Mariel Borowitz, Ph.D.
mariel.borowitz@inta.gatech.edu
Assistant Professor
Georgia Institute of Technology
Year of PhD: 2013
Phone: 6176423306
City: Atlanta, Georgia - 30332
Country: United States
About Me:
Mariel Borowitz is an Assistant Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech. Her research deals with international space policy issues, including international cooperation in Earth observing satellites and satellite data sharing policies. She also focuses on strategy and developments in space security and space situational awareness. Dr. Borowitz earned a PhD in Public Policy at the University of Maryland and a Masters degree in International Science and Technology Policy from the George Washington University. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Borowitz completed a detail as a policy analyst for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC from 2016 to 2018. Her book, “Open Space: The Global Effort for Open Access to Environmental Satellite Data,” was published by MIT Press in 2017.
Research Interests
Environmental Policy
Public Policy
Space Policy
Satellite Remote Sensing
Earth Observation Satellites
Science And Technology
Open Data
Information Policy
Publications:
Journal Articles:
Many government agencies have adopted open data policies, making their data freely available to all users online. At the same time, many agencies are experiencing substantial increases in the volume of data that they generate or collect. Simply upgrading existing systems is often not sufficient to ensure that large volumes of data remain accessible and can be analyzed efficiently; instead, agencies are transitioning to cloud infrastructures. Whereas some agencies seek to develop new in-house cloud platforms, many others are turning to commercial cloud providers. However, the ways in which agencies are partnering with these commercial entities vary considerably, as does the distribution of costs among agencies, cloud providers, and users. In some cases, users may need to pay to work with government data that were previously freely available. Although the underlying data may remain free, agencies may allow commercial providers to charge fees to users to download or analyze data using their commercial platform. Such challenges to the implementation of open data policies must be addressed to ensure that the current benefits of these policies are not lost and to realize the opportunities for researchers and society presented by big data and cloud computing.
As the commercial remote sensing industry continues to grow, government agencies are looking for opportunities to take advantage of the new and relatively inexpensive data provided by these entities through the development of public–private partnerships and data purchases. However, these arrangements typically require that governments accept some limitations on data sharing, contrasting with the existing norm of free and open access to government satellite data. Data access agreements can be complex, and their exact terms and conditions can significantly affect the overall benefits of the arrangement to the government and society more broadly. This article presents a framework for defining and evaluating these data access agreements, and demonstrates how the framework could be applied using case studies of previous public–private partnerships and data purchases.
Space situational awareness (SSA) refers to the ability to monitor and understand the state of the space environment, including the ability to track, understand, and predict the location of human-generated and natural objects in orbit around the Earth. This capability is a critical element in attributing and deterring attacks against space assets and in avoiding unintentional collisions. Historically, the United States Department of Defense has operated the most extensive SSA system in the world. Although, in recent years, it has shared data with commercial and foreign users on an ad hoc basis to help avoid collisions, access to the full database is highly restricted. Other nations, including Russia and Europe, have begun to develop or expand independent SSA systems. A number of commercial entities have also begun operating in this area, selling or planning to sell SSA services to satellite operators and governments. There are concerns in the United States about whether this proliferation of SSA technology and information will adversely affect national security, and questions about how the United States should respond to this situation. This article uses the example of remote sensing satellite technology and information, which experienced a similar transition from U.S. and Soviet dominance to participation by a wider range of nations and commercial entities, to identify the key strategic risks and opportunities posed by this trend. I discuss the extent to which these strategic risks and opportunities apply to the proliferation of SSA technology and information, finding that while the same strategic concerns are relevant in this case, typically the risks are lower. There are significant opportunities for the United States to benefit from this proliferation of technology. The article discusses the implications of these findings and offers recommendations that will allow the United States to further decrease the strategic risks associated with this trend, while increasing the benefits.
Across all stakeholders, there is a growing consensus that the long-term objective of global human space exploration is the long duration presence of people on the Martian surface. However, the key question concerns the choice of near-term missions that will bridge current human spaceflight activities in low Earth orbit and eventual Mars exploration. This paper contributes to this debate by identifying the scope of possible near-term missions, arguing that there are only four realistic proposals for initial human exploration beyond low Earth orbit: a cis-Lunar habitat, asteroid redirect, Mars flyby, and a short Lunar surface sortie. The paper then evaluates these missions across five criteria: 1) technical/economic feasibility, 2) contribution to the eventual goal of Mars, 3) potential for international cooperation, 4) global readiness for the mission, and 5) political feasibility to establish a clear assessment of the pros and cons of each of these four missions. While recognizing that any one of these missions represents a feasible option for future human space exploration, we recommend that the international community pursue development of a cis-Lunar habitat as its immediate goal. This mission maximizes development of technology necessary for Mars exploration, provides significant opportunities for meaningful international participation, and could be achieved on a reasonable schedule with current budgets. Both the asteroid redirect mission and Lunar exploration plans have the potential to benefit from the development of a cis-Lunar habitat, and could be retained as intermediate or parallel missions, as resources allow.
This article argues that while the creation of a commercial weather satellite sector is neither easy nor assured, the future prospects for commercial weather satellites are good. Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) satellite commercial data buys are poised to be the vanguard in the opening of this new sector. The article discusses the current state of the U.S. weather satellite system and the trends providing the impetus for commercial activity in this area. It identifies the most likely government and commercial actors for GNSS-RO data provision and analyzes the legal, technical, economic, and international relations issues facing these entities. Based on this analysis, the article concludes that the commercial weather satellite sector is poised to begin, with government purchases of commercial GNSS-RO data leading the way. It concludes by discussing critical policy decisions that will affect the success of GNSS-RO companies as well as the implications of success for other areas of the commercial weather satellite sector.
A lack of consensus on the requirements for adequate monitoring of climate change by satellites makes it difficult to identify gaps in the collection of climate-relevant data and prevents national policy makers from taking into account global climate monitoring needs when planning the development of future satellites. Multiple international organizations undertake efforts to identify the high-level/system-level and technical requirements of such a system, and each of these efforts reveals gaps in global climate monitoring capabilities. These efforts require further coordination to achieve global consensus on the highest-priority monitoring needs. With regard to high-level requirements, this will require organizations to align and coordinate their efforts, considering both the most important types of measurements and the most efficient physical architecture for collection. Efforts at identifying detailed technical requirements for climate monitoring are duplicative and need to be consolidated. Coordination at the system level and consolidation at the technical level should be followed by prioritizing climate monitoring needs, allowing policy makers to invest in satellite systems that will realize the greatest contribution to global climate monitoring. Adequately monitoring climate change requires the accurate collection of many types of measurements on an ongoing basis. Such a significant undertaking requires the coordinated efforts of multiple states. Although a number of regional and international organizations undertake efforts to identify the requirements of an adequate global climate monitoring system, there remains a lack of global consensus on this issue. Without consensus, it is difficult to identify the gaps and deficiencies in current global climate monitoring capabilities, and thus challenging for national policy makers planning future satellite development to take global climate monitoring needs into account.
Books Written:
Key to understanding and addressing climate change is continuous and precise monitoring of environmental conditions. Satellites play an important role in collecting climate data, offering comprehensive global coverage that can’t be matched by in situ observation. And yet, as Mariel Borowitz shows in this book, much satellite data is not freely available but restricted; this remains true despite the data-sharing advocacy of international organizations and a global open data movement. Borowitz examines policies governing the sharing of environmental satellite data, offering a model of data-sharing policy development and applying it in case studies from the United States, Europe, and Japan—countries responsible for nearly half of the unclassified government Earth observation satellites. Borowitz develops a model that centers on the government agency as the primary actor while taking into account the roles of such outside actors as other government officials and non-governmental actors, as well as the economic, security, and normative attributes of the data itself. The case studies include the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS); the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT); and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA). Finally, she considers the policy implications of her findings for the future and provides recommendations on how to increase global sharing of satellite data.
Media Appearances:
Radio Appearances:
Whether we’re aware of it or not, “the cloud” has changed our lives forever. It’s where we watch movies, share documents, and store passwords. It’s quick, efficient, and we wouldn’t be able to live our fast-paced, internet-connected lives without it. Now, federal agencies are storing much of their data in the cloud. For example, NASA is trying to make 20 petabytes of data available to the public for free. But to do that, they need some help from a commercial cloud provider—a company like Amazon or Microsoft or Google. But will the government’s policy of open data clash with the business model of Silicon Valley? Mariel Borowitz, Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech and Katya Abazajian, Open Cities Director with the Sunlight Foundation join guest host John Dankosky to discuss the trade offs to faster, smarter government data in the cloud.
The Sully Show: Discussing future of space exploration
Newspaper Quotes:
Tech companies are rapidly networking the environment in ways that will transform our perception of nature—just as social media reshaped our relationships with each other. What could possibly go wrong?
As the new space movement arises, with a focus on lower and less expensive satellites, getting to space has become easier and more cost-effective. But how are governments and startups ensuring the security and safety of the tech they're putting up there?
The Atlanta Council on International Relations, which works closely with the school, has been drawing these experts out into the public realm with luncheons and breakfast events that give them a platform and conduit to the broader public. The latest example was a Dec. 5 luncheon featuring Mariel Borowitz, who researches international space policy issues during an age when satellites have become integral not only to civilian and commercial communication but also to military readiness. Unable to cover her lecture, Global Atlanta caught up with Dr. Borowitz via email to find out the current state of space policy and how prepared the U.S. is to address impending threats and potential opportunities. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Article: SpaceX launches classified spy satellite for US Department of Defense
Article: Rising Nationalism Will Change the Politics Of Space
Article: U.S. government close to approving private moon mission, reports say
Article: CubeSats promise to fill weather data gap
Article: New Chinese Threats to U.S. Space Systems Worry Officials
Article: NASA Unfazed by Report Saying Current Path Won’t Reach Mars
Article: Why is Syria Launching a Space Program During a Civil War?
Article: Four Things the Space Foundation Wants to See the U.S. Do Differently with Weather Satellites
Article: Industry May Have Answer to Weather Forecasting Blind Spot