June 10, 2016
Jackson School Space Security Initiative capstone event gathers students, area stakeholders
Saadia Pekkanen, Job and Gertrud Tamaki Professor and associate director of the UW’s Jackson School of International Studies, chairs a capstone meeting for junior fellows of the school’s Space Security Initiative Wednesday, June 8, at the University of Washington Club. From far left, others are: Kristian Ulrichsen, affiliate professor of international studies; Alan Boyle, journalist with GeekWire; and at right John Thornquist, director of the Office of Aerospace for the Washington State Department of Commerce.Monique Thormann, Jackson School
What are the policies of global rising powers regarding the use of orbital and outer space, and what are the implications of those policies for international cooperation?
Doctoral students at the Jackson School of International Studies briefed a gathering of space industry, media and government representatives on such topics in a capstone event at the University of Washington held June 8.
The students are fellows of the Jackson School’s Space Security Initiative, led by Saadia Pekkanen, professor and associate director of the Jackson School, who convened the space industry stakeholders to hear short reports on their work. Fellows reported on the space-related activities of China, India, Russia, South Korea, Israel and the European Union.
The student presentation were as follows:
Seonhee Kim reported on structural reforms and hoped-for modernizations in the Russian space industry and its new state space corporation, Roscosmos, organized in 2015.
Deep Pal spoke about a comprehensive space policy that India is drafting with input from commercial entities.
Clint Work discussed the rapid, state-led development of South Korea’s space program over the past 25 years.
Indra Ekmanis briefed the group on how European space policymakers have concentrated on data collection and how the European Space Agency’s space policy decisions are motivated in large part by socio-ecological concerns.
Oded Oron reported on Israel, saying that country views space as an avenue for financial growth and sees investment in its civil space industry as part of its national branding as a “start-up” nation.
Muyang Chen, who assisted in organizing the event, spoke about China’s burgeoning state-owned space industry and how reforms will partially privatize such activities and transform military-use technologies to civilian use. She said these changes may provide opportunities for private entities to enter the Chinese aerospace market, though the Chinese government will maintain strong control over the industry.
- Read an interview with Pekkanen on the Jackson School’s increasing role in bringing Pacific Northwest academics, policymakers and space industry professionals together.
Pekkanen, speaking on behalf of Joshua Williams, who could not attend, discussed Japan’s space activities, saying its government regulatory policies need to begin allowing commercial development. Japan, she said, has potential in the creation of small satellites and work with big data and machine learning and has ambitions to be more than a “junior partner” in world space endeavors.
All the student presenters are doctoral students in international studies. Also participating were about two dozen representatives of the space industry, media, government and academia. These included Vulcan Inc., Aerojet Rocketdyne, the Museum of Flight, the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, Washington State University, the state of Washington, the Northwest Science Writers Association and GeekWire.
On hand also, bringing her NASA experience to the discussion, was Earth and space sciences doctoral student Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, a former astronaut who flew on the space shuttle’s STS-131 mission, April 5 to 20, 2010, a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
After the presentations, Pekkanen led a lively discussion of the challenges the various countries face as they reach out to space, which touched on history, economics, infrastructure and the Pacific Northwest as a growing hub for space-related industry.
UW faculty participating were Pekkanen as well as Erika Harnett, research associate professor of Earth and space sciences and associate director of the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium; Kristian Ulrichsen, Jackson School affiliate professor and principal senior fellow with the Space Security Initiative; and Kristi Morgansen, professor of aeronautics and astronautics.
The Space Security Initiative, called SSI for short, is part of the Jackson School’s International Policy Institute, which is funded by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The initiative works to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners in space and related industries. Starting in April, junior SSI fellows have researched and posted policy briefs at the Jackson School website.
“Seattle is a new hub for space,” Pekkanen said after the meeting. “And we need to start bringing together all kinds of public and private stakeholders to better understand what is happening here in a global context, and to take the Pacific Northwest forward as space realities change worldwide. So we are taking those initial formative steps with SSI, and we will go from there.”
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For more information about the Space Security Initiative, contact Pekkanen at 206-543-6148 or smp1@uw.edu.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Erika Harnett • International Policy Institute • Jackson School of International Studies • Kristi Morgansen • Kristian Ulrichsen • Saadia Pekkanen
