Wyoming Senator Pushes For Safer Skies With New Space Debris Legislation

U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) have introduced the Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act to create a first-of-its-kind program to reduce the amount of orbital debris in space.

This aim of this bill is to address the growing risks posed by space debris and maintaining American leadership in space.

A press release from Lummis claims that by addressing orbital debris, the ORBITS Act helps safeguard America's critical satellite capabilities

“Space is getting more and more crowded with debris that poses a real threat to our satellites," said Lummis. "People in Wyoming and across the country depend on satellites for our national security, weather forecasting, wildfire monitoring, GPS navigation, and communications essential for our way of life. The ORBITS Act addresses this growing challenge and helps maintain safe human spaceflight operations above the earth. This bipartisan solution will protect America's interests in space for generations to come.

"Dangerous debris in Earth's orbit threatens American satellites and jeopardizes future space exploration missions," said Hickenlooper. "It's time we clean up the clutter and protect our critical space operations."

The ORBITS Act would require NASA and other federal agencies to:

• Identify and list the most dangerous space debris
• Test, demonstrate, and advance technologies for removing debris from orbit
• Establish standardized practices for coordinating space traffic and preventing collisions
• NASA estimates that more than 9,000 metric tons of space debris were orbiting
• Earth as of January 2022, creating growing concerns over potential satellite disruptions.