About PULS and DECLARATION
Peaceful Use of Lasers in Space
Peaceful Use of Lasers in Space (PULS) is an initiative to help laser technology to advance humanity’s flourishing. Ensuring orbital safety of satellites, upon which our daily activities as well as progress of the 17 SDGs depends, can be dramatically improved by laser surveillance and debris removal. Remote laser-induced analysis of space resources can unlock cislunar economy and human sustainable expansion into space. Lasers can help us reach relativistic speeds with the cleanest space engine, light, as well as protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids. All these visions require transparent, benign and inclusive governance – PULS.
Reports, studies, policy papers, and academic articles on PULS:
- Prague Laser SpaceApps Workshop 2019, conference report, 25th – 27th September 2019
- Kick-Starting Cosmopolitan Governance through Science: The Case of a Giant Laser System, policy paper, published by the Institute of International Relations in Prague, 21th December 2019
- Reaching for the stars: The case for cooperative governance of directed energy technologies, academic paper, published in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 23rd April 2020
- Initiative for the Peaceful Use of Lasers in Space, presentation at the Optical Society Laser Congress, October 2020.
- Czech PULSe for space security?, policy paper, published by Association of International Affairs, December 2020
- PULS – Initiative by the scientific community to make space applications of super-powerful lasers in space politically viable, presentation at the HPLA conference, April 2021
- Report to the UNSC on Responsible Use of Lasers in Space, published at UN Office of Disarmament, May 2021
The Declaration is envisaged to be followed by:
- a second conference in Mikulov, Czechia that will propose policy and institutional building blocks on the subject peaceful use of lasers in space,
- an establishment of an international scientific association for laser applications in space.
The Peaceful Use of Lasers in Space (PULS) initiative submitted its commentary on the responsible use of lasers in space in reaction to the UNGA Resolution 75/36 on Reducing Space Threats Through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours.
The commentary can be viewed with other submitted views on https://www.un.org/disarmament/topics/outerspace-sg-report-outer-space-2021/
The report was authored by Petr Bohacek on behalf of the Peaceful Use of Lasers initiative with the help of important contributions, reviews and commentaries by:
- Nikola Schmidt, Head, Center for Governance of Emerging Technologies, Institute of International Relations
- Stefan Scharring, Senior Scientist, Institute of Technical Physics, German Aerospace Center
- Thomas Dekorsy, Director, Institute of Technical Physics, German Aerospace Center
- Daniel Porras, Non-Resident Research Fellow, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
- Joan S. Johnson-Freese, Professor, US Naval War College
- Simon Peter Worden, Chairman, Breakthrough Initiatives
Prague Laser SpaceApps Workshop 2019
23-24 September: New Technology as an Enabler of Global Governance in Space
Panel at the 11th International Symposium on Czech Foreign Policy Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Czernin Palace, Prague
25-26 September: Laser Space Applications and Technology Developers Workshop
Developing a laser research roadmap for three space applications: orbital debris tracking/removal, asteroid analysis/deflection, propulsion.
HiLase Laser Research Center, Dolni Brezany, Prague-West
27 September: Global Governance of Large Technical Systems Workshop
How international science collaborations can lead to the construction and governance of Large Technical Systems in an inclusive way.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Palais Toscan, Prague
PULS CONFERENCE 2021 CONFERENCE POSTPONED TO 2021 DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
CONTACTS
You can reach all organizers at info@lasers4space.com
or write us directly.
DR. NIKOLA SCHMIDT
Head of the Center for Governance of Emerging Technologies
Institute of International Relations, Prague, CZ
schmidt@iir.cz
PETR BOHACEK
Research Fellow and PULS organizer
European University Institute, Florence, IT and Institute of International Relations, Prague, CZ
petr.bohacek@eui.eu