Current calls to remove orbital debris come from nearly every corner, including governments, militaries, private corporations, and the scientific community. While debris poses a clear threat to space operations, and while this threat will continue to grow over time, too little energy has been spent considering the second-order effects of developing the ability to remove orbital debris. An unintended consequence of debris removal is that it would weaken one of the elements of deterrence that prevent self-interested states from engaging in more frequent kinetic antisatellite tests or taking hostile actions against orbital objects. This article examines the issue of orbital debris, connects the existence of debris to deterrence, and then offers some solutions to mitigate the weakening of deterrence in the event that debris removal becomes a reality.

目前清除轨道碎片的呼声几乎来自各个角落，包括政府、军队、私营公司和科学界。虽然碎片对太空行动构成了明显的威胁，而且这种威胁会随着时间的推移而继续增长，但考虑到发展清除轨道碎片能力的二阶效应，花费的精力太少。清除碎片的一个意想不到的后果是，它会削弱威慑要素之一，阻止自利国家进行更频繁的反卫星动能试验或对轨道物体采取敌对行动。本文研究了轨道碎片问题，将碎片的存在与威慑联系起来，然后提供了一些解决方案，以在碎片清除成为现实的情况下减轻威慑力的减弱。