Satellite Industry's Take on FCC's Orbital Debris Approach Likely Not Unified

The primary schism is about whether the FCC should be the lead agency on orbital debris, with a secondary question about how burdensome this could be for operators, emailed Brian Weeden, Secure World Foundation director-program planning. In approving the NPRM at last week's meeting, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said the FCC isn't the lead agency dealing with the issue, "with both domestic and international entities containing far greater expertise and authority."

Satellite operators have questions whether the FCC has jurisdiction over issues raised in the NPRM like space traffic management and debris. An executive said with the White House space policy directive about debris, it's inevitable there would be questions about how the notice would overlap or conflict with what the Commerce Department might do. He said a chief concern in the satellite industry is likely going to be that dueling regulatory regimes don't emerge.

Weeden said there are some concerns the rulemaking proposal "seems out of alignment" with the administration's push to make Commerce the lead agency for commercial space oversight. Ideally, one would want all departments and agencies to go through a revamp of the U.S. government orbital debris mitigation standard practices (ODSMP) first, as directed by the space policy directive, and then agencies like the FCC, FAA and NOAA would implement those changes in licenses, he said. But the FCC, being an independent agency, doesn't fall under direct White House control, and has been working on this issue since at least the late Obama administration, he said. It's not clear Commerce has authority to lead other agencies on the issue since Congress hasn't implemented that new role, he said. The feedback the FCC gets from its notice, if fed into the ODSMP update process, "would be ideal" and could speed update, Weeden said.

Some satellite operators -- particularly those already operating in geostationary orbit -- might see some updated debris mitigation proposals as particularly burdensome, while some newer operators -- particularly those developing satellite servicing and space situational awareness capabilities -- might be more open, Weeden said. The National Space Council and FCC didn't comment.

SmallSat Alliance President Steve Nixon told us the smallsat industry is figuring out the issues, but there's a chance for alignment on some of the issues in the NPRM. He said while non-geostationary orbit and geostationary orbit operators will disagree on issues like spectrum, there might not be an obvious rift between the two on debris issues.

The satellite industry likely will be of different viewpoints on the FCC's role in space debris management, since some could argue the agency doesn't have the expertise to analyze the effectiveness of its plans or a way to enforce debris mitigation rules, said a satellite consultant. The NPRM will likely generate many comments, the adviser said. The space policy directive puts Commerce in the driver's seat on debris issues, but would require congressional approval, while NASA is leading interagency discussions on debris mitigation guideline updates, the consultant said. But the FCC has been doing the bulk of oversight of commercial activities on debris mitigation.

The FCC using licensing authority to include debris is "a bit of competency creep -- a stop-gap to address an issue otherwise left unaddressed," said Frans von der Dunk, University of Nebraska professor of space law. He said it potentially makes sense for shuffling such authority.