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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081530Z JUL 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9798
INFO RUCNDSC/DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0923
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0882
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1239
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0991
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RUEHPG/AMEMBASSY PRAGUE 0191
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0546
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0261
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0779
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1706
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0895
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 UNVIE VIENNA 000324 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
GENEVA FOR CD DEL 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  (GARBLED MSG) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MCAP PREL PARM TSPA RS NASA CPUOS CDG
SUBJECT: BRIEFING TO COPUOS AND SIDE MEETING ON THE 
SATELLITE COLLISION 
 
REF: A. STATE 58525 
     ¶B. MOSCOW 556 
 
UNVIE VIEN 00000324  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) On June 9, 2009,  Brigadier General Susan Helms, 
Director of Plans and Policy, J-5, United States Strategic 
Command, briefed the 52nd Session of the Committee on the 
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) on the February 2009 
collision of the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 satellites. 
Prior to this briefing, the U.S. provided a preview of the 
presentation to the Russian delegation as well as to 
interested delegation members from NATO and select non-NATO 
countries.  The U.S. also used the meeting with the Russian 
Federation as an opportunity to discuss bilateral cooperation 
between the U.S. and Russia on transparency and confidence 
building measures (TCBMs) for space activities.  All three 
briefings were well received and the U.S. was complimented 
for its transparency in discussing the collision. 
 
------ 
Briefing to Russian Delegation on Satellite Collision and 
Discussion of Space TCBMS 
------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On Monday, June 8, 2009, Brigadier General Susan 
Helms, Director of Plans and Policy, J-5, United States 
Strategic Command, briefed the Russian COPUOS delegation on 
the February 2009 collision of the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 
satellites.  The Russian attendees included Sergey Shestakov, 
Head of the Science and Technology Division,  Department on 
New Challenges and Threats, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 
Anatoly Belinsky, Ministry of Defense; and Alexey Dronov, 
Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the 
International Organizations in Vienna.  Following the U.S. 
briefing on the collision, the Russian delegation thanked the 
U.S. delegation for its willingness to meet and for their 
transparency in sharing the planned presentation for the 
COPUOS session. The Russians, key question was why and how 
the collision took place.  The U.S. answered by saying that 
the collision took place because space is becoming 
increasingly crowded.  General Helms stressed that the 
collision could have happened between any two nations and 
that our nations need to collaborate to ensure they do not 
happen in the future.  She stated that the question should 
not be what any country did wrong, but rather how to bring 
together our resources to prevent a future collision from 
happening.  Sergey Shestakov stated that the issues involved 
with the collision are clear, the problem will be how to 
organize our common goals and efforts together.  He stated 
that the Conference on Disarmament is the correct venue to 
discuss military issues as well as other initiatives by the 
Russian Federation.  Dronov added that in order to start 
thinking about collaboration we need to consider the legal 
aspects. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) After the dialogue on the collision, Ken Hodgkins, 
Director of OES/SAT, began a discussion on bilateral 
cooperation between the U.S. and Russia on space TCBMs. 
Hodgkins stated that we are currently seeking cooperation 
with Russia on military-to-military workplans; a joint 
resolution on TCBMs; the issues involved in the Russian March 
2009 non-paper on the collision and TCBMs; and the work 
currently being done in COPUOS (such as the new agenda item 
on the long term sustainability of space activities).  The 
U.S. indicated its desire to determine if U.S.-Russian 
workplans signed in 2006 and 2007 are still relevant and 
questioned what it will take to expand the workplans to a 
multilateral level.  The U.S. pointed out that it provides a 
great deal of data to the international community, but it 
would like to consider what Russia may be able to provide to 
supplement this data.  Lt Col Myland Pride, from the Joint 
Staff, explained the specifics of the 2006 and 2007 workplans 
(and later provided these documents to Dronov).  Hodgkins 
added that there is a need to educate all nations on why 
better space surveillance would be advantageous.  Shestakov 
agreed with U.S. suggestions on cooperation and stated that 
 
UNVIE VIEN 00000324  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
there is a need for bilateral consultations between the U.S. 
and Russia.  He added that we should continue this dialogue 
with a specialized expert meeting on the topic and 
potentially form a working group.  He was pleased that the 
discussion began in Vienna and felt this meeting was a &very 
constructive8 beginning.  Later that week, the U.S. handed 
over to Shestakov a list of questions for consideration by 
the Russian Federation (found in REF A) in response to the 
Russian March 5, 2009, non-paper (REF B). 
 
------ 
Briefing to Allies on Satellite Collision 
------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) On Tuesday, June 9, 2009, the General Helms briefed 
approximately 25 delegates from at least 16 NATO and select 
non-NATO countries on the satellite collision.  Attendees 
represented Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, 
Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, 
Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. 
The presentation was well received and various delegates 
stated that it was beneficial in raising awareness of the 
issue.  The attendees appeared engaged during the 
presentation and asked thoughtful questions. 
 
¶5. (U) The following questions were asked: 
-Can we reduce the amount of space debris currently in space? 
-Is it possible to determine whose debris is whose following 
a collision? 
-Is it possible to design satellites so that they dissolve 
after life? 
-Is it standard practice to put satellites in graveyard 
orbits? 
-What is the critical part of tracking satellites to prevent 
collisions? 
-Was there exchange of information with Russia following the 
collision? 
-To what extent is monitoring by various countries up to date 
and is there is a mechanism for collaboration on such 
monitoring? 
-Is it possible to identify whose debris is whose following a 
collision? 
-Can we calculate the lifetime of the debris created by this 
collision? 
-In the case of a predicted collision, are there rules on 
which satellite should maneuver if both satellites are 
maneuverable? 
 
¶6. (SBU) The U.S. delegation thoroughly answered each 
question, stressing the need for increased international 
cooperation, and the delegates seemed satisfied with the 
responses.  Of particular note was the discussion on the 
&chain of custody8 of debris following a collision.  The 
U.S. explained that each piece of debris created that is 
large enough to track will have its own orbital signature 
traceable back to the parent object.  The U.S. added that 
although the assignment of liability for debris-caused damage 
to satellites will become an increasingly complex issue, it 
is important to focus on managing the problem of collisions, 
rather than the legal question of who owns each of the 
pieces.  During the question and answer period, the delegate 
from the Czech Republic noted that the fact that the U.S. 
voluntarily provided the briefing showed transparency that 
has not been demonstrated by other spacefaring nations. 
 
------- 
Briefing to COPUOS on the Satellite Collision 
-------- 
 
¶7. (U) On Tuesday, June 9, 2009, General Helms, briefed the 
52nd Session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer 
Space (COPUOS) on the collision of the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 
2251 satellites.  Upon completion, General Helms received a 
genuinely warm response.  In addition, Ciro Arevalo, the 
current Chairman of COPUOS, complimented her presentation, 
 
UNVIE VIEN 00000324  003.3 OF 003 
 
 
and praised the U.S. for its transparency in bringing this 
issue forward.  Following her briefing, Nicholas Johnson, 
NASA,s Chief Scientist for Orbital Debris at Johnson 
Spaceflight Center, gave a presentation on the space debris 
created of the satellite collision, which was also well 
received. 
 
¶8. (U) During the question and answer session, a delegate 
from Brazil brought up a U.S. Congressional hearing where 
commercial and industry representatives stated that data 
distribution is not complete.  In response, General Helms 
discussed the importance of international collaboration to 
share data and the need for an integrated approach.  A Greek 
delegate complemented the U.S. for giving the presentation, 
and that, as an astronaut, General Helms was the perfect 
person to share this presentation.  He stated his opinion 
that nation-states should not have authority in space based 
on domestic law, but rather all space rules and laws should 
fall under international regimes.  The Indian delegate asked 
whether the full database of all 19,000 objects was made 
available by the United States. General Helms discussed 
space-track.org and stated that information on the 19,000 
space objects could be found there. The Venezuelan delegate 
said that the satellite collision sheds light on the need for 
the legal subcommittee to take up the issue of creating 
binding space debris mitigation guidelines. Chairman Arevalo 
noted that the current space debris mitigation guidelines 
were adopted as a result of years of arduous work.  A Chinese 
delegate stated that China has no intent to weaponize space 
and would like to prevent an arms race in space. 
PYATT