Plus: Spaceports as critical infrastructure in Europe
| By Dan Robitzski
Welcome back to our weekly newsletter highlighting the opinions and perspectives of the SpaceNews community.
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The recent White House executive order that created an opportunity for the government to charge for space situational awareness and traffic data continues to raise eyebrows within the industry. With the latest commentary on the matter, attorney Andrew D'Uva, an adviser to the Space Data Association and founder of Providence Access Company, warned that a paid service will just send customers to free, potentially inferior platforms.
When talking about free versus paid systems, "We are arguing about the wrong thing. The decisive question is not who pays. It is whether the civil system measurably improves safety by helping operators see and characterize the hazards that drive mission risk," D'Uva wrote. "On that standard, paywalls for basic warnings are the wrong instrument."
He argued that an ecosystem of multiple space situational awareness systems is inevitable. So in order to avoid fragmenting that ecosystem, services provided by the government should remain free, ensuring baseline security and cross-compatibility for operators around the world.
See the rest of the article here. | | | | |
Europe has been working to enhance its domestic space capabilities as of late, with new investments into spaceports on European soil. But to ensure success, the continent needs to create a cohesive strategy, investing in launchpad infrastructure for the full spectrum of launch needs, argued Skyrora CEO Volodymyr Levykin.
"Europe must foster not only a network of launch sites, but an ecosystem of launchers. The success of one depends on the other. Spaceports need regular users to be viable, and launch operators need predictable access and coordinated regulation to plan missions and scale production," Levykin wrote, concluding that "Europe's strength has always come from collaboration. If we bring that same spirit to the way we set up and operate spaceports, we can establish a coordinated and resilient launch ecosystem."
See the full commentary article here. | | | | | |  | | An illustration of the RFA ONE rocket launching from SaxaVord Spaceport. Credit: RFA
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