Is It Time for Space Debris Reduction Capabilities?

For over 50 years, space-faring nations have launched objects into space, resulting in the significant accumulation of debris. The amount of launches and debris-causing events outpaces the current removal rates for debris in the protected regions of Low Earth and Geosynchronous Orbits. Thus, it appears the space debris problem is increasing. Currently, debris must be larger than 10-cm in diameter to be tracked reliably. Existing treaties are outdated and in need of revision to include space debris and enforcement. Given the increasing amount of debris in space, it is time to assess whether reduction/removal capabilities are required to resolve the problem.