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Space

Tournear: Demand Likely to Grow for Commercial Deorbiting Systems

Frank Wolfe

Tuesday, April 4th, 2023

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Tournear: Demand Likely to Grow for Commercial Deorbiting Systems

Equipped with S-band technology, LeoLabs' West Australian Space Radar is to monitor medium to high inclination resident space objects in LEO (LeoLabs Photo)

A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule last year is likely to spur demand for commercial deorbiting systems that may help declutter parts of low Earth orbit (LEO), Space Development Agency (SDA) Director Derek Tournear said on Apr. 3. Last September, the FCC adopted rules requiring operators of LEO satellites to deorbit their birds within five years of mission completion, a change from the decades-old guideline to deorbit within 25 years of mission completion. At 600 kilometers altitude and below, satellites…

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