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Small Satellites and the Law of Outer Space Issue Date: 2019-06-18

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Small Satellites and the Law of Outer Space Issue Date: 2019-06-18 Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/85164 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation. Author: Palkovitz Menashy, N. Title: Regulating a revolution : small satellites and the law of outer space Issue Date: 2019-06-18 Chapter 1: The Small Satellites Revolution 1. Introduction In a SpaceNews piece titled: ‘Small satellites are at the center of a space industry transformation’, Chris Baker, NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program executive explains: ‘When you have a potentially disruptive innovation like cubesats and like smallsats, it tends to be the startups that are able to develop the new technology the fastest and most effectively in the beginning,’ Baker said. ‘Those startups then become attractive targets for strategic investment by larger more established firms when the capabilities of the small spacecraft have increased to the point where they intersect with the capabilities of the established aerospace industrial base.’1 Indeed, in recent years, small satellites have taken the space industry by storm. It seems that almost every space-faring entity has aspirations to use this technology, or is using it already, for its next satellites application project. In order to learn about the ‘small satellites phenomenon’ this first chapter aims to introduce small satellites to the reader. The chapter will focus on the following questions: What are small satellites; and in what ways have they revolutionised the space industry? Since there is no one official scientific definition to the term ‘small satellites’, and since the small satellites revolution exceeds the scientific characteristics of its technology, the first section of this chapter will define and contextualise the term, using multiple perspectives. Key terminology will be presented in order to clarify terms, which are commonly used to describe small satellites activities. Following, small satellites activities will be explored by introducing their history, their uniqueness within the space industry, their uses, their launch to outer space and finally, their future. As part of the mentioned examination, the popular concept of small satellites constellations will be presented, as well as new developments relating to small-dedicated launch vehicles and deep space exploration using small satellites. All of these are a testimony to the disruptive-innovative nature of small satellites activities, which are yet to be fulfilled. 1 D Werner, ‘Small satellites are at the center of a space industry transformation’ (SpaceNews, 22 August 2018); available at: https://spacenews.com/small-satellites-are-at-the-center-of-a-space-industry-transformation/ . All the links provided in this study’s footnotes were last accessed on March 2019. 4 The holistic approach to defining what small satellites are will aid the explanation of the small satellites revolution in the following section of this chapter. As such, it will explain in what ways these satellites are revolutionary. Further, it will summarise the findings in the first section, distilling the (non-legal) characteristics that lead to the question: do small satellites operations require special regulatory attention? Conclusions shall follow. All of the above shall be the starting point of the regulatory and legal discussion relating to the topic, which will be elaborated in the next chapters of this study. 2. What are ‘Small Satellites’? In order to understand the small satellites revolution, one must first understand what ‘small satellites’ are. This section aims to explore and explain what are small satellites. An interdisciplinary approach was selected in order to reach a comprehensive answer, which will be valuable to the legal analysis in the next chapters. The justification to explore the meaning of ‘small satellites’, in a broader perspective, lies in the fact that there is no one agreed scientific definition of this term, to date.2 Therefore, key terms that will be used throughout this study are defined in sub-section 2.1. The definitions will clarify inter alia the terminological difference between ‘small satellites’, ‘nano- satellites’ and ‘CubeSats’. Additionally, sub-section 2.2. will summarise the historical circumstances which led to the creation of small satellites, so as to understand the origin and rational behind this technology. Thereafter, sub-section 2.3 shall highlight the difference between ‘small’ and ‘traditional’ satellites, adding a comparative perspective to the broad definition of ‘small satellites’. This comparison will not be limited to the satellites’ physical dimensions or technology, but rather, aims to clarify that the philosophy behind the two general types of satellites’ operations is very different. In other words, in order to grasp the change in thought behind small satellites technology, there is a need to contextualise small satellites vis-à-vis traditional ones. In the effort to further contextualise the term ‘small satellites’, sub-section 2.4 will briefly present examples of small satellites missions and applications in order to answer the question: How small satellites are used, and by whom? 2 See further on the definition of ‘small satellites’ in sub-section 2.1.2 infra. 5 Moreover, sub-section 2.5 shall outline practices relating to the launch of small satellites, as these practices are one of the key elements that make ‘small satellites’ into what they currently are. Finally, sub-section 2.6 shall provide a brief glance into the future of small satellites applications. All the above will explain what small satellites are, and point out the relevant elements that make them revolutionary. Thus, the information in this second section contains the building blocks of the following third section of this chapter. 2.1 Key Terminology 2.1.1 Use of Terms The following key terms are defined below for the following reasons: First, it is essential that the term shall be included in this study, as it is commonly used to describe small satellites activities; and second, there is a need to clarify and contextualise the term in order to allow the reader to follow the arguments this study will present later on. These terms shall be used in the study with the same meaning attached to them as per the explanations below, without constantly referring to this sub-section, and without capitalising the terms. 2.1.2 ‘Small satellites’ As mentioned in the introduction, there is no official and accepted definition of what ‘small satellites’ are.3 In 2005 the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) conducted a study titled ‘Cost Effective Earth Observation Missions’4 which resulted in the widely accepted division of small satellite class-size or mass. Generally, any satellite with a mass lower than 1,000 kilograms is considered a small satellite.5 The sub-classification of small satellites is as follows: ▪ ‘Mini-satellite’: a satellite with mass lower than 1,000 kilograms6; 3 United Nations, Office for Outer Space Affairs and the International Telecommunication Union, ‘Guidance on Space Object Registration and Frequency Management for Small and Very Small Satellites’ (2015) 2; available at: http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c2/AC105_C2_2015_CRP17E.pdf; O Koudelka, ‘Micro/Nano/Picosatellite-Activities: Challenges towards Space Education and Utilisation’ in I Marboe (ed), Small Satellites: Regulatory Challenges and Chances (Brill Nijhoff 2016) 7. 4 R Sandau (ed), International Study on Cost-Effective Earth Observation Missions (Taylor & Francis 2006). 5 See: UNISPACE III, Small Satellite Missions, Background paper 9, 5 A/CONF.184/BP/9 (26 May 1998). 6 Some scientists classify mini-satellites in the range of between 100 to 500 kilograms, and add another sub-class of ‘medium satellites’ for satellites with mass between 500 to 1,000 kilograms. See O Koudelka, ‘Micro/Nano/Picosatellite-Activities: Challenges towards Space Education and Utilisation’ in I Marboe (ed), Small Satellites: Regulatory Challenges and Chances, (Brill Nijhoff 2016) 7 at note 4. Others prefer to limit this class of satellites even further and propose that mini-satellites should have a mass range of between 100 to 150 kilograms. See O Volynskaya and R Kasyanov, ‘Launching Numerus Small Satellites- A Flourishing Business? The Case of the Russian Federation’ in I Marboe (ed), Small Satellites: Regulatory Challenges and Chances, 6 ▪ ‘Micro-satellite’: a satellite with mass lower than 100 kilograms; ▪ ‘Nano-satellite’: a satellite with mass lower than 10 kilograms; ▪ ‘Pico-satellite’: a satellite with mass lower than 1 kilogram; and ▪ ‘Femto-satellite’: a satellite with mass lower than 0.1 kilogram As nano-satellites and micro-satellites are the ones, which are most commonly used for NewSpace7 applications and also capture the unique characteristics of small satellites, this study will focus on these classes of small satellites. 2.1.3 ‘Very small satellites’ In 2014, the fifty-third session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) Legal Subcommittee in Vienna hosted the IISL/ECSL Symposium on: ‘Regulatory Needs for Very Small Satellites.’8 In 2015, UN OOSA and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) issued a document titled: ‘Guidance on Space Object Registration and Frequency Management for Small and Very Small Satellites’. The document does not include a definition of the term ‘very small satellites’ but states: Presently, a legal or regulatory definition of a small satellite does not exist. The information in this handout relates to all satellites, including small and very small satellites.9 This implies that the authors saw a need to indicate the smaller classes of ‘small satellites’ particularly, for a reason, which is not provided in the document. This study will not differentiate ‘small’ from ‘very small’ satellites in principle, unless explicitly indicated otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the study will focus on the smaller classes of satellites, as mentioned in sub-section 2.2.1 above. 2.1.4 ‘Nano-satellites’ As mentioned in sub-section 2.1.2 nano-satellites are a class of small satellites whose mass typically ranges between 1 to 10 kilograms. Up to date, most CubeSats10 are in the nano- (Nijhoff 2016) 83, 85-86 at note 7.
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