US sets new rules for space debris

This Friday (30), the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced new measures to address the dangers posed by space debris orbiting Earth.

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The government agency will give U.S. companies a very short deadline to remove dead satellites that disrupt active spacecraft and uselessly orbit the planet.

Until then, operators of low-Earth orbit satellites must re-enter the atmosphere for their equipment within 25 years. Now that deadline has been reduced to five.

“This will mean greater accountability and less risk of collisions that increase orbital debris and the possibility of space communication failures,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in an interview with the website. Guardian.

According to the FCC, more than half of the 10,000 satellites in use since 1957 are not working. “Defunct satellites, discarded rocket stages and other debris now fill the space environment, creating challenges for current and future missions,” the agency said in a statement.

“The second space age is here,” Rosenworcel said. “For that to move forward, we need to do more to clean up our own debris in space, so space discoveries can continue to evolve.”

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NASA has funded several academic studies on space debris, and a bipartisan panel of senators has introduced legislation to “advance America’s debris disposal technology,” according to FCC Commissioner Jeffrey Starks.

He said these measures will bend the garbage growth curve. “Conflicts will also be reduced, freeing up resources to try to avoid them.”

Starks warned, “Without a safe operating environment, the risk of debris can escalate from a financial reflection to a risk that makes investors think twice, and complicates operations to the point of curtailing or restricting new space ventures while increasing the costs of a mission”.

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