Federal Orbital Debris Standards Can Play Role in FCC Update

The ODMSP, issued in December and covering government satellites, set limits on debris released during normal operations, probability limits on accidental explosions and accidental collisions, and a reliability threshold for successful post-mission disposal. In disposing of satellites or rocket upper stages, they should be in orbits that "will limit the lifetime to as short as practicable" but no more than 25 years after the mission's complete, it said. Any low earth orbit satellite should be in orbit for as brief a time as practicable, "but no more than 25 years after completion of mission," the practices said.

Boeing is pushing the FCC to adopt the ODMSP largely as its orbital debris rules, avoiding any proposals that weren’t part of it. The agency “should refrain from using the U.S. commercial satellite industry as a testbed for experimental mitigation requirements,” it said last month in docket 18-313. Many satellite interests pushed the FCC to coordinate its debris rules update work with other agencies (see 1905070043).

Adopting ODMSP would make rules consistent across the federal government, but "it's milquetoast," not addressing at all the 25-year issue, said Secure World Foundation Project Manager Josh Wolny. Twenty-five years "is just not good enough," SWF Space Law Adviser Chris Johnson said.

The 25-year rule for satellites meant to de-orbit "was developed in a different era," and doesn't fit well now with the increasingly congested space environment, said Charity Weeden, Astroscale vice president-global space policy. Satellite operators have vested interest “in smart, updated regulation” that makes space sustainable, Weeden said. The FCC needs to harmonize its rules with ODMSP efforts to avoid two separate sets of rules, and ODMSP isn't at odds with the NPRM since it encourages operators to go above and beyond the practices, she said. "It's definitely not a, 'This is the only thing you can do.'" The FCC didn't comment Friday.

The Space Safety Coalition, whose voluntary best practices adopted last year were endorsed by such members as Astroscale, Airbus, Intelsat, Iridium and OneWeb, said satellite operators using chemical or electrical propulsion to de-orbit should try to do that within five years of the end of a mission. The coalition said operators of passively de-orbiting satellites that take longer to de-orbit should try to get that done as soon as possible after their service life.

The FCC NPRM is more focused and specific than the ODMSP, with the agency looking into remediation and not just mitigation, said Michelle Hanlon, associate director-National Center for Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi. Nothing precludes FCC rules from going further than the ODMSP, but if federal agencies decided other areas weren't appropriate for ODMSP, the commission should do likewise, she said. If the FCC does more than other nations, it could put the country at a regulatory disadvantage as space operators increasingly opt to be licensed elsewhere, she said. She said since there has been some push for the Commerce Department to be the agency handling all regulation and oversight of debris and in-orbit operations, it's somewhat surprising the FCC issued its own proposal.

Jones said the industry is committed to working on orbital debris mitigation and isn't endorsing the ODMSP. She said some satellite operators didn't see that regime going far enough on the 25-year guideline, while others think the industry does more than enough for debris mitigation and there's no need to update guidelines. She said the SIA suggested the FCC seek comment on the ODMSP. The agency indicated the need to review the updated practices was incorporated into the NPRM. That rulemaking expects "to take into consideration ongoing developments" on space regulation at other agencies.