NASA Recommendation
The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office further states the danger of small space debris:
- "Remediation techniques need to focus on removal of small sized (but still damaging) debris"
- "Current conjunction assessments and collision avoidance maneuvers against the tracked objects (which are typically 10 cm and larger) only address a small fraction (<1%) of the mission-ending risk from orbital debris"
Framework for STM
This framework describes the purpose of each STM objective. While Active Debris Removal is the focus of OrbitGuardians, any STM service provider can leverage the STM Act of 2022 to acquire funding from their tax paying contributors to accomplish their STM objective (see below).
Space Traffic Management Act of 2022 (Funding Mechanism)
STM Act of 2022
- STM Act of 2022 draft text for legislation
- "We the People" must demand action
- To incentivize financial contributions
- $1 tax credit for $1 taxpayer contribution
- $2 credit for $1 contributed in first 3 years
- Limited to previous year tax liability
- Must be legislated on Capitol Hill
- Must be signed by POTUS
- Must be implemented into IRS Code
Contributions then used for identifying orbital carrying capacity, space traffic footprint, risk assessments, prioritizations, policy, space situational awareness, mitigation, and active debris removal.