International cooperation on space safety standards (ICSSS)

Abstract

This paper illustrates a proposal by the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) to establish an independent forum, called International Cooperation on Space Safety Standards (ICSSS), for space faring countries regulators to harmonize national regulations, and to collectively vet existing space safety voluntary consensus standards in view of recommending their adoption in national regulations.

By signing the ICSSS Charter, the forum members would commit to “best-efforts” in aligning their national regulations to the reference space safety standards the forum would develop.

The paper starts with a discussion of the term space safety, of the fields it comprises, and of the concept of acceptable risk. Then it moves on to discuss in general the purpose and use of voluntary consensus standards, to make clear that safety standards are a special category of standards, and to illuminate the difference between standards and regulations. Finally, the paper presents the key principles according to which the ICSSS would operate, the different groupings of standards, and the concept of proceeding by phases in expanding the scope of the standardization activities.

The first phase of the cooperation would concern launch and re-entry safety, and spaceports safety.