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1 1 (April 17, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govcvyy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: * Conqrcissioa flasearch Service FCC Draft Rule Seeks to Limit Space Debris April 17, 2020 On April 2, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published notice of a proposed rule intended to reduce the risk that active satellites will be damaged by space debris. The proposed rule, which is scheduled for an FCC vote on April 23, has been sharply criticized by some aerospace and telecommunications groups, and leaders of a House committee have asked that it be delayed. The FCC licenses U.S. commercial communications satellites and the radio frequencies needed to control them. In 2004, it issued an order directing satellite operators applying for FCC licenses to submit plans showing spacecraft design features and operation specifications intended to reduce the probability of accidental collisions in orbit. A single such collision could produce thousands of pieces of debris. While most of these pieces would be small, they would continue to orbit the Earth and could have catastrophic effects if they collide with active spacecraft. Since 2004, low Earth orbit-comprising orbits at altitudes below 1,200 miles above Earth-has become more congested due to the launch of thousands of very small satellites. Planned constellations of tens of thousands of small communications satellites are expected to further increase the risk of collisions. The draft rule would: * require any commercial satellite operator applying for an FCC license to provide a detailed probability assessment of collisions that could damage a satellite and to assess the probability of successfully disposing of the spacecraft after its mission is complete by guiding it to a trajectory that would cause it to burn up as it reenters the atmosphere; * require all satellites orbiting higher than the International Space Station, at about 250 miles above the Earth in low Earth orbit, to be equipped with maneuverability systems to avoid collisions with one another or with the space station as they deorbit and fall back to Earth; * require satellite operators to disclose more detailed information about planned maneuvers, release of liquids, operations in close proximity to other spacecraft, and position to make it easier for the U.S. Space Force's 18th Space Control Squadron, which operates the Space Surveillance Network on behalf of the U.S. military, to track objects and warn satellite operators of potential collisions; Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11342 CRS NStGHT Prepai-ed for ferbei-s amnd Comm ittees o. e Co -q s . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . ..--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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