The National Atmospheric and Space Administration (NASA) estimates that over 20,000 pieces of junk at least as large as a softball are orbiting the earth. There are roughly 300,000 pieces of orbiting junk that are large enough to destroy an operating satellite on impact. This debris left over from old satellites and other spacecraft pose a threat to the satellites that provide navigation and telecommunication services. In 2009, an Iridium communications satellite was demolished in a collision with an old Russian satellite. Modern global positioning systems (GPS), which employ satellites to provide precise timing and navigation signals, are at risk from collisions with orbital junk. The failure of a GPS system would disrupt Earth activities such as emergency response systems, global banking, and electric power grids.

The clearing of space debris is a public good that is subject to the free-rider problem. If one nation clears space debris and thus prevents collisions that would disrupt Earth activities, the benefits would go to people throughout the world. The solution to the problem will require international cooperation, to develop debris-clearing technology and to implement a system to pay for the cleanup.

Question.

How can we respond to the free-rider problem?