The U.S. Federal Communications Commission FCC voted 4 -- 0 Thursday on to adopt new rules to address growing risks of orbital debris to space exploration by shrinking the time to remove defunct satellites.
The FCC has agreed to require the disposal of low-Earth orbit satellites within five years. The agency previously recommended operators of satellites in low-Earth orbit to ensure spacecraft enter Earth s atmosphere within 25 years.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said that it will mean more accountability and less risk of collisions that increase orbital debris and the likelihood of space communication failures.
More than half of the 10,000 satellites deployed since 1957 are no longer working, according to the U.S. telecommunications regulator.
The FCC said that more than 4,800 satellites are currently in orbit, creating challenges for current and future missions, and the vast majority of them are commercial low-Earth orbit satellites.
For it to grow, we need to do more to clean up after ourselves so that space innovation can continue to respond, Rosenworcel said.
NASA has funded several academic studies on space debris, and a bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation to jumpstart the development of debris removal technology in the United States, according to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
He said the new rule will bend the curve of debris proliferation. It will reduce collisions and free up resources that would otherwise go toward trying to avoid them. Without a safe operating environment, debris risk could escalate from a financial afterthought to a hazard that makes investors think twice, and could complicate operations in a way that slows or limits new space endeavors while driving up per-mission costs.