Debris-Fighting ORBITS Act Passes US Senate Commerce Committee

On Thursday (July 27), the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed the Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act of 2022, and the Act will now go to the floor of the Senate. The Act, sponsored by Senator John W. Hickenlooper (D-CO), is aimed at understanding and fighting the growing problem of junk and debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). 

The proposed ORBITS Act finds that “the safety and sustainability of operations in low-Earth orbit and nearby orbits in outer space have become increasingly endangered by a growing amount of orbital debris,” and directs NASA’s Chief Administrator (as well as the Department of Defense, the National Space Council, and “representatives of the commercial space industry,” among others) to take action. 

In particular, the bill calls for the production of “a list of identified orbital debris that pose the greatest immediate risk to the safety and sustainability of orbiting satellites and on-orbit activities,” as well as regular public updates on the issue. 

It also calls for the development of a demonstration program “to make competitive awards for the development of technologies leading to the remediation of [the potentially dangerous] orbital debris,” and for the Administrator to retain the services of the companies whose technologies are economically and technologically feasible. 

The proposed Act does not authorize any new funding for NASA or other agencies, however. 

The ORBITS Act was originally introduced in the Senate in late 2022, and was passed in that chamber, but wasn’t taken up by the House before the end of the 117th Congress last December. Considering a near-identical version passed the full Senate last year, it’s likely to pass again. 

Questions remain, however, as to its reception in the House. House Republicans recently defeated a bill focused on the FCC and debris authority, and there have been tensions in past months between House Republican leadership and the conservative “Freedom Caucus” over the location of the US Space Command (SPACECOM) Headquarters. It is possible that these rifts may impact another space-related bill. 

Nevertheless, it indicates the growing importance of the debris issue among policymakers, both in the United States and internationally. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a National Orbital Debris Implementation Plan last year, and the FCC adopted a “five year rule” for deorbiting satellites last September. Portugal’s recent investment into the new Portuguese Space Agency followed the identification of debris tracking as a key goal of the Agency, and New Zealand’s new Space Policy pointed to space debris tracking and removal as a priority for their own efforts. 

The ESA is also currently experimenting with debris mitigation efforts in their deorbiting of the Aeolus wind satellite. They are performing an assisted re-entry of the satellite that will help them better understand how to safely de-orbit larger satellites, ensuring that as much debris burns up on reentry as possible and the rest lands safely in the ocean.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of the Commerce Committee, said in the committee’s announcement that “The Orbital Sustainability or ORBITS Act will jumpstart the technology development we need to address the very serious problem of orbital debris that threatens our scientific satellites, human space exploration and commercial space services.”