 Welcome to our session, our hot issue, if you like, on the new space race. I am absolutely delighted and also honoured to be joined with the panel here today. First of all, on my left, Wilbur Ross, the Secretary of Commerce for the US. And further down the panel, Suresh Rakhabal Prabhu, who is the Indian Sherpa for the G20. So great that you can be here to listen to what I hope will transpire into a very interesting discussion about the challenges, but also the opportunities of space today. We are a really, really fascinating time for space. There is a bow wave of enthusiasm for space programmes at the moment. It's really evocative of, you know, the tremendous enthusiasm we saw all those years ago, some 50 years ago, when we were really venturing out into space for the first time on those really exciting exploration programmes. But this time we're doing it differently. You know, this time there's a multiplicity of actors. You know, we have old, we have new, we have the big public institutions, the small commercial operators and indeed the big commercial operators. And now nearly 100 countries having space programmes. But not only are there different actors, but we're doing different things with space. It's not just about exploration. Space is an absolutely essential part of our everyday lives. We depend on it in ways that most people don't even understand. Most people don't understand that 99% of the data we need for weather forecasting comes from space. Our societies, our economies are critically dependent on communications, navigation. A topical here today is the fact that over 50% of the measurements we need to even understand climate change can only be taken from space. So, you know, not only do we have this bow wave of enthusiasm, but it's also more and more societally relevant. So I think the discussion for our panel today really is how do we make the most of that tremendous opportunity and do so in a way that is sustainable and make sure that all actors can really realise those opportunities. So perhaps we'll start with the opportunities if I can turn to you first, Secretary Ross. In your view, what are the key elements that we would really need to unlock and help us take advantage of the tremendous opportunity of space? Well, I think, first of all, people may not realise that so many technological developments have already come from space. These include artificial limbs, velcro, solar cells and water filtration. All of those came from first generation space. Now we have an opportunity to accelerate the pace of innovation. And it's increasingly tied, the whole economy is increasingly tied to services derived from space. Many of the most important terrestrial sectors, like transportation and logistics, oil and gas, internet, finance and others, are fueled by state technologies such as positioning, navigation and timing, remote sensing and communications. Space technologies have increased productivity, communication and safety and have brought new products to some of the remote areas. To put some numbers to it, government activity in space is growing, but over 80% of the $415 billion global space economy is actually commercial. We believe that the future will be even more dominated by commercial interests rather than government. President Trump re-established the National Space Council in 2017 to coordinate national space policy and to prioritize economic development. Within Commerce Department, we revitalized the 30-year-old Office of Space Commerce to facilitate commercial space activities. And now, those activities are largely driven by venture capital and by private entrepreneurs. In the past 10 years, more than $25 billion has been invested in 535 separate space companies globally. In 2019 alone, $5.8 billion was invested, largest year on record. And in 2019, roughly 43% of space startup investment went to companies outside the U.S. And over close to 100 countries have meaningful space activities. So it's very much a global activity even though it's an importantly private sector. Our national and international governance activities must facilitate the private sector not get in its way. And I think that and financing are two of the initial needs. Now, while the overall satellite industry only experienced a 3% growth rate in 2018, the economic benefits that those satellites have created for other industries are much larger and growing much more rapidly. And by the way, that also pales to the sub-sector of satellite manufacturing which experienced a 26% growth rate over 2018. Bright space and technology assessed that the total economic impact of space had grown to $5 trillion annually in 2018. Television, internet and wireless communications, finance, agriculture, shipping, all of these have been revolutionized by satellite. In 2019, our Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology analyzed 10 economic sectors that use GPS daily. And those sectors now have 1.4 trillion in cumulative economic benefit just from GPS. So while those estimates are encouraging, we recognize the need also to improve how we account for space activities. Most traditional industrial accounting summaries focus on aerospace without separating space activities. So we've recently begun an initiative within Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis to more precisely define and measure the space industry's economic activity. We believe in the old saying that if you don't measure it, you can't manage it. Secretary Ross, if I may, I think you raised some really, really fundamental questions there. And I'm particularly interested to get a perspective from Minister Prabhu. So recording your points around finance and the role of private finance, I think the role of the insurance sector probably needs to change as well versus the intervention of government, as it were. Minister Prabhu, can I get your perspective on indeed what the key elements will be in order for us to realize this tremendous opportunity of space? You know, as Secretary Ross was saying, it's a full of opportunities. And we cannot even think about modern life without using space as a means of developing technologies and using those technologies for working on the ground. So this is inevitable process and we cannot stop it anymore. But space is not a vacuum really. It's actually full of opportunities. We think outer space is vacuum, it's not. And therefore, how to actually harness those opportunities is something very important. Most of the technologies now developing, the new technology which are evolving out of those technologies which are already developed, are actually using geospatial technology as a base and using large part of the technology which are operating from outer space as a means of doing that. We in India, we are already using space for a lot of civilian purposes. It's for weather forecasting, it's for education, which is the over a period of time, we can do it for agriculture and many other purposes. So we feel that use is something which is full of potential. So if you can develop that, one is economic opportunities which will be differently be there. But it can also put people life on a much better platform because what you can see from there is something different than what you can actually see on the ground. So this is a huge full of opportunity. Technology will drive it, but economic opportunities can be harnessed, but good for the people which in my opinion is a fundamental principle on which we should decide about it. Particularly that part of the world, developing world, which has not been able to benefit from it, can usually benefit from it in terms of forecasting and many other reasons. So I think we can use it for that purpose. There of course now as you can see, the space is dominated by states, take the governments, but also non-state players. So obviously there is a need to understand how both can function, how they can operate, how will be, well outer space will be secured for the people living on the ground. That is another very important thing we should really look into that. So I think opportunities are immense and we have a very ambitious space program, which is Indian Space Research Organization's Dives It. And one of the great achievement of this is that we achieved some technological breakthroughs at the lowest of the cost. So probably what India does on technological development of space technologies, this actually caused probably a faction of what is done in other parts of the world. So this is another very important development and I think we can obviously look into working with all the countries in the world to make space a safe haven. Because normally we don't know where we go after death, but even if we go wherever, we should try to make sure that that part of the world is that part of the space is make safe. I think Minister Prabhu raised a very good point about cost cutting. It's really cost cutting concepts like reusability, miniaturisation and repetition of design rather than one off products that's bringing it down to where it is economical to think about such new activities as space tourism, space mining, space manufacturing and space colonisation as well as journeys to remote planets. And we think as a result of all those things, projections appropriately place 2040 global space activity somewhere between one and three trillion dollars, huge, huge increments over where we are. Main rule we see for governments is to get out of the way and foster the conditions needed for the growth and technological advancement of the sector. I think it's a fascinating point and people, one to three trillion dollars, this is a really exciting time. We've talked a lot about the role of the private sector and how the private sector is increasingly taken on some of the roles which were historically dominated by the public sector. And of course somewhat hand in hand with that comes the issue of co-operation versus competition. Perhaps I can come to Minister Prabhu first. Where do you see those areas of our space programmes that will remain dominated by co-operation? And where do you see elements which will be largely about competition given that we are now, you know, space programmes are now open to many, many more players? I think really speaking we need a global dialogue on this because this is something which is uncharted territory. We are not really worked on that, but I was saying if you really look at outer space as a public good, then we can actually look at harnessing that public good for the benefit of larger part of humanity and this can really transform the human lives in a very significant way. This is really possible and as we are seeing now most of the new technology that are getting developed somewhere or the other there's a relationship with space. So this is something which is we should keep that in mind and therefore technological development and technological advancement, no one can stop it. I cannot say that I'll close the door and will not allow the air to come in. It is not possible. So we have to make sure that technological advancement will continue, but a means of technology, why is being used, so end of what's the means of then, what's the purpose of that? It should be for a public good for a common of people who will really benefit from this technological development. Right, but cooperation will be essential in two big areas, space safety and space sustainability. Why is that important? There are already hundreds of thousands of random objects orbiting at some 17,000 miles an hour. These are mostly under 10 centimeters in diameter, but even those little particles can cause severe damage to the solar panels that power these satellites. US has led in this area for decades, mostly through Department of Defense and NASA, but our current efforts are going to encourage a very wide range of commercial activities to improve and increase our understanding of the environment. We're creating a new civil organization in commerce to improve space situational awareness and increase interaction among space operators in the interest of space safety. That's inherently a thing that needs cooperation with all of the players, government and private sectors as well. We're also working with our allies to establish best practices and standards for existing space capabilities and for encouraging the new emerging ones. And these will eventually grow into the very much needed rules of the road going beyond the very general format in the UN prescriptions from some years ago. So, those are a couple of sectors we think will encourage government participation and global cooperation. Absolutely. I think the observations are so well made. I particularly chime with Minister Probably's reflection that space now really touches so many different areas of our life and so many different technologies I've enjoyed this week. You know, casual conversations where you discover that space is relevant to a lady doing research on ageing using bats who was also very familiar with the US astronauts that have been involved in those programs through to a lady working on the UN programs tackling famine. So, the ubiquity of our space programs is not under doubt. And I think that makes your points even more important around the need to work together to ensure the safety and sustainability of the environment. I mean, I wonder if we can just dwell on that for a little longer and perhaps some perspectives about where in particular we need to drive more rigor, more clarity, as you say, beneath those relatively high level UN countries. The codes of conducts and norms that exist at the moment. Well, the space situational awareness is one example. There it's for the moment limited by technology. The conventional sensing systems really can't deal with the objects under 10 centimetres, but they are the vast majority of the objects. So, we need some sort of a standard what is going to be the sensing format. Second, how will it be communicated? Right now, no one has the power, and maybe never should, to tell a satellite operator, move your satellite. Well, because it's about to have a conjunction that could be detrimental and even destructive to it. So, we need to think through how can we develop algorithms that will have enough credibility that when we call the space operator, he knows the overwhelming probability as we are right that there will be a conjunction and then move the satellite to avoid the conjunction. So, that's a very clear one. A further one is the durability of the satellites themselves. The original ones were meant to last seven or eight years, they've turned out to last somewhat longer, but you might have seen the two female astronauts change a battery by a spacewalk on a satellite. That's the kind of thing that we need to make them last longer. I must say, I wouldn't have the courage to have done that spacewalk and that battery transfer, but maintenance, space maintenance is a whole new activity that will help the life, help keep the satellites from degrading and therefore contribute to the control of all these objects flying around. But with the vast launches of large numbers of small satellites, this problem is going to become much more intense. It's already pretty crowded up there. There's another area that's needed. Who owns space? Who owns whatever we find? If you're the first one to the asteroid, does that mean you have a claim on all the minerals in that asteroid? How does it work? Are we getting into kind of a wild west situation of claim jumpers or will there be some methodology? Right now, the governing principle is, oh, this is all just for the benefit of humanity. Well, that's not going to last very long. It's not a practical solution. We need more nitty gritty solution to that. I think you're absolutely right. I think space lawyers will be busy for some years to come on that issue. But if I can bring us back to the very profound points you made around the sustainability of the operating environment and perhaps get a perspective from Minister probably, because I think it's incredibly relevant today and I think we very often draw the comparison between the climate change and the challenge of climate change on our own planet. That same thing is manifesting in the space operating environment unless we're careful. To a great extent, certainly in older generations, we didn't understand the actions and their impact on climate change. That's not true of the space operating environment. We do know. So we should be doing something to tackle that. Minister, perhaps your reflections on what more we could do and also who should be the responsible actors for doing so, given that the programmes are no longer government dominated, but increasingly commercial too? Obviously, we should do everything that we do even as a technological development. Again, I repeat, that should be for a better good of the people, not for something which will be just harm at them. So that is obviously the ground rule. We should be always be there. But a question, fundamental question, as you were saying, because who owns the space is a very important question. And therefore, I think we should work in a way that will be peaceful, which will actually develop new ideas and new technology will be further progressed. But in a manner that will actually not create more issues for future because we already have a lot of tension on the ground. So I think we can actually not add to that tension but actually address that tension. So I think this could be a very useful tool. This is a great opportunity. And I think human curiosity is something which is driving the change because we always, whenever a child is born, he looks up and find out what is there in the sky. And there's a story, a lot of even in Indian folklore, that everybody wanted to go and catch the moon and say, I want to catch it because I want to see that. Why is it so far from me? So that curiosity is driving the change. And that's a good thing. But again, and we have seen in India that using it for peaceful purposes has given us tremendous benefit. And therefore we can do villages, 750,000 villages in India. We can reach out to them for Medicare, for education and so many other things. And I think we should work as friends with many countries, find out solution to these vexed issues. But at the same time, if we have fundamentals clear, if you know what is bottom line, why you are doing it, I think that will always find solution to this. An example would be what responsibility should a satellite operator have for the end of service termination of that satellite? Should there be some requirement to destruct it in a way that doesn't produce very much debris? Some people have talked about putting some sort of a device on it and literally dragging it to a lower level so that it just combusts itself. And there are all sorts of ideas. But none of them will work except if they're implemented on a universal basis. If just one operator does the right thing, it's not going to do a hell of a lot for the whole problem. We will need some sort of collaborative or cooperative process. So I think it's going to be a combination of evolutions, evolution of regulatory concept. As you do that, then the question is how do you enforce it? Very interesting question. Marine law, maritime law is sort of a comparison. But that's a little bit different because it's going from finite destination to finite destination. Here it's much more complicated questions. So there are limits to quite how far just a broadening marine law will be. So toward that end, we're co-hosting with the State Department again this June a space enterprise summit in Washington to try to deal with these and many of the other issues. And we're hoping that gathering enough people together and we're also signing collaboration agreements with a number of other countries. We have with Australia, we have some others as well. And I think that's a way forward. But eventually needs to be more than bilateral needs to be multilateral. Absolutely true. Absolutely true. It's a fascinating conversation. I'm being told we have to draw to a conclusion. But perhaps I can just offer you the floor one more time if you can very succinctly. Just give us your reflection on the one thing that would really help us realise the opportunity of space. The one thing that needs to change today. I think the main thing is to continue to drive the cost down because at the end of the day, since it is essentially a commercial enterprise, revenues versus cost versus capital investment is what's going to determine what happens. Thank you. I think we should encourage more and more innovation, more and more technology of gradation, keeping ethical side of it in mind that would really help to ensure that we progress but we do not cause any damage and harm. Thank you. And thank you very much indeed. That draws us to a conclusion. We've had some fantastic insights from our panel so it just leaves it to me to thank our panel in the usual way. Thank you.