II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 447 

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 

FEBRUARY 15, 2023 

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

Ms. SINEMA, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) 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 2023’’ or the ‘‘ORBITS Act of 2023’’. 


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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, which may include mov17 ing orbital debris to a safe position, using an 

18 object or technique that is external or internal 

19 to the orbital debris; and 

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

21 or other disposal of orbital debris by passive 

22 means. 

23 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis24 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

25 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, the 

5 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans6 portation, and the Committee on Armed Serv7 ices of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

9 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 

10 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

11 House of Representatives. 

12 (4) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—The term 

13 ‘‘demonstration program’’ means the active orbital 

14 debris remediation demonstration program carried 

15 out under section 4(b). 

16 (5) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means— 

18 (A) a United States-based— 

19 (i) non-Federal, commercial entity; 

20 (ii) institution of higher education (as 

21 defined in section 101(a) of the Higher 

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

23 1001(a))); or 

24 (iii) nonprofit organization; 


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1 (B) any other United States-based entity 

2 the Administrator considers appropriate; and 

3 (C) a partnership of entities described in 

4 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

5 (6) ORBITAL DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘orbital de6 bris’’ means any human-made space object orbiting 

7 Earth that— 

8 (A) no longer serves an intended purpose; 

9 and 

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

11 or 

12 (ii) is incapable of safe maneuver or oper13 ation. 

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

15 the Secretary of Commerce. 

16 (8) SPACE TRAFFIC COORDINATION.—The term 

17 ‘‘space traffic coordination’’ means the planning, co18 ordination, and on-orbit synchronization of activities 

19 to enhance the safety and sustainability of oper20 ations in the space environment. 

21 SEC. 4. ACTIVE DEBRIS REMEDIATION. 

22 (a) PRIORITIZATION OF ORBITAL DEBRIS.— 

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

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

25 in consultation with the Secretary, the Secretary of 


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1 Defense, the National Space Council, and represent2 atives of the commercial space industry, academia, 

3 and nonprofit organizations, shall publish a list of 

4 identified orbital debris that pose the greatest imme5 diate risk to the safety and sustainability of orbiting 

6 satellites and on-orbit activities. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—The list required under para8 graph (1)— 

9 (A) shall be developed using appropriate 

10 sources of data and information derived from 

11 governmental and nongovernmental sources, in12 cluding space situational awareness data ob13 tained by the Office of Space Commerce, to the 

14 extent practicable; 

15 (B) shall include, to the extent prac16 ticable— 

17 (i) a description of the approximate 

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

19 post-mission passivation actions taken, and 

20 national jurisdiction of each orbital debris 

21 identified; and 

22 (ii) data required to inform decisions 

23 regarding potential risk and feasibility of 

24 safe remediation; and 


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1 (C) may include orbital debris that poses a 

2 significant risk to terrestrial people and assets, 

3 including risk resulting from potential environ4 mental impacts from the uncontrolled reentry of 

5 the orbital debris identified. 

6 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY; PERIODIC UP7 DATES.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), the list required under paragraph 

10 (1) shall be published in unclassified form on a 

11 publicly accessible internet website of the Na12 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

13 (B) EXCLUSION.—The Administration may 

14 not include on the list published under subpara15 graph (A) data acquired from nonpublic 

16 sources. 

17 (C) PERIODIC UPDATES.—Such list shall 

18 be updated periodically. 

19 (4) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—With re20 spect to orbital debris identified under paragraph 

21 (1), the Administrator shall, to the extent prac22 ticable and subject to the availability of appropria23 tions, carry out the additional research and develop24 ment activities necessary, in consultation with the 

25 commercial space industry, to mature technologies 


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1 that close commercial capability gaps and enable po2 tential future remediation missions for such orbital 

3 debris. 

4 (5) ACQUISITION, ACCESS, USE, AND HANDLING

5 OF DATA OR INFORMATION.—In carrying out the ac6 tivities under this subsection, the Administrator— 

7 (A) shall acquire, access, use, and handle 

8 data or information in a manner consistent with 

9 applicable provisions of law and policy, includ10 ing laws and policies providing for the protec11 tion of privacy and civil liberties, and subject to 

12 any restrictions required by the source of the 

13 information; 

14 (B) shall have access, upon written re15 quest, to all information, data, or reports of any 

16 executive agency that the Administrator deter17 mines necessary to carry out the activities 

18 under this subsection, provided that such access 

19 is— 

20 (i) conducted in a manner consistent 

21 with applicable provisions of law and policy 

22 of the originating agency, including laws 

23 and policies providing for the protection of 

24 privacy and civil liberties; and 


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1 (ii) consistent with due regard for the 

2 protection from unauthorized disclosure of 

3 classified information relating to sensitive 

4 intelligence sources and methods or other 

5 exceptionally sensitive matters; and 

6 (C) may obtain commercially available in7 formation that may not be publicly available. 

8 (b) ACTIVE ORBITAL DEBRIS REMEDIATION DEM9 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, subject 

12 to the availability of appropriations, the Adminis13 trator, in consultation with the head of each relevant 

14 Federal department or agency, shall establish a dem15 onstration program to make competitive awards for 

16 the development of technologies leading to the reme17 diation of selected orbital debris identified under 

18 subsection (a)(1). 

19 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the demonstra20 tion program shall be to enable eligible entities to 

21 pursue the phased development and demonstration 

22 of technologies and processes required for active de23 bris remediation. 


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1 (3) PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA.—In estab2 lishing the demonstration program, the Adminis3 trator shall— 

4 (A) establish— 

5 (i) eligibility criteria for participation; 

6 (ii) a process for soliciting proposals 

7 from eligible entities; 

8 (iii) criteria for the contents of such 

9 proposals; 

10 (iv) program compliance and evalua11 tion metrics; and 

12 (v) program phases and milestones; 

13 (B) identify government-furnished data or 

14 equipment; and 

15 (C) develop a plan for National Aero16 nautics and Space Administration participation 

17 in technology development, as appropriate, and 

18 intellectual property rights. 

19 (4) PROPOSAL EVALUATION.—In evaluating 

20 proposals for the demonstration program, the Ad21 ministrator shall— 

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

23 benefit, and maturity of the proposed tech24 nology; 


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1 (B) consider the potential for the proposed 

2 demonstration to successfully remediate orbital 

3 debris and to advance the commercial state of 

4 the art with respect to active debris remedi5 ation; 

6 (C) carry out a risk analysis of the pro7 posed technology that takes into consideration 

8 the potential casualty risk to humans in space 

9 or on the Earth’s surface; 

10 (D) in an appropriate setting, conduct 

11 thorough testing and evaluation of the proposed 

12 technology and each component of such tech13 nology or system of technologies; and 

14 (E) consider the technical and financial 

15 feasibility of using the proposed technology to 

16 conduct multiple remediation missions. 

17 (5) DEMONSTRATION MISSION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

19 shall consult with the head of each relevant 

20 Federal department or agency in advance of 

21 each demonstration mission. 

22 (B) ACTIVE DEBRIS REMEDIATION DEM23 ONSTRATION MISSION.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that the Administrator should consider 

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1 tices to engage commercial entities in, an active 

2 debris remediation demonstration mission. 

3 (C) SPECTRUM CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

4 Administrator shall convey any potential spec5 trum allocations and licensing needs for active 

6 debris remediation demonstration missions to 

7 the Federal Communications Commission 

8 through the National Telecommunications and 

9 Information Administration as soon as prac10 ticable after any such spectrum allocation or li11 censing need has been identified. 

12 (6) REPORTS.— 

13 (A) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 

14 1 year after the date on which the first dem15 onstration mission is carried out under this 

16 subsection, the Administrator, in consultation 

17 with the head of each relevant Federal depart18 ment or agency, shall submit to Congress a re19 port that provides legislative, regulatory, and 

20 policy recommendations to improve active debris 

21 remediation missions, as applicable. 

22 (B) TECHNICAL ANALYSIS.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—To inform decisions 

24 regarding the acquisition of active debris 

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1 ernment, not later than 180 days after the 

2 completion of the demonstration program, 

3 the Administrator shall submit to Congress 

4 a report that— 

5 (I) summarizes a technical anal6 ysis of technologies developed under 

7 the demonstration program; 

8 (II) identifies any technology 

9 gaps addressed by the demonstration 

10 program and any remaining tech11 nology gaps; and 

12 (III) provides, as applicable, any 

13 further legislative, regulatory, and 

14 policy recommendations to enable ac15 tive debris remediation missions. 

16 (ii) AVAILABILITY.—The Administra17 tion shall make the report submitted under 

18 clause (i) available to the Secretary, the 

19 Secretary of Defense, and other relevant 

20 Federal departments and agencies, as de21 termined by the Administrator. 

22 (7) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.— 

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

24 demonstration program, the Administrator, in 

25 consultation with the National Space Council 


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1 and in collaboration with the Secretary of 

2 State, may pursue a cooperative relationship 

3 with one or more partner countries to enable 

4 the remediation of orbital debris that is under 

5 the jurisdiction of such partner countries. 

6 (B) ARRANGEMENT OR AGREEMENT WITH

7 PARTNER COUNTRY.—Any arrangement or 

8 agreement entered into with a partner country 

9 under subparagraph (A) shall be— 

10 (i) concluded— 

11 (I) in the interests of the United 

12 States Government; and 

13 (II) without prejudice to any con14 tractual arrangement among commer15 cial parties that may be required to 

16 complete the active debris remediation 

17 mission concerned; and 

18 (ii) consistent with the international 

19 obligations of the United States under the 

20 international legal framework governing 

21 outer space activities. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

24 carry out this section $150,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

25 years 2024 through 2028. 


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1 SEC. 5. ACTIVE DEBRIS REMEDIATION SERVICES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—To foster the competitive develop3 ment, operation, improvement, and commercial availability 

4 of active debris remediation services, and in consideration 

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

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

7 the head of each relevant Federal department or agency 

8 may acquire services for the remediation of orbital debris, 

9 whenever practicable, through fair and open competition 

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

11 in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

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

13 the demonstration program, the Secretary, acting through 

14 the Office of Space Commerce, shall publish an assess15 ment of the estimated Federal Government and private 

16 sector demand for orbital debris remediation services for 

17 the 10-year period beginning in 2025. 

18 SEC. 6. UNIFORM ORBITAL DEBRIS STANDARD PRACTICES 

19 FOR UNITED STATES SPACE ACTIVITIES. 

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

21 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 5 years there22 after, the National Space Council, in coordination with the 

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1 tiate an update to the Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard 

2 Practices that— 

3 (1) considers planned space systems, including 

4 satellite constellations; and 

5 (2) addresses— 

6 (A) collision risk; 

7 (B) casualty probability; 

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

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

10 (E) spacecraft collision avoidance and 

11 automated identification capability; and 

12 (F) the ability to track orbital debris of de13 creasing size. 

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

15 subsection (a), the National Space Council, or a designee 

16 of the National Space Council, shall seek advice and input 

17 on commercial standards and best practices from rep18 resentatives of the commercial space industry, academia, 

19 and nonprofit organizations, including through workshops 

20 and, as appropriate, advance public notice and comment 

21 processes under chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

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

24 published in the Federal Register and posted to the rel25 evant Federal Government websites. 


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1 (d) REGULATIONS.—To promote uniformity and 

2 avoid duplication in the regulation of space activity, in3 cluding licensing by the Federal Aviation Administration, 

4 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

5 and the Federal Communications Commission, such up6 date, after publication, shall be used to inform the further 

7 development and promulgation of Federal regulations re8 lating to orbital debris. 

9 (e) INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION.—To encourage ef10 fective and nondiscriminatory standards, best practices, 

11 rules, and regulations implemented by other countries, 

12 such update shall inform bilateral and multilateral discus13 sions focused on the authorization and continuing super14 vision of nongovernmental space activities. 

15 SEC. 7. STANDARD PRACTICES FOR SPACE TRAFFIC CO16 ORDINATION. 

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

18 with members of the National Space Council and the Fed19 eral Communications Commission, shall facilitate the de20 velopment of standard practices for on-orbit space traffic 

21 coordination based on existing guidelines and best prac22 tices used by Government and commercial space industry 

23 operators. 

24 (b) CONSULTATION.—In facilitating the development 

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


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1 through the Office of Space Commerce, in consultation 

2 with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

3 shall engage in frequent and routine consultation with rep4 resentatives of the commercial space industry, academia, 

5 and nonprofit organizations. 

6 (c) PROMOTION OF STANDARD PRACTICES.—On 

7 completion of such standard practices, the Secretary, the 

8 Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the 

9 Administrator, and the Secretary of Defense shall promote 

10 the adoption and use of the standard practices for domes11 tic and international space missions. 

Æ 


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