Aviation has ICAO, air traffic controllers, and mandatory transponders. Maritime has IMO and port authorities. Space has… voluntary guidelines and a handful of national regulators. As orbital traffic explodes, this gap is becoming dangerous.
Aviation has ICAO, air traffic controllers, and mandatory transponders. Maritime has IMO and port authorities. Space has… voluntary guidelines and a handful of national regulators. As orbital traffic explodes, this gap is becoming dangerous.
Space surveillance is currently dominated by military networks — not a civilian safety service.
When two objects approach dangerously close, operators receive a conjunction data message (CDM) — but the response is entirely voluntary.
Multiple proposals exist to create proper space traffic management — but none have achieved consensus.
Next: the specific regulatory bodies that do exist — and where their authority starts and stops.