Space Economy Growth Seen Causing Increased Debris, Traffic Issues

The space economy is growing rapidly, but that means increased potential problems with orbital debris and the need for space traffic management (STM), speakers said at a Space Foundation event Tuesday. Rep. Kendra Horn, D-Okla., co-chairwoman of the House Space Power Caucus, said with looming satellite mega constellations, there's a need to "set some lanes" for STM.

The U.S. needs to move civil space situational awareness (SSA) activities from DOD to a civil agency, said Secure World Foundation Program Planning Director Brian Weeden at a House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee hearing on SSA, in prepared remarks. With that move in limbo, so too is the creation of a national STM regime, he said. Also to be tackled is the competition and overlap between government SSA and emerging commercial capabilities, he said.

University of Mississippi space law Professor Emerita Joanne Gabrynowicz testified there's "a profound regulatory gap" in the U.S. for private sector on-orbit activity. No agency has the role of authorizing and supervising those activities, she added.

With the slew of new launch methods coming online, government regulation needs to adapt, said Sirisha Bandla, director-Washington operations, Virgin Orbit. She told the Space Foundation event it remains to be seen how effective streamlined FAA launch rules to come out later this year will be.

Asked about SpaceX possibly spinning off its Starlink broadband satellite business, Andrew Chanin, CEO of investment fund Procure Space ETF, said that could help raise capital for SpaceX's Mars interests or help boost overall investor interest in the company. Starlink might be less effective on its own without the SpaceX synergies, said the exchange traded fund chief.

Caucus co-Chairman Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., said the U.S. could be heading to a mutual assured destruction detente in outer space with Russia and China as their militaries and economies become as heavily space-dependent as the U.S. is now. Lamborn said those nations' progress on anti-satellite military capabilities means an end to the U.S. putting up big, expensive satellites for government purposes, opting instead for a resilient future of small, cheap satellites for communications and other purposes. Those networks would be harder to take down, he continued.

Horn said space hasn't been a particularly partisan issue, but it "suffered from some whiplash" with different administrations having different priorities. Lamborn said the U.S. should consider speeding up by several years its plans for a permanent presence on the moon, to keep pace with similar Chinese intentions of establishing a base by 2024.