A bipartisan group of US senators have reintroduced the Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act to establish a demonstration programme that they say would reduce the nearly 1 million pieces of space junk in orbit.
The ORBITS Act passed the Senate in the 118th Congress but has since stalled.
The senators note that there are currently at least 900,000 individual pieces of debris that are potentially lethal to satellites. They say that because of the threats from debris already in orbit, simply preventing more debris in the future is not enough. The ORBITS Act would jumpstart a programme focused on research, development and the demonstration of technologies capable of safely carrying out successful Active Debris Remediation (ADR) missions to create a robust commercial market for these services.
In recent years, NASA canceled a planned spacewalk and repositioned the International Space Station (ISS) to avoid colliding with orbital debris. Due to growing amounts of debris, the ISS has performed numerous Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuvers (PDAM) in the past year alone.
The bill would direct NASA, in coordination with the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and the National Space Council, to publish a list of debris objects that pose the greatest risk to the safety of orbiting spacecraft and on-orbit activities. The NASA programme would then promote competition by incentivising two or more teams of technology developers to conduct demonstrations of successful debris remediation. The bill would also ask NASA to partner with other nations to address debris in orbit that belongs to them. Among other measures, the bill would also encourage the Federal Aviation Administration to use updated standards and practices as the basis for federal regulations applicable to all space activities. In addition, the Department of Commerce would be required to develop and promote standard practices for avoiding near misses and collisions between spacecraft in orbit.
For more information
Image: NASA
