Space Security Working Group

Institute Hosts Inaugural Space Security Working Group Meeting

Washington, DC, March 6-7, 2003 --The Eisenhower Institute convened the inaugural meeting of the Space Security Working Group (SSWG) in its Washington DC office to examine the potential security impact of current and future activities in space. The two-day forum consisted of a distinguished panel of 20 space experts and practitioners from the fields of industry, journalism, academia, law, and the military with the goal of fostering constructive debate over the current state of the space environment and ways to improve upon overall space security.

The incredible potential of the space environment and the growing complexity of space interests speaks to the need for a broad vision of space security that balances competing civil, commercial, and military space interests against the fundamental requirement to ensure that activities in space today will not threaten the secure access and use of space tomorrow. The working group identified the emerging trends in space security that merit ongoing monitoring and consideration of practical mitigation initiatives in the hopes of fashioning a more comprehensive vision of the many dimensions of space security.

The forum also proved to be an excellent opportunity for space experts to share their insights and to meet other members of what is a growing community of professionals engaged in space security issues. The Space Security Working Group will meet annually to gauge the current state of space security and to generate recommendations for how to improve it. The findings of these SSWG meetings will serve as an integral part of a larger Institute project called, "The Future of Space: The Next Strategic Frontier" with the objective of creating international political and legal consensus on critical issues of space security.