The US Federal Communications Commission wants to take action on space junk in low Earth orbit. As reported by Ars Technica, last Thursday the agency released a proposal that, if accepted, will set a deadline for how long dead non-stationary satellites can stay in space.
Currently, follow-on NASA guidelines issued in the 1990s recommend removing dead satellites from orbit within 25 years. The FCC wants to pass a five-year rule that requires domestic satellite operators and companies looking to enter the US market to remove their inoperative satellites from orbit as soon as possible. “We believe it is no longer sustainable to keep satellites in LEO [in low Earth orbit] for decades,” the FCC says in its proposal.
Satellites already in space will be exempt from the FCC’s guidelines. In addition, the commission proposes a two-year vested period starting on September 29, the day it plans to vote on the regulation. This period will give organizations that have already been approved for future launches time to develop a destruction plan. The FCC said it could waive the waiver on a case-by-case basis after NASA expressed concern that the five-year limit would affect CubeSat missions.
The proposal comes as the number of satellites in low Earth orbit is expected to increase significantly over the next few years. With contributions from companies like SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb, as many as 18,000 new satellites could be floating above the planet by 2025. These satellites will not only make observing the night sky more difficult, but will also increase the likelihood of a possible collision.
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