The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants to ease the burden of space debris on our planet. FAU, which issues launch licenses, has proposed a rule that would limit the time upper stages of private rockets remain in orbit.

The proposed rule, a draft of which was released by FAU on Wednesday, September 20, aims to “limit the growth of new orbital debris and reduce the likelihood of collisions with spacecraft and satellites to promote a sustainable space environment.” He said in a statement on Wednesday.

The potential regulation would give commercial launch operators five options for destroying the upper stages (the part of the rocket that delivers the payload). According to FAU, these options are as follows:

• Make a controlled entry into the atmosphere;
• Move the top tier to a less congested vault or graveyard orbit;
• Send the upper stage into Earth orbit;
• Carrying out upper stage removal (so-called active waste disposal) or uncontrolled atmospheric disposal within five years.

If companies choose to let their thrusters fall uncontrolled from low-Earth orbit, they have 25 years to do so, according to draft rules you can read here. But this leaves open an accelerated program.

“Given that the overall lifespan of upper stages and their components is quite short, and that spent upper stages pose a significant risk of debris dispersion the longer they remain in orbit, it may be appropriate to set the disposal period as shorter as 5 years. “Less than 25 years old” in the proposed rule. The statement is included.

“Shortening the disposal time will reduce the risk of debris in orbit damaging the spacecraft, which could result in more debris, shortening the mission duration of another spacecraft, or endangering the lives of people participating in the spaceflight,” he adds.

Such regulations would help reduce the threat from space debris, which is already significant considering how crowded Earth’s orbit is becoming.

“Number of 10 cm orbital objects as of July 2023 [4 дюйми] and more are estimated to be more than 23,000,” FAU said in a statement Wednesday. “Latest estimates suggest there are a total of half a million objects in orbit with sizes ranging from 1 to 10 cm [від 0,4 до 4 дюймів] and more than 100 million objects larger than 1 mm”.

The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register within the next few days. This milestone will kick off a 90-day public comment period, according to FAU representatives. Source