“I see no reason why a satellite the size of a shoebox, with the life expectancy of a guinea pig, should be regulated the same way as a spacecraft the size of a school bus that will stay in orbit for centuries,” says FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

“It is rocket science, after all,” says Trump-appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who questions the commission’s mandate on orbital debris mitigation oversight for commercial space companies.

“I think it will be incumbent on governments pretty soon to force operators to have some way to get their  satellite out of the way [when it fails] and get it into a proper graveyard orbit,” says Michael Pollack, who does business development for Effective Space.