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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 March  14,  2002 
 RE:  Mitigation  of  Orbital  Debris,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (adopted  March  14,  2002). 


 I  want  to  commend  the  International  Bureau  for  its  hard  work  on  this  item,  and  Chairman  Powell  and  International  Bureau  Chief  Don  Abelson  for  issuing  such  a 
 forward-  looking  item. 
 It  is  important  as  the  United  States’  expert  agency  in  communications  that  we  sometimes  look  over  the  horizon  and  try  to  head  off  problems  before  they  occur,  rather 
 than  waiting  for  the  problems  find  us  unprepared.  An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure,  and  if  we  come  up  with  the  right  orbital  debris  mitigation  rules  now,  we 
 can  head  off  a  potentially  very  costly  problem  with  far  less  costly  precautions. 
 While  our  satellite  communications  system  is  not  immediately  threatened  by  orbital  debris,  if  we  don’t  act  I  believe  that  the  threat  will  become  real.  Other 
 government  agencies  are  moving  ahead  with  regard  to  government  systems.  Given  the  long  planning  and  construction  periods  for  satellite  fleets,  the  rules  we  set  in  place  now 
 will  affect  satellites  that  will  not  be  deployed  for  years  to  come.  So  moving  ahead  expeditiously  is  a  prudent  course. 
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