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Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes (2018) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E: Orbital Debris Mitigation Guidelines: A Model for International Collaboration and Consensus Building
Pages 112-114

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From page 112...
... Concern for the impact that space debris can have on the utilization and exploration of outer space derives from the increased number of antisatellite tests conducted in the 1960s2 that would impact the national security of the United States. From a civil space perspective, NASA scientist Donald Kessler proposed in the late 1970s a dilemma where the collision of objects in space would create a congested low Earth orbit and make outer space not an explorable environment and unusable.3 The Department of Defense and NASA therefore became two of the largest stakeholders invested in addressing the orbital debris issue.
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From page 113...
... The two major agency stakeholders created internal policies for addressing orbital debris. The Department of Defense included orbital debris in their 1987 policy that sought to "minimize the impact of space debris on its military operations."8 NASA adapted an internal policy -- NASA Management Instruction 1700.8 -- Policy for Limiting Orbital Debris Generation that would "employ design and operations practices that limit the generation of orbital debris consistent with mission requirements and cost effectiveness and requires each program or project to conduct an assessment demonstrating compliance."9 Both the 1989 and the 1995 interagency reports on debris emphasized the importance of international collaboration in order to find an effective solution for addressing orbital debris.
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From page 114...
... Discussions over the next 5 years led the adoption of a technical report by the subcommittee and the distribution of the report to other UN entities including the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS, UNISPACE III, and other international organizations.15 In 2007, the next step occurred when a set of voluntary orbital debris mitigation guidelines were adopted in the subcommittee and then adopted in the full COPUOS committee. The voluntary guidelines adopted at COPUOS was then forwarded to the UN General Assembly and adopted under resolution 62/217 on December 22, 2007.16 13  https://www.iadc-online.org/index.cgi?
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Key Terms

  • space debris
  • outer space
  • debris mitigation
  • addressing orbital
  • planetary protection

  • mitigation guidelines
  • limiting orbital
  • international forums
  • consensus standards
  • space exploration

  • protection policies
  • debris research
  • space agencies
  • donald kessler
  • assessment demonstrating

  • including relevant
  • effective international
  • research relating
  • communications commission
  • policy consensus

  • policy framework
  • national space
  • interagency reports
  • stakeholders invested
  • multilateral mechanisms

  • mathematical modelling
  • agency led
  • congested low
  • future missions
  • spacefaring nations


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