{
  "id": "R43353",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43353",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 426741,
      "date": "2014-01-08",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:46:38.909616",
      "title": "Threats to U.S. National Security Interests in Space: Orbital Debris Mitigation and Removal",
      "summary": "After decades of activities in space, Earth\u2019s orbit is littered with man-made objects that no longer serve a useful purpose. This includes roughly 22,000 objects larger than the size of a softball and hundreds of thousands of smaller fragments. This population of space debris potentially threatens U.S. national security interests in space, both governmental (military, intelligence, and civil) and commercial. Congress has broadly supported the full range of these national security interests and has a vested concern in ensuring a strong and continued U.S. presence in space.\nTwo events in recent years dramatically increased the amount of fragmentation debris in orbit. One was the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite test and, in 2009, an active U.S. commercial satellite accidentally collided with a defunct Russian satellite. Although the 2013 movie Gravity exaggerated the issue and took certain artistic liberties, the film graphically depicted and drew the public\u2019s attention to the potential destruction of operational satellites and other platforms in space from collisions with orbital debris. Some experts maintain the population growth of debris in space will be primarily driven by catastrophic collisions that are likely to occur every five to nine years.\nFor decades, the United States has worked to minimize the amount of orbital debris left from its space launches and inactive satellites. Many space-faring nations have adopted similar mitigation measures, and additional voluntary international codes of conduct are being pursued. \nMany experts now believe that mitigation efforts alone are insufficient to prevent the continual increase of space debris. A growing view among experts holds that some level of active removal of debris from the space environment is necessary. Nevertheless, such efforts are technologically immature and face significant budgetary and legal obstacles.\nCongress has an opportunity to explore these issues through hearings, for instance with major stakeholders in the U.S. national security and civil space communities, and the commercial sector. Efforts to find international agreement on mitigation may involve congressional prerogatives on advice and consent, and any program to pursue remediation will likely entail appropriations support from Congress.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}