Newswise — What future verification norms for outer space are needed and what steps can be taken to increase transparency and confidence-building measures and verification in space?
These issues are being addressed in an upcoming workshop and conference.
-- “Space Verification: Building Common Understanding” is a workshop taking place March 29 in Brussels, Belgium – Brussels-CCE, Avenue de la Joyeuse Entree 17-21, 1040 Brussels.
This workshop held by Secure World Foundation (SWF) aims to identify and explore key topics that need to be agreed upon in order to lay the foundations for future verification norms for outer space that would increase international security and stability. This workshop will explore what exactly space verification should encompass and what factors need to be taken into account when assessing how to implement verification methods.
Key Secure World Foundation staff members taking part in the one-day gathering: Dr. Ray Williamson, SWF’s Executive Director; Ben Baseley-Walker, Advisor-Security Policy and International Law; Brian Weeden, Technical Advisor; Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, Space Policy Consultant; and Victoria Samson, SWF’s Washington, D.C. Office Director.
“In light of increased opportunities for engagement on international security and space issues,” said SWF’s Ben Baseley-Walker, “the need to internationalize the discussion on what constitutes effective verification for space is an important building block in facilitating international understanding of and increased predictability of security issues in space.”
-- “Space Security Conference 2011: Building on the Past, Stepping Towards the Future” is a conference being held April 4-5 at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland.
This two-day meeting is organized by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in collaboration with Secure World Foundation, with support from The Simons Foundation and the Governments of Canada, the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation and the United States of America.
This conference aims to provide information and thinking on space security issues to Geneva’s disarmament community. This year the conference focuses on how the international community can move forward, current initiatives on space security & the importance of transparency and confidence-building measures (TCBMs) and verification in space.
“We see events like this as instrumental in bringing together key members of the space and international security community,” SWF’s Williamson said. “The aim of these meetings is to develop ways of reducing the potential for debris-producing conflict in outer space and also for lowering the chances that any space conflict will spread to terrestrial skirmishes or war.”
For more detailed information on these two meetings, please contact:
Dr. Ray A. Williamson, Executive DirectorSecure World Foundation314 W. Charles St.Superior, CO 81321
Phone: 303-554-1560 Cell Phone: 303-501-0430
Email: [email protected]
About Secure World Foundation
Secure World Foundation (SWF) is headquartered in Superior, Colorado, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Brussels, Belgium.
SWF is a private operating foundation dedicated to the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples.
SWF engages with academics, policy makers, scientists and advocates in the space and international affairs communities to support steps that strengthen global space sustainability. It promotes the development of cooperative and effective use of space for the protection of Earth’s environment and human security.
The Foundation acts as a research body, convener and facilitator to advocate for promoting key space security and other space related topics and to examine their influence on governance and international development.
For access to the SWF website, please go to:
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