The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules on Thursday by a 4-0 vote to reduce the amount of time it takes to remove dead satellites in order to address the mounting threats that orbital debris poses to space exploration.
The FCC decided to mandate low-Earth orbit satellite post-mission disposal within five years. The organisation had previously advised low-Earth orbit satellite operators to make sure spacecraft re-enter the atmosphere within 25 years.
According to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, ‘it will entail more responsibility and less risk of collisions that increase orbital debris and the likelihood of space communication failures.’
More than half of the 10,000 satellites launched since 1957, according to the U.S. telecom authority, are no longer operational.
The FCC said that as of the end of last year, there were more than 4,800 satellites operating in orbit, the most majority of which were commercial low-Earth orbit satellites, and that this junk now ‘fills the space environment, presenting problems for current and future operations.’
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