A revolution is afoot in space. As the use of satellites transforms from a national and military-led enterprise to one dominated by businesses, governments worldwide are playing catch-up with the rules and regulations that apply. It’s now possible for a private enterprise with headquarters in the United States to launch Argentine satellites from New Zealand’s soil.
The gaps in international regulations and coordination became clear recently when a California-based start-up, Swarm Technologies, launched four tiny satellites called SpaceBees on an Indian rocket, over the objection of the Federal Communications Commission. Among other things, the F.C.C. is responsible for making sure satellites are tractable by the government’s Space Surveillance Network to minimize the chance of collisions. The SpaceBees were so small (about 4 inches by 4 inches by 1 inch) that the network could not regularly track them, though a private tracking service, LeoLabs, says it has been tracking them since the launch.
Several new space start-ups are planning enormous “mega-constellations” of hundreds or even thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit (about 100 miles to 1,250 miles in altitude) in the next decade, and these too will challenge the regulatory framework. Only about a thousand or so operational satellites are in that region now, so the mega-constellation trend portends an increase of more than tenfold in active satellites in low Earth orbit, all within a matter of years.
How much distance should separate these various constellations so that any collision in one doesn’t create havoc for those in higher or lower orbits? Currently, orbital slots in low Earth orbit are not assigned ? you launch to wherever you like ? but this laissez-faire attitude may soon need revisiting.
Collisions in space have already occurred and can create thousands of debris particles. This threat will only grow unless new protocols are intrioduced and enforced. Debris in orbit can cause a chain reaction of collisions, creating more and more debris and putting certain orbital bands off limits.
The sustainable use of space hinges on how new space laws are enforced and coordinated across nations. With too little regulation, certain orbital altitudes could become unusable. Too much regulation, on the other hand, could choke off the commercial space revolution.
The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has made useful progress in hammering out some voluntary international long-term sustainability guidelines for operating in space. But these guidelines have been decades in the making , and the fast pace of activity in the commercial space sector means a more nimble mechanism will be needed to coordinate international space operation.
Encouraging and enforcing good practices and the sustainable use of space should not come at the cost of drowning the private sector in more time-consuming paperwork. Many small start-ups don’t have the resources or the long time horizons to deal with the Balkanized, understaffed and glacial space licensing bureaucracy in the United States.
It can take six months or longer to get a response on an application for a space launch, and the approval process involves the F.C.C., the Federal Aviation Administration and the Commerce and State Departments. This is why the National Space Council, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, recently recommended that Commerce create a “one-stop shop” for commercial space regulation.
The government will also need to invest in staffing the relevant offices. If regulatory streamlining doesn’t happen soon, there’s real danger that space start-ups may get fed up and decide to base their headquarters overseas. Already, the United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg are pitching themselves as attractive commercial space hubs, offering incentives and accommodating regulatory frameworks as the proliferation of new technologies and companies continues apace.
New endeavors like on-orbit satellite servicing and refueling are exciting developments but could also be misused. If you can grab and service your own satellite, you can also grab the satellite of an adversary or competitor. Should the hardware that gets paced in space be controlled, or just its conduct?
This concern underscores the importance of an international agreement on norms or a code of conduct. For instance, Gen. John Hyten, commander of the United States Strategic Command, has called for “international norms of behavior in space.” Norms can serve to highlight aggressive or abnormal behavior by adversaries and would be militarily useful.
The global space economy in 2016 exceeded $320 billion, with the commercial sector accounting for the bulk of that amount. The final frontier is absolutely critical to the world’s economy and well-being. But the ever-increasing use and congestion of space is going to require agile, transparent and internationally coordinated rule-making to make it sustainable. And to make sure the revolution in commercial space doesn’t fizzle out, the United States regulatory system must become faster and simpler ? and more stringent.
