Orbital Debris NPRM Raises Multiple Jurisdictional Questions, Space Lawyer Says

The FCC's claim to jurisdiction over orbital debris "rests on a thin reed [since] debris generation is not radio communication," space lawyer Laura Montgomery blogged Thursday. She said the launch industry might also want to make clear in the orbital debris NPRM approved at November's meeting (see 1811150028) that the FAA has exclusive jurisdiction over, and the FCC can't put requirements on, launch and re-entry. She said just asking whether requirements could overlap into the domain of other regulatory agencies opens the door to the FCC visiting the issue of regulating debris from launch vehicles. She said it's not clear what congressional authority it has to require licensees indemnify the federal government under damage claims under the Outer Space Treaty and the Space Liability Convention. She also said it's equally unclear how the FCC can discuss requiring disclosure of debris mitigation plans for deployment mechanisms if those devices don't carry a transmitter requiring an FCC license. In a docket 18-313 posting Wednesday, debris mitigation advocacy group Satellite Design for Recovery said orbital debris discussions and rules changes are needed regardless of whether the FCC is the proper agency to drive those. It said design requirements should accommodate future active removal, such as grappling features, and the 25-year lifespan should be replaced with a risk-based rule based on the satellite's orbital altitude, collision cross-section and operating lifetime.