April 20, 2020

Open Letter to the Canadian Government Concerning Space Resources

On 6 April 2020, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources wherein the U.S. Administration takes the unprecedented position that outer space is not a global commons. The following open letter strongly urges the Government of Canada to reiterate its policy that outer space is a global commons and work through multilateral forums to seek a widely-supported international agreement on how space resources should be recovered and used: PDF

February 1, 2020

Salt Spring Recommendations

The Recommendations were adopted at an international workshop on ‘Space Debris and National Security’ on Salt Spring Island, Canada, on January 10 and 11, 2020. They reflect a consensus view, and should not be attributed to the individual participants. The workshop was convened by the Outer Space Institute and the University of British Columbia with financial support from the Canadian Department of National Defence and the Salt Spring Forum: PDF

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