The FCC is cracking down on spent satellites left in LEO. In a FCC Space Debris report and order released yesterday, the commission revealed plans to cut the post-mission disposal time from the currently recommended 25 years to five years.
|
The growing debris problem: The DoD’s Space Surveillance Network currently tracks ~27,000 pieces of debris larger than 5 cm in LEO. NASA estimates that there are more than 100M total pieces of debris floating around up there. And the number of active satellites is increasing.
|
Over the next decade, if government licenses and financial statements are anything to go off of, tens of thousands of satellites are destined for high-demand tracks in LEO. Mitigating the possibility of collisions between objects in space is critical for protecting those operational satellites—and getting spent satellites out of the way in a timely manner is a step towards preventing unnecessary collisions.
|
Taking out the trash: The FCC’s draft rule would require satellite operators to deorbit their spacecraft within five years post-mission.
|
|
If adopted, the rule would require more satellite operators to adopt onboard propulsion systems. Until now, a satellite circling the Earth at 500 km wouldn’t necessarily need its own propulsion, since it would naturally deorbit due to atmospheric drag after ~10 years. That won’t always fly anymore with a 5-year deorbit requirement.
The full FCC space debris report can be found here: FCC Space Debris Report
|
ISRO as India's National Space Agency, which has been one of the most active space…
Although many countries are currently struggling with economic problems, humanity is also pursuing projects that…
Will We Be Able to Beam Ourselves to Other Locations? Those born between 1960 and…
Space studies are progressing at a very high speed in the world. In my previous…
Ideal MTech Aerospace Engineering Program with 1-Year Internship: A Comprehensive Pathway A Master of Technology…
Sun is the Essence of Life Our sun is the most important factor for life…