1. Pierre BESCOND September 29, 2003 IAA COMMISSION IV Space System Operation & Utilisation First 2 years in existence Chairman’s report

2. - 2 - IAA Commission IV - Space System Operation & Utilisation - September 29, 2003 - Pierre Bescond TABLE OF CONTENT 1- Summary 2- Meetings 3- Study Groups 4- Program Committees 5- Content

3. - 3 - IAA Commission IV - Space System Operation & Utilisation - September 29, 2003 - Pierre Bescond From the very beginning our Commission made a point of putting in place its organisation in line with the aims of the IAA new structure. To do so, it dedicated most of its initial efforts to organisational matters, by extensively explaining them at its first meeting in Toulouse, September 30, 2001 : role of the Commissions, terms of reference, responsibilities, organisation, membership, operating mode. Content of course was not forgotten, although a lot remains to be done, including in current activities, which sometimes had some difficulties to transition to the new structure, often for reasons outside the IAA such as restructuring of the Industry and availability of members. Four Study Groups are in place and a fifth one could be proposed soon, Program Committees have been doing a good job in organising sessions in Houston, Bremen and Vancouver IACs as well as in other IAA-supported conferences, while some activity found its place in other Commissions Study Groups or Program Committees. All of our information and activity is currently documented on the IAA website, although some clarification, additions and updating are needed. Together with email it is becoming our members preferred exchange tool. 1- SUMMARY

4. - 4 - IAA Commission IV - Space System Operation & Utilisation - September 29, 2003 - Pierre Bescond 4 MEETINGS of Commission IV took place : 1st meeting in Toulouse, September 30, 2001 2nd meeting in Paris, March 18, 2002 3rd meeting in Houston, October 12, 2002 4th meeting in Paris, March 17, 2003 5th MEETING will take place here today in Bremen, chairmanship being handed over to Arnoldo Valenzuela 2- MEETINGS

5. - 5 - IAA Commission IV - Space System Operation & Utilisation - September 29, 2003 - Pierre Bescond Study Groups in existence today : S 4.1S 4.1 Knowledge Management of Space Systems Produced a draft position paper for the Study Group ’s final review in Bremen. After a peers review within Commission IV, it will then be forwarded to SAC for IAA approval. S 4.2S 4.2 Quality of Space Programs Ran through major problems of availability of many members, due to moves and restructuring in the Industry. But managed to organize very good sessions that will allow, through a well documented progress report ready for discussion in Bremen, to pretty clearly refocus work towards their final output, for which they may need an additional year, Bremen being the occasion to « restaff » the group. S 4.3S 4.3 Small Satellites Missions for Earth Observation S 4.4 Cost Effective Earth Observation Missions Both are well structured and organized. They have been very active including in stand alone symposia. A final version of the Position Paper “Cost-Effective Earth Observation Missions” will be available for peers review this October 2003 for an expected approved IAA version in October 2004. S 4.4 3- STUDY GROUPS (1)

6. - 6 - IAA Commission IV - Space System Operation & Utilisation - September 29, 2003 - Pierre Bescond EVA (Extravehicular activity) : A faithful team has been producing regular work and sessions on this topic which contributes across the board to other study groups and sessions efforts. Study Group to be considered for later : S 4.5 Space Weather Space weather viewed from the project manager and the operator raised enough interest to organise a good session in Bremen, which could lead to a structured proposal for a Study Group. Note : Space debris topics Initially under Commission IV, after inter Commissions discussions and approval by SAC, they were moved to Commission V 3- STUDY GROUPS (2)

7. - 7 - IAA Commission IV - Space System Operation & Utilisation - September 29, 2003 - Pierre Bescond 4- PROGRAM COMMITTEES Commission IV worked a lot to ensure that Academicians and non- Academicians from the technical committees in the former IAA structure remained well motivated to continue their good work within the new structure. Through discussions with the SAC and Board of Trustees officers, we helped SAC come forward with the right organisational principles for Program Committees. In our 2 years of existence, we’ve found a good compromise in terms of the (limited) number of sessions to be organised at IACs, and an interesting opening towards stand alone sessions or symposia outside the IACs. The appropriate Program Committees are set up accordingly and cease to exist when they’ve done their job of organising them.

8. - 8 - IAA Commission IV - Space System Operation & Utilisation - September 29, 2003 - Pierre Bescond 5- CONTENT Organisation being up and running, more time should now be devoted to content : 1- Ensure Study Groups deliver in due time their reports, position papers or cosmic studies, which must be of the highest quality : the peer review by the Commission members which include representatives from all 4 sections is here to assess and finalise them before they can be endorsed by SAC as IAA approved documents. 2- Come up with new technical and scientific topics to work on, through ever renewed and innovative Study Groups. I wish to thank all members who, in this initial phase, very demanding by nature, helped Commission IV achieve its goals so far… and I wish my successor Arnoldo Valenzuela good luck. I’m sure he will enjoy the job as much as I did !