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Space safety office affects life around the world

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus editor
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  As the Air Force's responsibility for the high ground of space has increased, so has the development of space safety. And the Kirtland-based Space Safety Division, or SES, oversees that
expanding mission.

Air Force Chief of Space Safety Mark Glissman said his division manages space-related matters on terra firma and high above, including ground transport of space vehicles, ground-based tracking stations, day-of-launch activities and monitoring of orbital debris in relation to vital satellites and human spaceflight vehicles like the International Space Station, as well as advising space vehicle manufacturers on safety issues and serving as part of national and international working groups.

Glissman said the work SES does is vital to everyday life in America and the world.

"Everything that you do day-to-day has something to do with space," he said. "You can't use a credit card at the gas pump without space. You can't use a smartphone without space. You can't buy something online without space."

The definition of space safety for the Air Force takes on a lot of dimensions, Glissman said.

"What we'd define as a mishap on a launch pad looks a lot different than a mishap in orbit," he said.

Glissman added that mishaps could be defined as things like a plane carrying a satellite crashing and destroying the payload, a rocket blowing up on takeoff, an accident during the placement of a rocket on a pad or a collision between satellites in orbit.

Safety in space

On the issue of orbital collisions, the space above our planet is surrounded by "constellations" of satellites, including GPS satellites and satellites that facilitate worldwide communication through phones, Internet and other means, Glissman said.

Between thousands of civilian and military satellites from many nations and thousands more pieces of space debris -- non-functioning satellites, pieces of spacecraft and so forth -- low-Earth orbit is a crowded place in terms of keeping space assets safely operating. And all those objects are moving about 18,000 miles per hour.

"Anything in space is moving so fast that, if it hits anything else, it will do some major damage," Glissman said. "If two objects collide in orbit, those two objects will become 5,000 objects."

SES helps to establish safe zones around orbital assets by tracking space objects and, when necessary, advising the owner of a spacecraft to adjust its orbit to avoid a collision.

Safety on the ground

Back down on the ground, SES staff members get involved with satellite engineers to maximize the safety-related features of a spacecraft before it ever goes up. They teach chiefs of safety from wings across all Air Force major commands.

They handle the safe operation of command-and-control equipment at satellite-tracking stations, and they have a hand in shaping space-safety-related matters in Air Force policies
and regulations, all with the aim of creating a safety-focused culture in space operations.

Day-of-launch activities include monitoring rocket launches for any public safety issues, according to SES Launch and Range Branch Chief Lt. Col. Steve Bogstie.

"If the rocket went off-course, we have procedures in place to destroy the rocket and protect the public," he said.

Bogstie added that there are numerous hazards at the launch pad, including with the thousands of pounds of volatile rocket fuels and propellants.

The SES staff also is involved in high-level national and international groups dealing with space safety. A national group includes NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. They interface with international space safety experts in Asia and Europe. SES staff members schedule conferences with the national
and international partners.

And in one of their higher-profile missions, SES contributes to a report for the President regarding radioactive fuels or components in spacecraft. The launch of a satellite or space probe carrying a radioscopic thermoelectric power generator -- like the 73 pounds of plutonium 238 aboard NASA's Cassini-Huygens space probe, powering its journey to Saturn -- requires
presidential approval.

Building from scratch

The development of the current Air Force space safety program is relatively new, Glissman said.

"What we have now didn't even exist two years ago," he said. "We're building it up from scratch."

The Star Trek-like aspect of their jobs is not lost on division leaders.

"It's the coolest job ever," said Maj. Bruce Hill, an SES chief of staff. "To be working on something that is being built from the ground level and will last long beyond my career is huge. And it's great to be doing something that has such an impact internationally."

For more about SES, visit www.afsec.af.mil and click on "space safety."