• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • News
  • Featured
  • More News ⌄
    • SatNews
    • SatMagazine
    • MilSatMagazine
  • Events ⌄
    • MilSat Symposium
    • SmallSat Symposium
    • Satellite Innovation
  • Contacts
  • SUBSCRIPTION

SmallSat News

You are here: Home / News / National Space Society statement regarding the Orbital Sustainability Act of 2022

National Space Society statement regarding the Orbital Sustainability Act of 2022

September 17, 2022 by editorial

On September 12th, the Orbital Sustainability Act of 2022 (ORBITS Act) was introduced to the Senate — this bipartisan bill, championed by Senators Maria Cantwell, John Hickenlooper, Cynthia Lummis, and Roger Wicker, would “establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital debris” and “require the development of uniform orbital debris standard practices in order to support a safe and sustainable orbital environment.

The National Space Society (NSS) applauds the U.S. Government’s leadership in orbital debris management. The ORBITS Act strongly aligns with the goals of both the National Orbital Debris Implementation Plan and Space Policy Directive-3. NSS supports this historic effort and urges Congress to pass this bill as soon as possible.

The ORBITS Act has five key sections.

  • Section 2 summarizes the relevant Congressional findings. Here, the Act concludes that the growing amount of orbital debris endangers the safety and sustainability of in-space operations. It asserts that space-based applications critical to the U.S. rely on continued and secure access to outer space.
  • Section 4 prioritizes Active Debris Removal (ADR), which falls under the remediation pillar of orbital debris management. This section directs NASA, the Department of Commerce Office of Space Commerce (OSC), and the National Space Council to publish an unclassified list of orbital debris that poses the greatest immediate risk to in-space operations and spacecraft. It also establishes a NASA Remediation Demonstration Program to make multiple competitive awards for phased technology development followed by future ADR missions.
  • Section 6 requires the National Space Council to update the U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices with multi-agency collaboration and commercial input.
  • Section 7 encourages the Secretary of Commerce to facilitate the development of standard practices for Space Traffic Management (STM) through the OSC. These standard practices would be based on guidelines and best practices used by the U.S. Government and commercial space operators.

NSS supports these provisions, which emphasize remediation, but also include mitigation and STM. It will be important for the debris list to properly characterize risk through comprehensive trade studies. This will guide investments and research and development.

The debris list should also sufficiently internalize cost-benefit analyses. Ideally, the NASA Remediation Demonstration Program will prioritize the ADR of large derelict satellites and rocket bodies. Further, the updated Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices should reflect the crucial ongoing FCC rulemaking proceedings. These proceedings include the following: Mitigation of Orbital Debris in the New Space Age (IB Docket No. 18-313); Facilitating Capabilities for In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (IB Docket No. 22-272); and Space Innovation (IB Docket No. 22-271).

It will be necessary to reassess the adequacy of current deorbiting and “graveyarding” measures within the Post-Mission Disposal (PMD) regime. One important change is shortening the 25 year PMD requirement to the satellite’s operational life, plus five years. Lastly, the STM standard practices should be developed into mandatory shared rules for in-space operations covering deconfliction, safety, right-of-way, and collision avoidance. These STM rules should be unified and codified.

NSS envisions an orbital environment founded upon long-term sustainability. Efforts to address the issue of orbital debris have been a focus of our policy and advocacy work. Orbital debris jeopardizes the safety of spacecraft and crew, the functioning of space systems, and the viability of human activity in Earth’s orbit.

The space sector is critical infrastructure and satellites are crucial to everyday life. Orbital debris has already reached critical mass. Collisional cascading (i.e., the Kessler Syndrome) will eventually happen, even if no more objects are launched into orbit. Creating a sustainable orbital environment requires a comprehensive approach that effectively uses SSA, STM (i.e., norms of responsible behavior), Mitigation, Remediation, and On-Orbit Recycling.

The U.S. Government should continue to increase interagency collaboration in its orbital debris management. It should act in a leadership role, coordinating and directing the commercial sector’s efforts in SSA, mitigation, remediation, and recycling. Likewise, it should outsource research and development, operations, and other space-related activity to the commercial sector where possible. It is also important to foster innovation by providing funding and other resources to these companies and projects. NGOs, including NSS, can further help with technical research, policy development, cost-benefit analysis, and the creation of standards and best practices.

To learn more about NSS’s orbital debris policy program and advocacy, please check out the NSS Orbital Debris Policy Program Summary or browse our Orbital Debris Landing Page. The society hope this next year brings us a step closer to a sustainable space environment.

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019

© 2019–2023 SatNews

x
Sign Up Now!

Enjoy a free weekly newsletter with recent headlines from the global SmallSat industry.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing! You will now receive weekly SmallSat News updates.
We love our advertisers.
And you will too!

Please disable Ad Blocker to continue... We promise to keep it unobtrusive.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.