Further Orbital Debris Proposals May Be Coming by Year-End
Space experts anticipate many of the orbital debris regulatory proposals the FCC moved from April's order to an accompanying Further NPRM (see 2004230040) will be in a future second order. They spoke in interviews this week. Enforcement of the initial order likely wouldn't be until fall, so a draft order before next winter seems unlikely, said Satellite Industry Association Senior Director-Policy Therese Jones.
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The NPRM buys time for more interagency coordination, Jones said. Due to the concerns raised by agencies like the Commerce Department about not being consulted on the initial draft, the FCC could end up working on a second round of draft rules that are closer to NASA standards even if they don't necessarily align totally with them, she said.
The commission faces obstacles from commercial operators that don't want meaningful change to existing rules, and from other federal agencies that want space policy to run through Commerce, said Secure World Foundation Program Planning Director Brian Weeden. One problem is Commerce doesn't have the authority and budget to do that mission, he said. Despite those hurdles, the FCC seems to be trying to do something meaningful, he said.
Congress hasn't provided the funding or authorization Commerce's Office of Space Commerce needs, but the FCC's draft order brought increased Capitol Hill attention, Jones said. A satellite company lawyer said industry agrees many issues raised need to be addressed. The House Science Committee criticized the FCC for going ahead on debris rules on its own (see 2004240049). Lawmakers are unlikely to act beyond that, the lawyer said. The satellite industry wants a different agency with more expertise than the FCC to establish the rules, such as a beefed-up Office of Space Commerce, the lawyer said.
Asked about a timeline, the FCC didn't comment. It pointed us to Chairman Ajit Pai's comments at the April commissioners' meeting saying he plans "on bringing these issues to closure" after additional feedback.
The FCC's moving so many issues to the NPRM comes as the agency and FAA rely heavily on industry input instead of input from NASA or other expert agencies, said University at Buffalo mechanical and aerospace engineering professor John Crassidis. He said the agency made a misstep in not addressing the 25-year maximum orbit duration because of expected mega constellations. "You're looking at a situation where you're constantly trying to catch up to the amount of debris and you're never going to get there," he said.
Not everything in the NPRM is expected to be in a future order. Jones said the post-mission disposal bond requirement as proposed now is unlikely to move forward due to enforcement difficulties because some satellite failures are from unknown causes. Since such bonds don't exist, large operators would end up fronting all the money and startups likely couldn't do that, she said. Jones said a mandatory maneuverability standard probably wouldn't face opposition if it reverted to satellites in orbits over 600 kilometers -- the agency's initial proposal -- instead of the 400 kilometers in the draft order. The 25-year issue moving to the NPRM was a surprise and might not have legs because there's a lot of agreement that's too long, but no agreement on what a shorter duration should be, she said.
Weeden said a maneuverability requirement could move ahead because there was never strong opposition. The indemnification proposal could have a tougher time because there's much uncertainty about what it would take to be found liable and what the upper limit on damages might be since there's no legal precedent, he said.