WASHINGTON, July 7 — The Federal Communications Commission has not set a timeline for a final decision on a 2023 rulemaking that would exempt certain satellite deorbiting activities from environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The proceeding, designated FCC 23-45, proposes to remove routine satellite deorbit and reentry from the list of actions that require an environmental assessment or impact statement under NEPA, the 1970 law that mandates federal agencies evaluate the environmental consequences of their decisions before acting.
The FCC’s argument, according to the filing, is that routine deorbiting of satellites poses minimal environmental risk. The agency contends that full NEPA review would delay satellite replacement cycles and burden the industry, which has seen explosive growth in low Earth orbit.
The record shows that the number of active satellites in low Earth orbit has surged from about 1,000 in 2019 to over 8,000 in 2024. That increase has placed enormous pressure on the FCC to streamline its licensing processes for new spacecraft, particularly as commercial operators launch large constellations for broadband internet and other services. Environmental groups have pushed back.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists have both filed comments opposing the exemption, citing a growing body of research on atmospheric pollution from satellite reentries. When spacecraft burn up on reentry, they release metals and other compounds into the upper atmosphere.
Scientists have documented increasing concentrations of aluminum oxides and other metallic particles in the stratosphere, and the research base is expanding as the number of reentries accelerates.
The regulatory framework
NEPA, enacted in 1970, requires federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements for major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. The FCC has long applied this requirement to satellite licensing, including the end-of-life disposal of spacecraft. The proposed exemption would carve out routine deorbit operations from that requirement.
The FCC argues that the environmental effects of individual satellite reentries are negligible, and that requiring full NEPA review for each deorbit creates unnecessary administrative costs and delays. But the cumulative effect of thousands of satellite reentries is precisely what concerns the environmental groups that filed comments.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, in its filing, pointed to studies showing that the mass of materials being vaporized in the atmosphere during reentries is growing rapidly as constellations expand and satellites are replaced on shorter cycles. The Natural Resources Defense Council has argued that the FCC cannot simply assume minimal risk without conducting the kind of systematic analysis that NEPA requires. The groups contend that the agency should first complete a programmatic environmental review of the overall effects of satellite reentries before exempting individual operations.
The industry context
The FCC’s rulemaking is part of a broader effort to modernize satellite licensing. The agency has faced mounting pressure from commercial operators who argue that the current regulatory framework was designed for an era when a handful of large government and commercial satellites operated in geostationary orbit, not for the current environment where thousands of small satellites populate low Earth orbit.
Sources familiar with the proceeding say the FCC is balancing competing demands: industry calls for faster licensing and reduced regulatory burdens, and environmental concerns about the long-term effects of atmospheric pollution from reentries. The commission has not indicated when it might vote on the proposed rule.
The proceeding remains open, and the agency has not set a timeline for a final decision. What happens next will depend on the composition of the commission and the weight it gives to the environmental comments filed in the docket. The record shows that the FCC received substantial opposition from environmental organizations, but the agency has not signaled whether those comments have shifted its thinking.
The broader trajectory is clear: the number of satellites in low Earth orbit continues to grow, and with it, the number of spacecraft that will eventually need to be deorbited. The question before the FCC is whether to treat those reentries as routine operations exempt from environmental review, or to require the kind of case-by-case analysis that NEPA mandates.
For now, the rulemaking sits in a holding pattern, awaiting a decision that could reshape how the federal government oversees the environmental effects of the commercial space industry.
