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Solving The Space Debris Crisis, Paul B. Larsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Space debris is a growing public safety problem. As described by the Kessler Syndrome, the increasing accumulation of debris will soon hinder and eventually preclude access to outer space unless the trend is swiftly reversed. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee’s (IADC) Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, as adopted by the United Nations (UN) Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), are voluntary but are enforced as mandatory regulations by major space powers; however, the guidelines only apply to new debris. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) 2017 Space Debris Conference concluded that existing space debris guidelines are inadequate and …