Dealing with Orbital Crowding and Debris

During the 1960s, it became clear that private and public use of geosynchro­nous orbit (GEO) for telecommunication and other services would need to be regulated using an international system agreed upon by stakeholder nations. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), established in 1865 for radio communication standards, was tasked in 1963 by the United Nations to manage the GEO belt for purposes of preventing physical and electromagnetic interference. The ITU's Radio-communication Sector is responsible for assignment of GEO slots to States. In the 1990s, the major space agencies of the world formed the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordi­nation Committee (IADC) to reduce the risks from orbital debris.

The ITU assigns GEO slots to Member States by factoring three things:

  1. Orbital parameters (West or East degrees longitude). ITU definition for GEO altitude is 35,786 km.
  2. Type of frequencies used
  3. Covered regions (or foot print)
Amount of Debris by Orbit
450 operational satellites in low Earth Orbit (LEO) with ˜10,000 trackable pieces of debris.
55 operational satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO), with ˜ 500 pieces of trackable debris.
400 operational satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), with ˜ 1,000 pieces of trackable debris.
Average velocity of satellites and debris: 10-12 kilometers per second
SOURCE: Union of Concerned Scientists 2010

The IADC Has Developed a Set of Voluntary Guidelines to Reduce Creation of Orbital Debris

In 2008, most of these guidlines were included in a resolution proposed by COPUOS and passed by the UNGA. Some guidelines include:

  1. Limit production of debris during routine operations
  2. Minimize potential for accidental on-orbit breakups
  3. Dispose of spacecraft post-mission
  4. Prevent on-orbit collisions
  5. Prohibit intentional destruction of satellites

The work of the ITU and IADC have helped inform how future systems of governance might be established.