National and international debris mitigation standards and policies are evolving rapidly to keep pace with increasingly complex space operations.

With several large constellations poised to take flight and many new spacecraft operators, “we’ve got some real challenges that we need to get ahead of,” Marlon Sorge, executive director of the Aerospace Corp. Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies, told at the International Astronautical Congress here.

Debris mitigation and remediation are popular topics at IAC 2024, where the theme is “Responsible Space for Sustainability.” Researchers are presenting dozens of papers on debris detection, tracking and related legal, policy and economic considerations. Outside the technical presentations, national and international experts are meeting to discuss space situational awareness, active debris removal and automated collision avoidance.