Overcoming Legal, Policy, and Economics Challenges for Removing Orbital Debris

Thursday, June 20, 2019

SWF Director of Program Planning Dr. Brian Weeden gave a presentation on overcoming legal, policy, and economics challenges with active debris removal  (ADR) as part of a workshop on the "Economics of Space Debris" in Montreal, Canada. The workshop, co-organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), brought together international experts from governments, academia, and industry to discuss the challenge of orbital debris. 

Dr. Weeden's presentation discussed steps that should be taken to overcome the long-standing legal, policy, and economic challenges with orbital debris removal, including government funding to help remove existing orbital debris, a draft protocol for asking permission to remove orbital debris without an identified Launching State, and transparency guidelines to delineate commercial and civil ADR from military space activities.