A screenshot of the Satellite Dashboard, created in a collaboration between the Secure World Foundation (SWF), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin.
In light of our recent recommendations regarding the CSET China AI Watchboard and the potential of public/private policy research collaborations within the policy research community in general, we found this recent successful public-private partnership in the space policy domain really interesting and worth a look: The Satellite Dashboard is a collaboration between the Secure World Foundation (SWF), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin.
About
The Satellite Dashboard is a web-based tool that will collate and analyze space situational awareness (SSA) data on specific activities of interest and present it in an accessible format, while also providing a queuing function for further technical analysis. The Dashboard collates data from multiple sources, including publicly-available data provided by the U.S. military, commercial SSA providers, and data provided by international, scientific, and academic sources. This project was initiated because the number of actors and types of activities that rely on space is rapidly and dramatically increasing. More countries than ever are investing in counterspace capabilities that will enable them to deceive, disrupt, deny, degrade, or destroy space systems of potential adversaries, including the United States. While our ability to understand the space environment, characterize and attribute actions, track the behavior of space objects, and detect threats has improved over time, this space situational awareness information is extremely technical in nature and difficult to aggregate and comprehend, especially for policymakers and media. Strategic stability in the space domain that enhances U.S. national security requires an enhanced understanding of space activities and potential threats so that decision-makers are empowered to make sound policy choices, collaborate with allies and partners, deter adversaries, and communicate to the public.The goal of the Satellite Dashboard is to create that enhanced, common understanding. Our hope is that policymakers, space experts, commercial industry, and the media will be able to use the Dashboard as a reference to better understand potentially destabilizing activities in space in a way that supports informed decision-making and open dialogue.
Credits
Much hard work has gone into the creation and maintenance of this site. We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone involved. This project would not be possible without contributions, assistance, and insights provided by the following people and organizations.
The main design and implementation team consisted of:
- Vivek Desai, University of Texas at Austin
- Tucker Harris, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Todd Harrison, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Dr. Moriba Jah, University of Texas at Austin
- Kaitlyn Johnson, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Thomas G. Roberts, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Jacque Schrag, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Nevan Simone, University of Texas at Austin
- Bob Walker, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Dr. Brian Weeden, Secure World Foundation
- Makena Young, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Additional administrative and technical support was critical to implement the Satellite Dashboard vision from:
- Sam Addison, Find Satellites
- Tiffany Chow
- Ali Corwin, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Rebecka Shirazi, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Development & Design
This digital feature is a product of the Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab, the in-house digital, multimedia, and design agency at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Produced by: Jonathan Choi, Mariel de la Garza, Christina Hamm, Tucker Harris, José Romero, Jacque Schrag, Lindsay Urchyk, Bob Walker.
Funding
The Satellite Dashboard was made possible by a grant from the Smith Richardson Foundation.
Privacy Policy
We do collect identifiable information about you through this site as required to register for events or email. We have access to such information only if you choose to share with us either directly, by e-mail, or by filling out and submitting any information that may be available on the site. We do not and will not sell information about users of the site to third parties. Nor do we share such information except as described below.
In certain instances, we may contract with non-affiliated companies to perform services for us. Where necessary, we will disclose information we have about you to these third parties. In all such cases, we provide the third party with only the information necessary to carry out its assigned responsibilities and only for that purpose. And we require these third parties to treat your private information with the same degree of confidentiality that we do. In addition, we will release information about you if you direct us to do so, if we are compelled by law to do so, or in other legally limited circumstances. If we propose to use personal information for any purposes other than those described in this privacy policy, we will offer you an effective way to opt-out of the use of personal information for those other purposes.
CSIS tracks IP addresses (the Internet address of a computer) to keep track of a user’s session. Tracking IP addresses can give us important information about our visitors. For example, we can learn which parts of the site users are visiting and how long they stay. When CSIS receives information about you or about your session, we may use it for research or to improve the site and the services we offer you.
License
Creative Commons: Some rights reserved.
This work is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0) Liscense.
The Satellite Dashboard is an analysis and visualization tool to help readers better understand space situational awareness (SSA) data, with a focus on particularly interesting on-orbit activities. Learn more here.
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What Next?
For more recommendations on the future of public/private partnerships in the public policy research domain, see:
CSET on China’s Advanced AI Research and the China AI “Watchboard” Pilot Program
Recent Developments in the Commercial Space Domain:
FCC Proposes New “Space Bureau” to Meet the Challenges of Commercial Space
Further OODA Loop Resources
For more OODA Loop Research and Analysis on Space, click here.
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