1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i FCC Draft Rule Seeks to Limit Space Debris Alyssa K. King Analyst in Transportation Policy April 17, 2020 On April 2, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published notice of a proposed rule intended to reduce the r
2、isk that active satellites will be damaged by space debris. The proposed rule, which is scheduled for an FCC vote on April 23, has been sharply criticized by some aerospace and telecommunications groups, and leaders of a House committee have asked that it be delayed. The FCC licenses U.S. commercial
3、 communications satellites and the radio frequencies needed to control them. In 2004, it issued an order directing satellite operators applying for FCC licenses to submit plans showing spacecraft design features and operation specifications intended to reduce the probability of accidental collisions
4、 in orbit. A single such collision could produce thousands of pieces of debris. While most of these pieces would be small, they would continue to orbit the Earth and could have catastrophic effects if they collide with active spacecraft. Since 2004, low Earth orbitcomprising orbits at altitudes belo
