Week in Space Data, every Friday.
The main rules, standards and guidelines for limiting orbital debris, from the FCC five-year rule to the IADC guidelines. Each one links the document it was checked against.
We do not grade or rank operators on sustainability. An earlier version of this page did, but its grades had no method that anyone could reproduce, so we removed them on 10 October 2026.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Requires space stations ending their mission in or passing through low Earth orbit (below 2,000 km) and disposing by uncontrolled re-entry to deorbit as soon as practicable and no later than five years after end of mission, replacing the previous 25-year benchmark. Adopted September 29, 2022, with a two-year grandfathering period; satellites launched after September 29, 2024 must comply.
United Nations COPUOS
Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities: a preamble and 21 voluntary, non-binding guidelines adopted by COPUOS in June 2019 and welcomed by the UN General Assembly in resolution 74/82, covering policy and regulatory frameworks, safety of space operations (including debris mitigation and SSA data sharing), international cooperation, and research.
International Organization for Standardization
International standard for space debris mitigation requirements. Covers mission planning, design, manufacturing, launch, operations, and disposal phases.
European Space Agency
ESA Space Debris Mitigation Policy and Requirements (ESSB-ST-U-007) for all ESA missions. First introduced in 2008, enforced from 2014 through ECSS-U-AS-10C (the adoption notice of ISO 24113), and updated in 2023 under ESA's Zero Debris approach, whose goal is to significantly limit the production of debris in Earth and lunar orbits by 2030. The 2023 update added stricter orbital clearance, design-for-removal, collision avoidance and lunar-mission requirements.
Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee
Foundational guidelines developed by 13 space agencies. Covers limiting debris during normal operations, minimizing breakup potential, post-mission disposal, and collision avoidance.