Space traffic management concepts and practices

Concepts of space traffic management have been discussed for many years with little progress to date, due both to the complexity of the issue and to a perceived lack of urgency. Although a renewed interest in the subject has arisen in some corners of the aerospace community, the challenges of space traffic management remain unchanged. Perhaps the greatest challenge is reaching a consensus on the definition of space traffic management and its objectives. In the simplest terms, space traffic management should promote physical and electromagnetic non-interference among the multitude of operational space systems. However, contrary to popular belief, air and ground traffic control concepts and techniques, offer few analogies applicable to the space environment. The value of a space traffic management system must weigh the historical and legally entrenched concept of the freedom of operation in near-Earth orbit against the potential benefits of a new regulatory regime. Most space-faring nations do not yet exert control over the selection of orbital parameters for new space systems within their own countries, much less in an international context. The prospects for such intrusive space traffic management in the foreseeable future are not bright. Published by Elsevier Ltd.