Space Situational Awareness is Bigger than U.S. Military

The February 2009 collision between an active Iridium satellite and a dead Russian satellite was a wake-up call to the world that demonstrated space weapons and hostile activities in orbit were not the only, or even the most probable, threats to satellites and space-based capabilities. Although measures have been taken since to improve the tracking and warning systems used to detect and avoid future collisions, they are not enough. In the interests of national security, these measures are still being managed and conducted largely by the U.S. military, and the constraints of this approach are hindering further progress.