Space Debris Tracking Cube-sat; Halting Orbital Pollution: A Study on Air Pollution Regulation as a Means for Regulating Orbital Pollution

The Clean Air Act (CAA) has been a cornerstone of environmental legislation in the United States, demonstrating a robust framework for regulating air quality standards and controlling emissions. This research paper examines the socio-technical systems surrounding power-plants (through primarily the CAA) and space technologies through the lens of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to identify key actors, networks, and socio-technical dynamics that govern how these technologies are used and managed. By deconstructing the relationships between policymakers, scientific institutions, industry stakeholders, and environmental advocacy groups, this study highlights how the networks around the CAA and power plants influenced legislative development and emission-reduction enforcement. The insights drawn from this analysis are applied to the rapidly evolving space industry, where environmental concerns such as atmospheric contamination, orbital debris, and launch emissions are gaining prominence. By mapping actors and their roles in both legislative frameworks, this research aims to identify strategies that can facilitate effective environmental policy in the space sector. Ultimately, this comparative analysis aims to provide insight from the successes and failures of the CAA, to prospectively apply these insights to future policies on space technologies and the agencies and regulatory bodies that govern their use.

School of Engineering and Applied Science
Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering
Technical Advisors: Haibo Dong, Tomonari Furukawa
STS Advisor: Bryn Seabrook
Technical Team Members: Swar Shah, Ryan Bartlett, Alex Bellissimo, Justin Yankow, Frances Bailey, Will Delgiudice, Drew Mouritzen, Kenji McCartney