Thursday, April 28, 2022

SEDS@UMD General Business Meeting

SEDS@UMD is a club dedicated to fostering interest in space through technical projects and hosting space talks. We have two upcoming events with speakers from industry, and we would love for you all to attend!

On April 28th at 6:45 PM in EGR1108, we will be hosting a talk by Ms. Therese Jones, Senior Director of Policy at Satellite Industry Association, on the development of Space Policy. On May 5th at 6:30 PM in EGR1108, Mr. William Kramer will be presenting on space sustainability and the environmental effects of space exploitation. Both of these talks will be a great opportunity for students to interact with the space industry and build a stronger understanding of how the industry is growing. We plan to have pizza and refreshments at both of these events, so I hope everyone will come out to hear our speakers. I've added an overview for each of the talks below!


Ms. Therese Jones

Title: Navigating government space policy—how laws, regulation, and policy are made in concert with the private sector

Description: Ever wonder who decides who or what is allowed to be launched into space?  How the long-term space environment should be preserved from debris? Whether Steve Carrell accurately portrays the Space Force? This talk will give a basic overview of how non-governmental actors navigate U.S. government space policy, and touch on some of the more hot space policy topics of today, including those surrounding space debris, billionaires in space, the Space Force, remote sensing and its impact on government decision-making, and how space is impacting and impacted by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. This talk will also give a brief crash course on how to get into the space industry for those interested.


Mr. William Kramer

Description: A foreseeable issue with exploitation of the Moon, Mars, and beyond is the potential for our actions to adversely affect extraterrestrial environments, yet there are no regulations or procedures for assessing environmental impact -- it is not part of the space development conversation. Without impact analyses, we should expect the same kinds of environmental harm we have witnessed here on Earth. This presentation will describe the problem and how it may affect future uses and will propose a potential solution.


SEDS@UMD hopes to see you at one of these events! Any questions or comments may be directed to our email: Seds@umd.edu