The Sky is Falling: An Evaluation of Policy Responses to the Orbital Debris Problem

In the last 60 years, humankind has littered the space around our planet with
debris. The accumulation of that debris presents dangers to both current and future
activities in space. In response to this problem, policymakers at the national and
international levels have enforced policies to mitigate the creation of new debris.
This paper examines the relationship between the growth of the orbital debris
problem and those policies, evaluating potential political science explanations to
explain the relationship. The results show that Kingdon’s “three streams” theory,
where the convergence of a problem, a policy solution, and a political opportunity
propels an issue onto the political agenda, best accounts for the positive
relationship observed between orbital debris and policy responses. Finally, this
paper evaluates how the entry of new private, players into the launch game will
worsen the orbital debris problem long-term. It examines the relationship between
the debris problem and policy into the future, concluding that the continuance of
current mitigation efforts is a more likely policy future than a shift to the type of
active removal policies necessary to solve the orbital debris problem.