As numerous entities make efforts to move into space, common practices must be established to ensure the safety of the domain for those who wish to operate there, according to John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy.

Following the approval of a United Nations resolution urging nations to refrain from conducting destructive direct-ascent antisatellite missile tests, Plumb emphasized the importance of a cooperative commitment to building necessary norms in the space arena, the Department of Defense reported earlier this month.

“I think the more we can develop norms that make sense for protection of a safe, secure, stable space environment, the better it is for all spacefaring nations. It lowers the risk of miscalculation and potential escalation, accidental escalation,” Plumb stressed.

Only nine nations voted against the resolution, including China and Russia. Plumb said that this does not necessarily mean these countries will completely reject its guidelines and that norms can take hold without a vote.

Established norms serve not only to prevent collisions, but to provide a guide for determining if another body is hostile, said Plumb.

While the land, sea and air domains have built up these necessary norms over time, the space environment has not been occupied long enough to allow standards to develop. 

A major issue the federal government and its partners have encountered while venturing into the space environment is the over classification of information. This makes it harder for federal agencies, international allies and private sector organizations to share information, according to Plumb.

“I think there’s clearly industry ramifications. Especially companies that might have to build entire architectures of classified information handling that can’t talk to other parts of their company,” he said.

“We have to solve these problems so we can have our industrial base be able to move faster,” urged Plumb.

Plumb’s office is currently collaborating with the intelligence community to diminish some of the classification issues to enable better information sharing with operational partners. He said that the department has made the overclassification problem a top priority. 

“When I talk about that DOD/intelligence community cooperation, this is one of those things that is … it’s the right time, it’s the right place, it’s the right window of opportunity to fix it,” Plumb reiterated.

NASA has halted the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport robotic lander mission after the system failed to respond to two communication attempts.

The mission took its final self-photograph on April 24 and sent its last signal to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California on December 15, the space agency said Wednesday.

“I watched the launch and landing of this mission, and while saying goodbye to a spacecraft is always sad, the fascinating science InSight conducted is cause for celebration,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

“The seismic data alone from this Discovery Program mission offers tremendous insights not just into Mars but other rocky bodies, including Earth,” he added.

InSight was built by Lockheed Martin Space. It was launched in May 2018 to explore the inner layers of Mars. In its nearly five-year expedition, the lander delivered valuable data on weather as well as magnetic and quake activity, enabling scientists to date the age of the planet’s surface and the makeup of its crust, mantle and core.

The accumulation of dust on InSight’s solar panels impeded the lander’s power generation, causing its batteries to run out of energy.