VIA SATELLITE: This event happened just after the Obama administration called for a ban on space weapons to protect space assets. The Aerospace Industries Association has also called for more coordination of space efforts across government agencies. Since this has happened, have you seen a sense of urgency from the U.S. government to address this issue?
HIGGINBOTTHAM: Yes, I have. The push to prioritize has been going on for the last year or two. On the military front, there is clearly cognizance of the need for improvement, and there have been a number of initiatives underway over the last year or two to try to address the issue from a military perspective. In many ways, I think the military was out in front on this and concurring in the need to address these types of situations. On the civil front, there have been similar initiatives. We do have a civil structure in several governmental departments, and I’ve seen plenty of good will coming from a number of national leadership institutions. But as far as this all coming together at a national priority across all the lines of government and an international priority to handle the cross border and multi-national political issues — that hasn’t happened yet.
VIA SATELLITE: Do you think the prioritizing of space issues gets lost in the global economic crisis issue?
HIGGINBOTHAM: Space has certainly been on the government agenda, but yes, there is a question concerning the priority it is getting. I would submit that this event would suggest that priority for addressing the solutions to this problem should be higher.
VIA SATELLITE: In terms of multi-national political issues, how do you assess liability in this specific case where you have an operational commercial satellite from one country colliding with an inactive military satellite from another country?
HIGGINBOTHAM: We do have a unique situation here. A commercial spacecraft conjoining with a military satellite crosses a lot of boundaries here that are frankly untested. It’s a very precedent-setting situation. There are liability conventions that have been in place under international treaty since the late 1950s that we can look to for some indication as to how to proceed. These conventions have been occasionally updated over the last 40 years. I’m not a lawyer, but there is going to be more than one Ph.D. on this by the time it is over. We do, at least, have a way to get started on that discussion on prior conventions that are now tested in the global marketplace.
VIA SATELLITE: What do you think will be the outcome of these initial proceedings?
HIGGINBOTHAM: None of us in the industry are smart enough yet or understand enough yet to be able to predict what the outcome of those discussions will be. It will occur within a framework that has been defined for global operations in space for four or five decades. It is going to be a very interesting case.
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