42 USC 18441 - National and international orbital debris mitigation

U.S Code last checked for updates: Nov 22, 2024

§ 18441.

National and international orbital debris mitigation

(a)

Findings

Congress makes the following findings:

(1)

A national and international effort is needed to develop a coordinated approach towards the prevention, negation, and removal of orbital debris.

(2)

The guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee provide a consensus understanding of 10 national space agencies (including NASA) plus the European Space Agency on the necessity of mitigating the creation of space debris and measures for doing so. NASA’s participation on the Committee should be robust, and NASA should urge other space-relevant Federal agencies (including the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce) to work to ensure that their counterpart agencies in foreign governments are aware of these national commitments and the importance in which the United States holds them.

(3)

Key components of such an approach should include—

(A)

a process for debris prevention through agreements regarding spacecraft design, operations, and end-of-life disposition plans to minimize orbiting vehicles or elements which are nonfunctional;

(B)

the development of a robust Space Situational Awareness network that can identify potential collisions and provide sufficient trajectory and orbital data to enable avoidance maneuvers;

(C)

the interagency development of an overall strategy for review by the President, with recommendations for proposed international collaborative efforts to address this challenge.

(b)

International discussion

(1)

In general

(2)

Interagency effort

(Pub. L. 111–267, title XII, § 1202, Oct. 11, 2010, 124 Stat. 2841.)

cite as: 42 USC 18441