Welcome to IAASS

The International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS, Legally established 16 April 2004 in the Netherlands, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to furthering international cooperation and scientific advancement in the field of space systems safety. In 2004 IAASS became a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). In 2006 former US Senator John Glenn, first American to orbit, became Honorary Member of the IAASS. In 2010 IAASS was granted Observer status at the United Nations COPUOS (Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space).

In accordance with the Association Charter, the IAASS membership is open to anyone having a professional interest in space safety. Members can be physical persons, corporations, agencies, universities, institutions, and other professional associations.
The Association exists to help shape and advance an international culture of space safety (technical, organizational and socio-political), which would contribute to make space missions, vehicles, stations, extraterrestrial habitats, equipment and payloads safer for the general public, ground personnel, crews and flight participants. The Association also pursues the safeguarding and sustainability of the on-orbit environment to allow unimpeded access to space by future generations.
​The Association work will contribute to propagate the idea that the time is ripe for the establishment of an international civil space safety organization according to the model of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), which so effectively advanced air travel safety.

Mission

Advancing space safety forms the foundation of our endeavour. Compared with the vastness political, financial and intellectual resources that space programs require our forces minute, truly a drop in the ocean. Nevertheless, we want to be that drop and indeed a catalyst drop. We are committed, through the knowledge and dedication of our members, to internationally advance space safety as parents are to their children, to help finally ensure that no accident shall ever happen because of:
  • Risk badly measured or willingly underestimated;
  • Necessary knowledge not made available to others;
  • Lack of management commitment and attention;
  • Lack of personal accountability, which makes people negligent.

Goals

  1. Advance the science and application of Space Safety
  2. Improve the communication, dissemination of knowledge and cooperation between interested groups and individuals in this and related fields
  3. Improve understanding and awareness of the Space Safety discipline
  4. Promote and improve the development of Space Safety professionals and standards
  5. Advocate the establishment of safety laws, rules, and regulatory bodies at national and international levels for the civil use of space

Manifesto for a Safe and Sustainable Space

We express our concern for the safety and sustainability of civil and commercial space activities and we call upon all nations to cooperate with determination and goodwill to enhance access to and promote the use of space for the benefit of current and future human generations by committing to:

  1. Ensure that citizens of all nations are equally protected from the risks posed by over-flying space systems and objects during launch and re-entry/return operations;

  2. Ensure that space systems are developed, built and operated according to common minimum ground and flight safety rules which reflect the status of knowledge and the accumulated experience of all space-faring nations;

  3. Seek to prevent collisions or interference with other aerospace systems during launch, on-orbit operation, and re-entry;

  4. Ensure the protection of the ground, air and on-orbit environments from chemical, radioactive and debris contamination related to space operations;

  5. Ensure that mutual aid provisions for space mission safety emergencies are progressively agreed, developed and made accessible without restriction anywhere on the Earth and in Outer Space.

INTRODUCTION

STRATEGIC PLAN

CHARTER