Space Security Index

The purpose of the Space Security Index (SSI) is to facilitate dialogue on space security challenges and potential responses. The annual report also provides a comprehensive pedagogical tool on the concept of space security to inform debate among stakeholders and policy-makers. Therefore, the Space Security Index provides facts and focus in an important debate that has become unnecessarily polarized.

It is the first and only annual, comprehensive, and integrated assessment of space security. Based on nine indicators of space security, it provides background information and in-depth analysis on key space security trends and developments. The annual assessment has two key components:

• A policy-neutral fact-base of trends and developments in space security based on primary, open-source research.
• An assessment of the status of space security based on a consultative process engaging a broad cross-section of space stakeholders through an online expert survey and a working group of space experts.

The definition of space security guiding this report reflects the intent of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that outer space should remain open for all to use for peaceful purposes now and in the future:

"The secure and sustainable access to, and use of, space and freedom from space-based threats."

Space Security Index 2019 is the 16th annual report on developments related to safety, sustainability, and security in outer space. It is part of the broader Space Security Index (SSI) project, which aims to improve transparency on space activities and provide a common, comprehensive, objective knowledge base to support the development of dialogue and policies that contribute to the governance of outer space as a shared global commons. Inside this report, you will find contextual information and annual updates on 17 indicators of space security, organized under four broad themes. This arrangement is intended to reflect the increasing interdependence, mutual vulnerabilities, and synergies of outer space activities.

This report also includes a Global Assessment, which is intended to analyze and evaluate the effects of changing trends, critical themes, key highlights, breaking points, and new dynamics that are shaping the security of outer space and require international attention. The Global Assessment is prepared by a different expert on space security every year, to encourage a range of perspectives over time. The author of the current assessment is Dr. Brian Weeden, Director of Program Planning for Secure World Foundation. Respected and recognized as an international expert, Dr. Weeden has nearly two decades of professional experience in space operations and policy.

To download a copy of the 2019 report or purchase a hard copy, please visit Space Security Index or contact Julia Bandura at jbandura@ploughshares.ca.

This project would not be possible without the generous financial and in-kind support from The Simons Foundation Canada, Project Ploughshares, The Erin J.C. Arsenault Trust Fund at McGill University, The Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University, The Research Unit for Military Law and Ethics at The University of Adelaide, and The Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University.