As humanity ventures out to the vast cosmos outside our planet, the space-junk we leave behind is growing.

Satellites, spacecraft and other launches all leave behind some junk littering the Earth's orbit, increasing the risk of collisions. To lighten this space-junk load, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a rule.&nbsp;

<h2>Shedding the space-junk</h2>

The FAA has proposed that the amount of time a private rocket's upper stages stay in orbit should be limited.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/as-race-to-space-shoots-up-junk-in-earths-orbit-us-space-command-releases-responsible-space-behaviours-568413">As space race zooms junk in Earth’s orbit, US Space Command shares ‘responsible space behaviours’</a>

In a draft form released on Wednesday (September 20), the FAA, via its proposed rule, seeks "to limit the growth of new orbital debris and reduce the potential for collisions with spacecraft and satellites to promote a sustainable space environment."

<h2>Why is this important?</h2>

This junk can put space missions and satellite launches at significant risk. Upon launch, the space vehicles can potentially collide with the junk that is crowding the planet's orbit.&nbsp;

In a statement, the FAA said "If left unchecked, the accumulation of orbital debris will increase the risk of collisions and clutter orbits used for human spaceflight and for satellites providing communications, weather and global positioning system services."&nbsp;

As per the FAA, as of July 2023, the Earth's orbit contains over 23,000 orbital objects of sizes 10 cm and above. Furthermore, there are around one-half million objects sized between 1 and 10 cm, over 100 million larger than 1mm.

<h2>How will FAA achieve this junk shedding?</h2>

The proposed rule provides commercial space operators with five options to choose from. These options relate to the disposal of the upper stages of launch vehicles.&nbsp;

As per the FAA website, these include: conducting a controlled re-entry; moving the upper stage to a less congested storage or graveyard orbit; sending the upper stage to an Earth-escape orbit; the retrieval of the upper stage (called active debris removal) within five years; or performing an uncontrolled atmospheric disposal.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-perseverance-rovers-pictures-raise-question-can-humanity-be-trusted-with-other-planets-488883">NASA Perseverance rover's pictures raise question: Can humanity be trusted with other planets?</a>

Strictly limiting the uncontrolled reentry of the upper stages can take away the uncertainty of where it might land. This will help mitigate the risk to people on the ground and in flight, says FAA.

"Shortening the removal deadline would decrease the risk of orbital debris causing damage to spacecraft, which could create more debris, shorten another spacecraft’s mission or endanger the lives of human spaceflight participants," states the proposed rule, as reported by space.com.

"Given that the entire mission lifetime of upper stages and their components is quite short, and spent upper stages pose a significant risk of debris propagation the longer they are in orbit, it may be appropriate to have a shorter disposal timeline of 5 years or another time period less than 25 years," it notes.

(With inputs from agencies)

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As humanity ventures out to the vast cosmos outside our planet, the space-junk we leave behind is growing. Satellites, spacecraft and other launches all leave behind some junk littering the Earth's orbit, increasing the risk of collisions.

As humanity ventures out to the vast cosmos outside our planet, the space-junk we leave behind is growing. Satellites, spacecraft and other launches all leave behind some junk littering the Earth's orbit, increasing the risk of collisions. To lighten this space-junk load, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a rule. Shedding the space-junk The FAA has proposed that the amount of time a private rocket's upper stages stay in orbit should be limited. Also read | As space race zooms junk in Earth’s orbit, US Space Command shares ‘responsible space behaviours’ In a draft form released on Wednesday (September 20), the FAA, via its proposed rule, seeks "to limit the growth of new orbital debris and reduce the potential for collisions with spacecraft and satellites to promote a sustainable space environment." Why is this important? This junk can put space missions and satellite launches at significant risk. Upon launch, the space vehicles can potentially collide with the junk that is crowding the planet's orbit. In a statement, the FAA said "If left unchecked, the accumulation of orbital debris will increase the risk of collisions and clutter orbits used for human spaceflight and for satellites providing communications, weather and global positioning system services." As per the FAA, as of July 2023, the Earth's orbit contains over 23,000 orbital objects of sizes 10 cm and above. Furthermore, there are around one-half million objects sized between 1 and 10 cm, over 100 million larger than 1mm. How will FAA achieve this junk shedding? The proposed rule provides commercial space operators with five options to choose from. These options relate to the disposal of the upper stages of launch vehicles. As per the FAA website, these include: conducting a controlled re-entry; moving the upper stage to a less congested storage or graveyard orbit; sending the upper stage to an Earth-escape orbit; the retrieval of the upper stage (called active debris removal) within five years; or performing an uncontrolled atmospheric disposal. Also read | NASA Perseverance rover's pictures raise question: Can humanity be trusted with other planets? Strictly limiting the uncontrolled reentry of the upper stages can take away the uncertainty of where it might land. This will help mitigate the risk to people on the ground and in flight, says FAA. "Shortening the removal deadline would decrease the risk of orbital debris causing damage to spacecraft, which could create more debris, shorten another spacecraft’s mission or endanger the lives of human spaceflight participants," states the proposed rule, as reported by space.com. "Given that the entire mission lifetime of upper stages and their components is quite short, and spent upper stages pose a significant risk of debris propagation the longer they are in orbit, it may be appropriate to have a shorter disposal timeline of 5 years or another time period less than 25 years," it notes. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

US Federal Aviation Administration proposes revolutionary way to limit human litter in Earth's orbit

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in its preliminary report has revealed that the contractors working on the system that alerts pilots of a potential danger had “unintentionally” deleted some files, prompting the entire mechanism to break down on January 11 which affected more than 11,000 flights.

The regulator further said that the staff were trying&nbsp;"to correct synchronisation between the live primary database and a backup database” when some of the files got accidentally deleted.

They reiterated that they found no “evidence of cyberattack or malicious intent" and that they are still probing the exact cause.

“A preliminary FAA review of last week’s outage of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system determined that contract personnel unintentionally deleted files while working to correct synchronisation between the live primary database and a backup database,” the FAA said on Thursday.

The airline agency said it is making necessary repairs to the system "and has&nbsp;taken steps to make the pilot message system "more resilient."

<h2>US flights resume after FAA system outage, over 4300 flights delayed</h2>

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The FAA last week said that the nationwide NOTAM-- provides pilots, flight crews and other users of US&nbsp;airspace with critical safety notices-- outage was caused by a procedural error related to a corrupted data file.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-faa-outage-completely-unacceptable-lawmakers-demand-explanation-from-agency-552588">US FAA outage 'completely unacceptable': Lawmakers demand explanation from agency</a>

The response comes in the wake of demand from over 120 lawmakers who sought an explanation on how to prevent future accidents saying that the computer outage was "completely unacceptable".

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/more-than-400-flights-affected-across-us-after-faa-experiences-major-outage-551578">FAA says system restored after more than 4,300 flights grounded due to technical snag</a>

On the upcoming Friday, the FAA is expected to brief the lawmakers about the whole incident.

Meanwhile, airline executives have complained of staffing issues and inadequate funding of the FAA, calling on the government to “need to do better”.

“I lay this on the fact that we are not giving them the resources, the funding, the staffing, the tools, the technology they need,”&nbsp;Delta Air Lines&nbsp;CEO Ed Bastian said on “Squawk Box” last week, according to CNBC.

&nbsp;“Hopefully this will be the call to our political leaders in Washington that we need to do better.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in its preliminary report has revealed that the contractors working on the system that alerts pilots of a potential danger had “unintentionally” deleted some files, prompting the entire mechanism to break down on January 11 which affected more than 11,000 flights.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in its preliminary report has revealed that the contractors working on the system that alerts pilots of a potential danger had “unintentionally” deleted some files, prompting the entire mechanism to break down on January 11 which affected more than 11,000 flights. The regulator further said that the staff were trying "to correct synchronisation between the live primary database and a backup database” when some of the files got accidentally deleted. They reiterated that they found no “evidence of cyberattack or malicious intent" and that they are still probing the exact cause. “A preliminary FAA review of last week’s outage of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system determined that contract personnel unintentionally deleted files while working to correct synchronisation between the live primary database and a backup database,” the FAA said on Thursday. The airline agency said it is making necessary repairs to the system "and has taken steps to make the pilot message system "more resilient." US flights resume after FAA system outage, over 4300 flights delayed The FAA last week said that the nationwide NOTAM-- provides pilots, flight crews and other users of US airspace with critical safety notices-- outage was caused by a procedural error related to a corrupted data file. Also read | US FAA outage 'completely unacceptable': Lawmakers demand explanation from agency The response comes in the wake of demand from over 120 lawmakers who sought an explanation on how to prevent future accidents saying that the computer outage was "completely unacceptable". Also read | FAA says system restored after more than 4,300 flights grounded due to technical snag On the upcoming Friday, the FAA is expected to brief the lawmakers about the whole incident. Meanwhile, airline executives have complained of staffing issues and inadequate funding of the FAA, calling on the government to “need to do better”. “I lay this on the fact that we are not giving them the resources, the funding, the staffing, the tools, the technology they need,” Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said on “Squawk Box” last week, according to CNBC. “Hopefully this will be the call to our political leaders in Washington that we need to do better.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Staff ‘accidentally’ deleted some files causing outage and grounding over 11,000 flights: FAA

On Wednesday, thousands of flights in the United States were grounded due to what was earlier believed to be a 'technical snag' but further investigation "traced the outage to a damaged database file". As per the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) normal operations were being restored, however, the early morning halt affected the plans of thousands of travellers looking to travel in about 9,000 plus flights.&nbsp;

Here's what happened:

Airlines across the country reported an error that caused them to ground and/or delay domestic flights due to an outage of the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system.

In a tweet, on Wednesday the FAA said that their "preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file."

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Update 6: We are continuing a thorough review to determine the root cause of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system outage. Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyber attack. (1/2)
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1613317775132336129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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After a while, the authority switched to a backup, however, the corrupt file was found to be present there as well.

Watch |&nbsp;US flights resume after FAA system outage, over 4300 flights delayed

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Was it a malicious attack?

Talking to CNN, the aviation authority said that it was still trying to determine the cause; whether it was a person or a "routine entry" into the database was responsible for the corrupted file.

Was it a cyberattack?

US officials have denied reports that a cyberattack could be behind the massive outage. As per Reuters, they claim to have found no evidence of such an attack.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/more-than-400-flights-affected-across-us-after-faa-experiences-major-outage-551578">FAA says system restored after more than 4,300 flights grounded due to technical snag</a>

Talking to MSNBC, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that there was no evidence of any "nefarious" causes of the outage. However, he said that at this time it could not be completely ruled out.

What is NOTAM?

The NOTAM system keeps flight crews abreast with information about any changes to airport facilities, hazards and other essential procedures. However, on Wednesday the processing of NOTAM was reportedly "impaired".

How many flights were affected?

As per estimates by flight tracking website Flight Aware, by 7 am US Eastern time (or 12 pm GMT) at least 1,230 flights were delayed. As per the website's data, by the time the system was reset around 2 am on Thursday, more than 9,800 flights had been delayed and around 900 cancelled.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/which-computer-glitch-led-to-us-flights-cancellations-notam-failure-explained-airlines-updates-so-far-551641">Which computer glitch led to US flights cancellations? NOTAM failure explained &amp; Airlines' updates so far</a>

What steps did the FAA take?

Initially, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was working to restore the NOTAM system, however, later, the authority ordered to pause of all domestic flights till 9 am.

Is this the first time such an order was announced?

As per AFP, previously such a broad command was issued during the horrendous 9/11 attacks.

 
(With inputs from agencies)

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On Wednesday, thousands of flights in the United States were grounded due to what was earlier believed to be a 'technical snag' but further investigation "traced the outage to a damaged database file".

On Wednesday, thousands of flights in the United States were grounded due to what was earlier believed to be a 'technical snag' but further investigation "traced the outage to a damaged database file". As per the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) normal operations were being restored, however, the early morning halt affected the plans of thousands of travellers looking to travel in about 9,000 plus flights. Here's what happened: Airlines across the country reported an error that caused them to ground and/or delay domestic flights due to an outage of the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system. In a tweet, on Wednesday the FAA said that their "preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file." Update 6: We are continuing a thorough review to determine the root cause of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system outage. Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyber attack. (1/2) — The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023 × After a while, the authority switched to a backup, however, the corrupt file was found to be present there as well. Watch | US flights resume after FAA system outage, over 4300 flights delayed Was it a malicious attack? Talking to CNN, the aviation authority said that it was still trying to determine the cause; whether it was a person or a "routine entry" into the database was responsible for the corrupted file. Was it a cyberattack? US officials have denied reports that a cyberattack could be behind the massive outage. As per Reuters, they claim to have found no evidence of such an attack. Also read | FAA says system restored after more than 4,300 flights grounded due to technical snag Talking to MSNBC, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that there was no evidence of any "nefarious" causes of the outage. However, he said that at this time it could not be completely ruled out. What is NOTAM? The NOTAM system keeps flight crews abreast with information about any changes to airport facilities, hazards and other essential procedures. However, on Wednesday the processing of NOTAM was reportedly "impaired". How many flights were affected? As per estimates by flight tracking website Flight Aware, by 7 am US Eastern time (or 12 pm GMT) at least 1,230 flights were delayed. As per the website's data, by the time the system was reset around 2 am on Thursday, more than 9,800 flights had been delayed and around 900 cancelled. Also read | Which computer glitch led to US flights cancellations? NOTAM failure explained & Airlines' updates so far What steps did the FAA take? Initially, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was working to restore the NOTAM system, however, later, the authority ordered to pause of all domestic flights till 9 am. Is this the first time such an order was announced? As per AFP, previously such a broad command was issued during the horrendous 9/11 attacks. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Explained: How a corrupted file brought US aviation to its knees

The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that Boeing managers failed to put adequate priority on living up to the earlier settlement and complying with FAA regulations.

Boeing will pay $6.6 million to FAA

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US Federal Aviation Administration proposes revolutionary way to limit human litter in Earth's orbit

Staff ‘accidentally’ deleted some files causing outage and grounding over 11,000 flights: FAA

Explained: How a corrupted file brought US aviation to its knees

Boeing will pay $6.6 million to FAA