By: Hill
August 5, 2022
The Biden administration’s recently released implementation plan for addressing orbital debris — space junk — is another inside-the-beltway toothless wonder. It’s time Congress step in and legislate action on orbital debris, instead of accepting this policy’s approach of “paralysis by analysis.”
The new White House “National Orbital Debris Implementation Plan” provides 14 pages of PowerPoint-like bullets, with palatable big picture goals, but no specific direction for an Active Debris Removal (ADR) technology demonstration mission.
Instead of a call to action with direction to design and launch a long-overdue ADR technology demonstration mission within the coming decade — an obvious next-step to address space junk — this latest administration plan instead dives deep into the safe and often obscure bureaucratic waters of “assessments, studies and analysis.”