The FCC Is Finally Taking Space Junk Seriously

Since the dawn of the space age 65 years ago, spent rocket stages and other debris have accumulated around Earth, posing grave dangers to astronauts and uncrewed vessels alike. The problem of space junk is so dire that it has become a talking point for the new King Charles III of the U.K. The then prince Charles made a plea for urgent action to prevent calamity at the summit. He said that protecting the space that immediately surrounds our planet is one of the issues that few people know about. It will haunt us if we don't address it quickly.

Domestic regulatory bodies of spacefaring nations have been slow to react to the rapid growth of satellites in space. Last week, the FCC announced the first of several new rules meant to mitigate space junk. Many experts think this could be the beginning of a solution to the mess that has been made in space. The Satellite Industry Association in Washington, D.C. says it is a good first step. They are serious about it.

The FCC proposed to require operators to remove satellites from the sky within five years of the end of their mission. Currently this limit is set at 25 years, but many feel that time frame inadequately addresses the problem and increases the risk of debris-generated collision that further increases the space junk threat. One major disruptive collision and many frightening near misses have already taken place. Almost 2000 pieces of space junk were created when a communications satellite and a Russian satellite crashed in 2009. The chances of a future collision should be lower if the time dead satellites are reduced.

The majority of people agree that 25 years is too long. There wasn't a consensus on what the new standard should be

The FCC took matters into its own hands because of the lack of a global agreement. The agency wants satellites that are licensed in the U.S. to be deorbited within five years. If you want to push themselves downwards, you can either use the natural drag produced by Earth's atmosphere or use a thruster. The FCC doesn't tell how to achieve deorbit. The chairwoman of the FCC said at a meeting of the National Space Council that space junk needs to be addressed. It is 25 years.

The proposal will be voted on by the FCC Commissioners on September 29. Jones thinks it will pass, even with some minor changes, such as making accommodations for accidental failures of satellites. Operators will be required to follow the five-year rule if the rule passes. We don't know what the penalty would be for noncompliance. The proposal was welcomed by the vice president of satellite operations and ground development at the US firm. He says he was overjoyed when he saw it. For a long time, we have advocated shortening the orbital lifetime.

This is expected to be the first of several draft orders on space debris from the FCC, with others possibly tackling the issue of liability and financial compensation in the event of a collision or requiring satellites above certain altitudes to have thrusters. Light pollution from satellites isn't expected to be addressed in the draft orders from the agency.

Other nations might be expected to follow in the footsteps of the United States. The European Space Agency has proposed to leave no junk at all in space. Mike Lindsay is the chief technology officer of the Japanese space-debris removal company Astroscale.

The recent rapid rise in satellites has been partly driven by the FCC. Half of all active satellites are in the space Internet constellation, and it is expected to swell to more than 12,000 in the next few years. More than 400 satellites have been launched by the U.K. company OneWeb, while Amazon plans to launch more than 3000 satellites. The FCC is in charge of licensing and granting access to such satellites in the U.S. Thousands of satellites were approved without addressing the debris risk. Lindsay says that it's a poor way to manage the environment and kick the can down the road.

The five-year rule was put in place to make sure that dead satellites don't end up in the wrong spot. Some people aren't sure of its effectiveness. Hugh Lewis is a space debris expert and he has some reservations. The five-year rule provides only a small improvement over the 25-year rule. There is a potential for 133 collision over the next two centuries. A five-year rule lowers the number of accidents to 43. After 200 years, NASA found only an 11 percent improvement. It would be more effective to reduce deorbit times to zero according to Lewis. Satellites need to come back into the atmosphere after their mission is done. Lewis says there is no evidence to support the change. It's based on what people have said.

Many satellite companies, through organizations such as the Space Safety Coalition, already have their own voluntary guidelines to remove satellites in 5 years or less, meaning the FCC's rule change is unlikely to lead to much burden for most satellite operators in the U.S. Setting a goal of one year to deorbit and taking measures to avoid close passes are some of the things they do. The goal was to create a set of comprehensive high-level recommendations. We tried to get at the largest providers. It's likely that Amazon will be the next one.

The FCC shouldn't enter this domain at all. Some people think this is outside the authority of the FCC. The FCC has taken over from the Department of Commerce, which was tasked by the White House to deal with space debris. Jones thinks that they are filling a regulatory void. Some of the media attention has gotten them worried.

The new draft order is a sign that space junk is on the agenda, despite the fact that much work still needs to be done. The FCC may or may not be tasked with resolving the problem. Weeden thinks it may be inevitable. What's the reason? He says that nobody else is doing it.