US to establish new rules on hazardous ‘space junk’

The FCC says there are more than 4,800 satellites operating in orbit, and the vast majority are commercial low-Earth orbit satellites. Photograph: University of Southampton/PA

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to adopt new rules to address the growing risks of orbital debris – commonly known as space junk – posing a hazard to extraterrestrial exploration.

The government body will give US operators much tighter deadlines to get rid of defunct satellites whizzing uselessly around the planet and getting in the way of spacecraft on active missions.