Global Trends in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Traffic Management (STM)

The number of active satellites has increased substantially over the last decade, and is expected to continue to increase at a rapid rate over the next several years. There is growing concern globally regarding the ability to track objects in space and ensure safe and sustainable operations, as well as concern nationally that this growth may strain DoD's resources to a large degree. STPI conducted case studies of the space traffic systems in 18 countries to identify trends, and presented 4 space situational awareness scenarios for consideration. The findings indicate that the field will remain dominated by defense organizations, even as they collaborate with civil and commercial space counterparts, domestically and internationally, to develop new capabilities.