In June 2010, IAASS was granted the Observer status at the United Nations COPUOS (Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space).

It also recommended NASA work with the IAASS to develop safety standards and advancement of space debris minimization and control.

Space safety is defined as freedom from man-made or natural harmful conditions.

For unmanned systems such as robotic satellites, damages due to non-malicious external causes that translates into degradation or loss of mission objectives is also included in the definition of safety.

To be absolutely safe a system, product, device, material or environment should never cause or have the potential to cause an accident.

Implementing proven best-practices at status-of-art is a prerequisite for achieving an acceptable risk level, or in other words to make a system safe.

In other words, compliance with regulations, norms and standards represents the safety yardstick of a system.