Comments Due June 27 in Orbital Debris Proceeding Record Refresh

Comments are due June 27, replies July 12, as the FCC Space Bureau seeks a refresh of the record on proposed orbital debris mitigation rules, said a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register. The bureau said it was seeking a refresh on such issues as whether to measure collision risks in the aggregate for a non-geostationary orbit constellation or on a per satellite basis and what factors would be relevant in conducting an aggregate risk analysis. It also seeks input on using a 100 object-years metric -- the number of years each failed satellite remains in orbit, added across all the satellites -- for assessing the risk of derelict satellites in orbit from a constellation. The rules came from a Further NPRM that was adopted in 2020 alongside the FCC's orbital debris order (see 2004230040). Comments are due in docket 22-271.