NASA Nominee & FCC Nominee Discuss Space Security and Undersea Cables

Space Traffic Management and Orbital Debris

• 🛰️ Senator Todd Young highlighted the critical reliance of the US economy and national defense on satellites for GPS, weather, and communications.
• ⚠️ A collision or loss of key satellites could result in catastrophic national security and economic costs.
• 🚀 Jared Isaacman, NASA nominee, expressed passion for space traffic management, citing orbital debris as the number one risk he faced during his space missions.
• 💡 Isaacman emphasized the need for a single mission control to consolidate situational awareness data from all space assets.
• 🔍 He warned that the biggest threat comes from untrackable, tiny objects (millimeter-sized) traveling at orbital velocities that can shred satellites.
• 🇺🇸 The US is praised for its efforts in not adding to the problem of orbital debris, unlike some geopolitical rivals.

Protecting Undersea Cable Infrastructure

• 🌊 Senator Young also questioned FCC nominee, Miss Trustee, about protecting undersea cable infrastructure, which carries 99% of trans-oceanic digital communication.
• 🇷🇺 Since 2022, Russia has increased attacks on this infrastructure, with an incident in 2023 involving a Chinese tanker cutting Baltic Sea cables.
• 🤝 Miss Trustee stated the FCC works with 'team telecom' to review undersea cable applications and proposed promoting transparency in foreign ownership.
• 💡 She suggested promoting US-led undersea cable projects and diversifying cable routes to eliminate single points of failure.
• 🚨 Strengthening disaster recovery and emergency response plans is also crucial due to the vulnerability of these cables.
• 🇨🇳 The need to develop a unified federal position on setting standards through international bodies was stressed, noting that the US has been outflanked by China and others.