For the next instalment of our Director Q&A, we speak with Toby Nassif of Viasat. Toby recently re-joined the SDA’s board of directors, on which he last served between 2009 & 2012.
Who do you work for and what’s your role within the company?
I work for Viasat, Inc where I am the Director of the Viasat Satellite Control Center (SCC). The SCC is responsible for the safe and efficient operations of the Viasat fleet of spacecraft.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the satcom industry?
I think the biggest challenge for the satcom industry, outside of the increasing encroachment on our frequency bands by terrestrial operators, is the continued proliferation of objects the space environment and what that will do to our ability to operate safely, from a physical risk of collision as well as a frequency interference standpoint. The thought of a single operator safely operating 30,000 satellites, let alone numerous operators doing so, uncoordinated, is mind-boggling. That single constellation is more satellites than the entire USAF had in its total catalogue less than ten years ago. And what many people don’t understand is that there is no ability to just “fix the problem” if the assurances these mega-constellation operators are giving are wrong. Should the Kessler Syndrome manifest itself, these operators would not only ruin the environment for their own use and business, but they would ruin it for everyone else in the industry for decades if not longer.
How is the satcom industry different now to when you last served as an SDA director? Are there any issues/solutions that have become more important?
The biggest difference I see from when I was last involved in the SDA, about 10 years ago, is the emergence of the mega constellations of LEO satellites and small cubesats operating at GEO. When I left Intelsat and the SDA in 2012 to join Skybox Imaging, we were “cutting edge” with plans to launch a 24-satellite constellation. Now, it seems that 24 satellites are an afterthought in most plans. And this increase has compounded the issue of congestion in the various orbit regimes to and even more critical state than it was back then.
I was a little surprised that the issues we faced back in 2012 are still prevalent (and more relevant) today. The number of objects placed into orbit is growing almost exponentially, and our ability to provide effective space traffic management is not. Space is getting more and more congested every day, and if we are not careful, we could prevent the use of the space environment for generations to come.
The SDA is still one of the only organizations that can effectively take owner/operator ephemeris data, considered by many to be the most accurate, and not only screen it against a large catalogue of objects, but also other member owner/operator data.
What do you think should be the key focus within SSA in the coming years?
Outside of really thinking through the idea of creating constellations launching tens of thousands of satellites and considering the harmful potential that that brings to future space operations; I think the key focus within SSA in the coming years will be to implement a global capability to do what the SDA currently does today. A focus on not only situational awareness, but on Space Traffic Management. Spacecraft operators will need to communicate with each other on the state of their spacecraft, their intentions when there is a predicted conjunction, and actions taken to avoid collision. Without this, we cannot effectively operate. Congestion will continue to grow and a safe, effective and cost-efficient way to prevent collisions in space is paramount to protecting all of our ability to operate our businesses in space. For commercial operators this just isn’t a matter of protecting the space environment, but also protecting its business. For without the ability to operate our spacecraft effectively and reliably, we will have no business.
How does data sharing improve your operations?
Data sharing improves our operations in that it provides the additional piece of mind that when there is a close approach identified with another SDA object in particular, that it is most likely real, and we will need to take action. Whether that is further assessment, or executing an avoidance manoeuvre, it is less action than needed with other services.
When receiving warnings from other organizations such as the USSF CSpOC, we always need to first assess where they think our satellite is as compared to where we know it is, then see if the other object is debris (which will be on a well-known orbit) or another active spacecraft that could have manoeuvred since the last USSF observation. This is because other organizations are not processing the O/O data that includes manoeuvre information and given that many satellites today can manoeuvre up to 4-8 times a day, having the accuracy of O/O data is crucial in decision making.