As mega-constellations loom, US seek to manage space debris problem

Space is getting ever more crowded. The US Strategic Command’s Space Surveillance Network tracks more than 19,000 objects in orbit around the Earth, and there are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of more objects 1cm or larger in space near the planet. Because they are traveling at tens of thousands of km per hour relative to Earth, even small objects pose a significant danger.

The National Space Council thinks we could do a better job of tracking and mitigating this debris. On Monday morning, the executive secretary of the space council, Scott Pace, outlined some of the space traffic management changes in a call with a handful of space reporters. “This is a new national policy to address the challenges of a congested space environment,” he said. “Unfettered access to space is a vital US interest.”
President Trump is expected to sign this Space Policy Directive-3 later on Monday. The policy directs the US Department of Defense to modernize its approach to tracking space debris and to increasingly rely on commercial debris-detection services to enhance the country’s “space situational awareness.” The Department of Commerce will provide a basic level of space situational awareness for public and private use, based upon the DOD catalog.

Advocates of this approach, and the sharing of data with the public and coordinating other countries, praised the efforts by the space council. “I think it’s a big step in the right direction,” said Brian Weeden, Technical Advisor for Secure World Foundation. “This policy continues the efforts begun under the Obama Administration to enhance space situational awareness capabilities and expand it beyond just the DOD.”
Mega-constellations loom large

According to Pace, other aspects of the new space policy directive will seek to prevent new orbital debris from occurring, minimize the amount of maneuvering that satellites must do to preserve fuel for commercial operations, and provide more flexibility for launch windows.

Asked about the motivations for implementing this policy now, Pace said it was a combination of factors, including the need to advance measures that the last two Presidential administrations have discussed, as well as manage growth in the commercial sector.
Proposals from several companies, including OneWeb and SpaceX, to build mega-constellations of satellites for broadband internet access have also “really crystallized everyone’s attention,” Pace said. If the country is going to sustain recent growth in the commercial space sector, new policy is needed beyond rules established just for government launches and satellites.

The reforms, which will be enacted over the coming months and years, will be specific to the United States rather than negotiated through the United Nations. Pace said the space council opted for a bottom-up process in the name of expediency, rather than trying to create an international treaty. By setting a proper example, he said, the United States intends to establish norms that Europe, China, Russia, and others working in space will follow.