Commercial Space Divided Over FAA's Orbital Debris NPRM, Critics Attack Time Limits, Authority

The commercial space community is divided over an FAA proposal that upper-stage commercial rocket bodies and other components exit orbit within 25 years of launch. Comments are due Tuesday on an FAA draft NPRM (see 2309290057). Some in the commercial space sector argue the proposed 25-year limit will be ineffective; others say the FAA lacks the regulatory authority to oversee orbital debris issues.

Pointing to the FCC's five-year deorbit rule adopted last year for satellites (see 2209290017), Iridium said launch vehicles delivering payloads to low earth orbit should have to fully deorbit within five years. Given the size of the domestic launch program, such a limit could "help effectively set a global standard that facilitates safe space operations for the future," it said. Also backing a five-year disposal timeline is the Air Line Pilots Association, which said the FAA proposal doesn't go far enough to protect airspace from falling debris. It said the proposed acceptable risk level "is a significantly lower safety threshold than the FAA would typically use for managing risks in the national airspace system." The American Astronomical Society said the FAA should require all large objects in LEO undergo controlled disposal as near to the end of a mission as possible, "perhaps within one year."

Debris removal from geostationary orbit should occur within 10 years "if not less," orbital debris R&D company Kall Morris said. "Allowing debris to remain in orbit for 25 years increases the risks to operational payloads for longer than necessary," it said. If an operator is using uncontrolled atmospheric disposal, the deadline for deorbiting should be five years instead of 25, it added. A 25-year deadline "provides little incentive for satellite operators to become proactive in their role of reducing orbital congestion."

Any shortening of the 25-year deadline would hamper the U.S. commercial small-launch industry, said Rocket Lab. The risk from spent rocket stages "pales in comparison to the thousands of satellites in LEO making multiple maneuvers each day, which can be difficult to track and are often unreported," it said. Relativity Space said disposal timelines of fewer than 25 years would restrict the use of passive reentry atmospheric disposal, meaning compromised vehicle performance and reusability.

SpaceX said that while it "strongly supports" a controlled disposal period of five years or fewer for upper-stage rocket bodies in low earth orbit, the NPRM should drop disposal timeline requirements for launch or reentry vehicles because they are outside the agency's regulatory scope. The NPRM is "yet another example of an uncoordinated U.S. government approach to space safety," with the different agencies' authority creating "an unclear, overlapping and overburdensome regulatory framework." SpaceX said.

Pointing to concurrent White House and congressional activity on space sustainability, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the FAA to issue a supplemental NPRM giving it time to harmonize its regulatory approach with the rest of the federal government. The Chamber raised red flags about the launch vehicle NPRM not referencing a waiver process. In addition, it said the FAA should consult with the FCC, which requires an orbital debris assessment report, and with NASA to ensure the proposed rule doesn't result in confusion or duplication of effort. A timeline shorter than 25 years for upper stages and components left in LEO to deorbit "will severely hamper" the U.S. launch industry's growth, the Chamber said. Rocket Lab also advocated for waivers.

There are inconsistencies among the FCC's orbital debris mitigation guidelines and those of NASA and DOD, and the FAA proposal rule "adds an additional regulator to the issue of Orbital Debris with another conflicting approach," said Sierra Space. "We firmly believe that a single entity should be tasked with oversight of orbital debris regulation and that it is the responsibility of Congress to set forth the policy and authority of said entity," it said. As such, it urged the FAA to pause its proceeding.

TechFreedom questioned whether the FAA has statutory authority under the Commercial Space Launch Act for its proposed launch vehicle orbital debris rules. It said the proposed rules "will only impact future orbital debris at the margins." Moreover, the FAA should weigh the costs of its proposed rules against the regulatory burdens they would put on domestic operators "and against the relatively small benefits such regulations will lend to the sustainability of the LEO environment." The authority that the FAA relies on is limited to authorizing nongovernmental space activities that occur before they leave the atmosphere and when they reenter the atmosphere. The agency lacks authority for continuing supervision of activities between launch and reentry, space lawyer Michael Listner said.

When spacecraft operators provide ephemerides for their spacecraft to space traffic coordination authorities such as DOD, the time to identify and catalog a newly launched payload can drop from weeks to days, said Slingshot Aerospace. Thus, the FAA should consider adding to the information required in any orbital debris assessment plan a way for spacecraft operators to share ephemerides with national space traffic coordination authorities, it said.