Space debris has been an issue to consider for decades, but without a doubt The last two decades have made a big differencewith the exponential growth of launches, satellites and subsequently the saturation of low Earth orbit. The saturation that we have witnessed over the past year, especially in the last months of 2021, has given rise to several incidents that could have ended very badly. The situation is getting worse every day.

Much of the exponential growth in low-orbit saturation is the result of Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite Internet access platform that it currently has more than 2,400 satellites, and that in the medium term he intends to measure its number in the tens of thousands. But just because it’s the most notable name doesn’t mean it’s the only one. Amazon hasn’t given up on building its own satellite Internet system, and we can expect more operators to want to operate in different ways in low Earth orbit.

Under these conditions, it is more urgent every day to adequately regulate its use so that it is possible to reduce as much as possible the presence of elements that should no longer remain there. This of course needs to be managed globally, although it is true that each regulator acts within the companies in its geographical area. The key, of course, is that these regulators are able to agree to sign off on global policies.

And in this regard, as we can read on Gizmodo, the US FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has issued a draft regulation that will require satellites to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, a process in which they disintegrate, withJust five years after their mission endsinstead of the current deadline, which is not shorter than 25 years, which we can interpret as an effort to reduce space debris.

This proposal is the first step that will continue with the meeting scheduled for September 29. The project recommends disposal of satellites by uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere (and subsequent disintegration) as soon as possible, in any case no later than five years after the end of their operational life. If ultimately adopted, this regulation will apply to satellites operating at altitudes below 2,000 kilometers and that they will be launched two years after the approval of the standard. So this does not solve the current problem, but prevents it from getting bigger in the coming years.