II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4814 

To establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital 

debris and to require the development of uniform orbital debris standard 

practices in order to support a safe and sustainable orbital environment, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself, Ms. LUMMIS, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. 

WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital debris and to require the development 

of uniform orbital debris standard practices in order 

to support a safe and sustainable orbital environment, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Orbital Sustainability 

5 Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘ORBITS Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) The safety and sustainability of operations 

5 in low-Earth orbit and nearby orbits in outer space 

6 have become increasingly endangered by a growing 

7 amount of orbital debris. 

8 (2) Exploration and scientific research missions 

9 and commercial space services of critical importance 

10 to the United States rely on continued and secure 

11 access to outer space. 

12 (3) Efforts by nongovernmental space entities 

13 to apply lessons learned through standards and best 

14 practices will benefit from government support for 

15 implementation both domestically and internation16 ally. 

17 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con18 gress that to preserve the sustainability of operations in 

19 space, the United States Government should— 

20 (1) to the extent practicable, develop and carry 

21 out programs, establish or update regulations, and 

22 commence initiatives to minimize orbital debris, in23 cluding initiatives to demonstrate active debris reme24 diation of orbital debris generated by the United 

25 States Government; 


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1 (2) lead international efforts to encourage other 

2 spacefaring countries to mitigate and remediate or3 bital debris under their jurisdiction and control; and 

4 (3) encourage space system operators to con5 tinue implementing best practices for space safety 

6 when deploying satellites and constellations of sat7 ellites, such as transparent data sharing and design8 ing for system reliability, so as to limit the genera9 tion of future orbital debris. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) ACTIVE DEBRIS REMEDIATION.—The term 

13 ‘‘active debris remediation’’— 

14 (A) means the deliberate process of facili15 tating the de-orbit, repurposing, or other dis16 posal of orbital debris using an object or tech17 nique that is external or internal to the orbital 

18 debris; and 

19 (B) does not include de-orbit, repurposing, 

20 or other disposal of orbital debris by passive 

21 means. 

22 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis23 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

24 Aeronautics and Space Administration. 


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1 (3) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Appropriations and 

5 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

6 Transportation of the Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Appropriations and 

8 the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech9 nology of the House of Representatives. 

10 (4) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—The term 

11 ‘‘demonstration program’’ means the active orbital 

12 debris remediation demonstration program carried 

13 out under section 4(b). 

14 (5) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ means— 

16 (A) a United States-based— 

17 (i) non-Federal, commercial entity; 

18 (ii) institution of higher education (as 

19 defined in section 101(a) of the Higher 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

21 1001(a))); or 

22 (iii) nonprofit organization; 

23 (B) any other United States-based entity 

24 the Administrator considers appropriate; and 


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1 (C) a partnership of entities described in 

2 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

3 (6) ORBITAL DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘orbital de4 bris’’ means any human-made space object orbiting 

5 Earth that— 

6 (A) no longer serves any useful purpose; 

7 and 

8 (B)(i) has reached the end of its mission; 

9 or 

10 (ii) is incapable of maneuver or operation. 

11 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Commerce. 

13 (8) SPACE TRAFFIC COORDINATION.—The term 

14 ‘‘space traffic coordination’’ means the planning, co15 ordination, and on-orbit synchronization of activities 

16 to enhance the safety and sustainability of oper17 ations in the space environment. 

18 SEC. 4. ACTIVE DEBRIS REMEDIATION. 

19 (a) PRIORITIZATION OF ORBITAL DEBRIS.— 

20 (1) LIST.—Not later than 90 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, 

22 in consultation with the Secretary, the Secretary of 

23 Defense, the National Space Council, and represent24 atives of the commercial space industry, academia, 

25 and nonprofit organizations, shall publish a list of 


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1 identified orbital debris that pose the greatest imme2 diate risk to the safety and sustainability of orbiting 

3 satellites and on-orbit activities. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The list required under para5 graph (1)— 

6 (A) shall be developed using appropriate 

7 sources of data and information derived from 

8 governmental and nongovernmental sources, in9 cluding space situational awareness data ob10 tained by the Office of Space Commerce, to the 

11 extent practicable; 

12 (B) shall include, to the extent prac13 ticable— 

14 (i) a description of the approximate 

15 age, location in orbit, size, tumbling state, 

16 post-mission passivation actions taken, and 

17 national jurisdiction of each orbital debris 

18 identified; and 

19 (ii) a ranking of each orbital debris 

20 identified in terms of potential risk and 

21 feasibility for safe remediation; and 

22 (C) may include orbital debris that poses a 

23 significant risk to terrestrial people and assets, 

24 including risk resulting from potential environVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Sep 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4814.IS S4814

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1 mental impacts from the uncontrolled reentry of 

2 the orbital debris identified. 

3 (3) FORM; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The list re4 quired under paragraph (1) shall be— 

5 (A) published in unclassified form; 

6 (B) made available to the public on the 

7 internet website of the National Aeronautics 

8 and Space Administration; and 

9 (C) updated periodically. 

10 (4) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—With re11 spect to orbital debris identified under paragraph 

12 (1) that is determined by the Administrator, in con13 sultation with the National Space Council and the 

14 National Science and Technology Council, to be in15 eligible for remediation due to characteristics, size, 

16 or location in orbit that makes safe remediation in17 feasible, the Administrator shall, to the extent prac18 ticable, carry out the additional research and devel19 opment activities necessary, in consultation with the 

20 commercial space industry, to mature technologies 

21 and enable potential future remediation missions for 

22 such orbital debris. 

23 (b) ACTIVE ORBITAL DEBRIS REMEDIATION DEM24 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the avail2 ability of appropriations, not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad4 ministrator, in consultation with the head of each 

5 relevant Federal department or agency, shall estab6 lish a demonstration program to make competitive 

7 awards for the remediation of orbital debris identi8 fied under subsection (a)(1). 

9 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the demonstra10 tion program shall be to enable eligible entities to 

11 pursue the phased development and demonstration 

12 of technologies and processes required for active de13 bris remediation. 

14 (3) PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA.—In estab15 lishing the demonstration program, the Adminis16 trator shall— 

17 (A) establish— 

18 (i) eligibility criteria for participation; 

19 (ii) a process for soliciting proposals 

20 from eligible entities; 

21 (iii) criteria for the contents of such 

22 proposals; 

23 (iv) program compliance and evalua24 tion metrics; and 

25 (v) program phases and milestones; 


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1 (B) identify government-furnished data or 

2 equipment; and 

3 (C) develop a plan for National Aero4 nautics and Space Administration participation 

5 in technology development, as appropriate, and 

6 intellectual property rights. 

7 (4) PROPOSAL EVALUATION.—In evaluating 

8 proposals for the demonstration program, the Ad9 ministrator shall— 

10 (A) consider the safety, feasibility, cost, 

11 benefit, and maturity of the proposed tech12 nology; 

13 (B) consider the potential for the proposed 

14 demonstration to successfully remediate orbital 

15 debris and to advance the commercial state of 

16 the art with respect to active debris remedi17 ation; 

18 (C) carry out a risk analysis of the pro19 posed technology that takes into consideration 

20 the potential casualty risk to humans in space 

21 or on the Earth’s surface; 

22 (D) in an appropriate setting, conduct 

23 thorough testing and evaluation of the proposed 

24 technology and each component of such tech25 nology or system of technologies; and 


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1 (E) consider the technical and financial 

2 feasibility of using the proposed technology to 

3 conduct multiple remediation missions. 

4 (5) DEMONSTRATION MISSION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

6 shall consult with the head of each relevant 

7 Federal department or agency in advance of 

8 each demonstration mission. 

9 (B) ACTIVE DEBRIS REMEDIATION DEM10 ONSTRATION MISSION.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that the Administrator should consider 

12 not proceeding with an active debris remedi13 ation demonstration mission until multiple 

14 award recipients have demonstrated readiness 

15 to proceed. 

16 (C) SPECTRUM CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

17 Administrator shall convey any potential spec18 trum allocations and licensing needs for active 

19 debris remediation demonstration missions to 

20 the Federal Communications Commission 

21 through the National Telecommunications and 

22 Information Administration. 

23 (6) REPORTS.— 

24 (A) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 

25 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the 

2 head of each relevant Federal department or 

3 agency, shall submit to Congress a report that 

4 provides legislative, regulatory, and policy rec5 ommendations to improve the demonstration 

6 program and active debris remediation mis7 sions, as applicable. 

8 (B) TECHNICAL ANALYSIS.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—To inform decisions 

10 regarding the acquisition of active debris 

11 remediation services by the Federal Gov12 ernment, not later than 180 days after the 

13 completion of the demonstration program, 

14 the Administrator shall submit to Congress 

15 a report that— 

16 (I) summarizes a technical anal17 ysis of technologies developed under 

18 the demonstration program; 

19 (II) identifies any technology 

20 gaps addressed by the demonstration 

21 program and any remaining tech22 nology gaps; and 

23 (III) provides, as applicable, any 

24 further legislative, regulatory, and 


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1 policy recommendations to enable ac2 tive debris remediation missions. 

3 (ii) AVAILABILITY.—The Administra4 tion shall make the report submitted under 

5 clause (i) available to the Secretary, the 

6 Secretary of Defense, and other relevant 

7 Federal departments and agencies, as de8 termined by the Administrator. 

9 (7) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

11 demonstration program, the Administrator, in 

12 consultation with the National Space Council 

13 and in collaboration with the Secretary of 

14 State, may pursue a cooperative relationship 

15 with one or more partner countries to enable 

16 the remediation of orbital debris identified 

17 under subsection (a)(1) that is under the juris18 diction of such partner countries. 

19 (B) ARRANGEMENT OR AGREEMENT WITH

20 PARTNER COUNTRY.—Any arrangement or 

21 agreement entered into with a partner country 

22 under subparagraph (A) shall be— 

23 (i) concluded— 

24 (I) in the interests of the United 

25 States Government; and 


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1 (II) without prejudice to any con2 tractual arrangement among commer3 cial parties that may be required to 

4 complete the active debris remediation 

5 mission concerned; and 

6 (ii) consistent with the international 

7 obligations of the United States under the 

8 international legal framework governing 

9 outer space activities. 

10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

11 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

12 carry out this section $150,000,000 for fiscal years 2023 

13 through 2027. 

14 SEC. 5. ACTIVE DEBRIS REMEDIATION SERVICES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—To foster the competitive develop16 ment, operation, improvement, and commercial availability 

17 of active debris remediation services, and in consideration 

18 of the economic analysis required by subsection (b) and 

19 the reports under section 4(b)(6), the Administrator and 

20 the head of each relevant Federal department or agency 

21 may acquire services for the remediation of orbital debris, 

22 whenever practicable, through fair and open competition 

23 for contracts that are well-defined, milestone-based, and 

24 in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 


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1 (b) ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—Based on the results of 

2 the demonstration program, the Secretary, acting through 

3 the Office of Space Commerce, shall publish an assess4 ment of the estimated Federal Government and private 

5 sector demand for orbital debris remediation services for 

6 the 10-year period beginning in 2024. 

7 SEC. 6. UNIFORM ORBITAL DEBRIS STANDARD PRACTICES 

8 FOR UNITED STATES SPACE ACTIVITIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the National Space 

11 Council, in coordination with the Secretary, the Adminis12 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Sec13 retary of Defense, the Federal Communications Commis14 sion, and the Administrator, shall initiate an update to 

15 the Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices that— 

16 (1) considers planned space systems, including 

17 satellite constellations; and 

18 (2) addresses— 

19 (A) collision risk; 

20 (B) casualty probability; 

21 (C) post-mission disposal of space systems; 

22 (D) time to disposal or de-orbit; 

23 (E) spacecraft collision avoidance and 

24 automated identification capability; and 


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1 (F) the ability to track orbital debris of de2 creasing size. 

3 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the update under 

4 subsection (a), the National Space Council shall seek ad5 vice and input on commercial standards and best practices 

6 from representatives of the commercial space industry, 

7 academia, and nonprofit organizations. 

8 (c) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, such update shall be 

10 published in the Federal Register and posted to the rel11 evant Federal Government websites. 

12 (d) REGULATIONS.—To promote uniformity and 

13 avoid duplication in the regulation of space activity, in14 cluding licensing by the Federal Aviation Administration, 

15 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

16 and the Federal Communications Commission, such up17 date, after publication, shall be used to inform the further 

18 development and promulgation of Federal regulations re19 lating to orbital debris. 

20 (e) INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION.—To encourage ef21 fective and nondiscriminatory standards, best practices, 

22 rules, and regulations implemented by other countries, 

23 such update shall inform bilateral and multilateral discus24 sions focused on the authorization and continuing super25 vision of nongovernmental space activities. 


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1 (f) REVIEW.—Not later than 5 years after the com2 pletion of such update, and every 5 years thereafter, the 

3 Secretary, in consultation with representatives of the com4 mercial space industry, academia, and nonprofit organiza5 tions, shall— 

6 (1) conduct a review of the Orbital Debris Miti7 gation Standard Practices applicable to space sys8 tems; and 

9 (2) submit to the National Space Council rec10 ommendations for modifications to such standard 

11 practices. 

12 SEC. 7. STANDARD PRACTICES FOR SPACE TRAFFIC CO13 ORDINATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

15 with members of the National Space Council and the Fed16 eral Communications Commission, shall facilitate the de17 velopment of standard practices for on-orbit space traffic 

18 coordination based on guidelines and best practices used 

19 by Government and commercial space industry operators. 

20 (b) CONSULTATION.—In facilitating the development 

21 of standard practices under subsection (a), the Secretary, 

22 through the Office of Space Commerce, shall engage in 

23 frequent and routine consultation with representatives of 

24 the commercial space industry, academia, and nonprofit 

25 organizations. 


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1 (c) PROMOTION OF STANDARD PRACTICES.—On 

2 completion of such standard practices, the Secretary, the 

3 Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the 

4 Administrator, and the Secretary of Defense shall promote 

5 the adoption and use of the standard practices for domes6 tic and international space missions. 

Æ 


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