Limiting Future Collision Risk to Spacecraft An Assessment of NASA's Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Programs (2011) / Chapter Skim
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11 Issues External to NASA
11 Issues External to NASA
Pages 77-85
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From page 77... ...
, and is described in its "IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines" released in 2002 and revised in 2007. The "rule" encour ages entities with objects in low Earth orbit to ensure that their spacecraft and/or launch hardware are in an orbit that will decay and cause said object to reenter Earth's atmosphere within 25 years to mitigate the creation of more orbital debris.
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From page 78... ...
They include those issued by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) , the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination could leave debris near ISS orbit, would be reviewed per the requirements in this document as a part of the approval process to approach the ISS." See NASA, NASA Procedural Requirements for Limiting Orbital Debris, NPR 8715.6A (with Change 1)
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From page 79... ...
The UN General Assembly in its resolution endorsed the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of COPUOS in 2007. See UN, "International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space," General Assembly Resolution 62/217, UN General Assembly Official Records, 62nd Session, Agenda Item 31, Docu ment A/RES/62/217, UN, New York, N.Y., January 10, 2008, paragraph 26.
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From page 80... ...
Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines IADC Guidelinesa UNCOPUOS Guidelinesb International Guidelines offer consensus of IADC members In Resolution A/Res/62/217 on December 22, 2007, the consensus (space agencies, not nation-states)
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From page 81... ...
The Czech Republic submitted a working paper regarding debris guidelines at the March 2011 session of the LSC.17 It contains a proposal that the LSC turn the UNCOPUOS guidelines into a set of principles that, the working paper further proposes, will also be presented to the UNGA for adoption. The existing declarations of principles address the exploration and use of outer space;18 direct television broadcasting;19 remote sensing;20 nuclear power sources;21 and, international cooperation.22 A major rationale for proposing that a set of orbital debris principles be formulated is that the UNCOPUOS guidelines "are generally conceived as a list of specific measures ‘that curtail the generation of potentially harmful space debris in the near term' and ‘that limit their generation over the longer term' [but]
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From page 82... ...
The IADC and UNCOPUOS guidelines process is representative of an existing and growing trend in which voluntary intergovernmental organizations attempt to generate agreements that may be categorized as "soft law" 26 but whose actual status is far from clear.27 These include, for example, the Group on Earth Observations, the Committee on Earth Observations Satellites (CEOS) , and the International Charter -- Space and Major Disasters, as well as the IADC.28 This "soft law" approach may, in the indeterminate long term, influence the behavior of nations that in turn could become legally binding custom.
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From page 83... ...
by incorporating the best data possible in its CARA process. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND COOPERATION WITH THE COMMERCIAL SPACE INDUSTRY The space law treaty regime consists of five international treaties, four of which are widely accepted and one of which is less accepted.32 The parts of this regime that are most relevant to orbital debris issues are Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty (see Box 11.1)
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From page 84... ...
A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment.1 1 See http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/outerspt.html. debris or otherwise -- from space, actual removal requires crossing a crucial national and international legal thresh old.
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From page 85... ...
VI: "States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental enti ties, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty.
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