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A Centralized Database Poses Great Advantages

• A centralized and standardized satellite anomaly database would aid in anomaly investigations, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. It could also contribute to the scientific understanding of real-world impacts of the near-Earth space environment.
• A single centralized database could offer advantages over multiple smaller ones, which tend to be either broadly available but incomplete, or highly detailed but not broadly available.
• Automated "satellite as a sensor" methods for identifying and cataloguing anomalies may also reduce the workload of those investigating satellite anomalies.

There Are Real Obstacles to Creating a Centralized Database

• Commercial satellite owners are reluctant to share detailed anomaly information with the broader community, citing potential decreases in consumer confidence as well as exposure of proprietary information.
• While it might be possible for a government agency or third party to build and manage such a centralized and secure database, there is a lack of dedicated resources available to support such a service.

There Are Solutions

• Management of a centralized database by a trusted third party, encryption techniques such as secure multiparty computing, and differential privacy may help overcome inhibitions of commercial satellite operators to share anomaly information, thus contributing to greater benefit throughout the satellite operator community.
• Candidate organizations that could serve as a trusted third party include federal agencies and federally funded research and development centers. Satellite insurance companies could also play this role, as they have an interest in maintaining data and in keeping it secret for clients.