000171740 001__ 171740 000171740 005__ 20260603114407.0 000171740 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1016/j.actaastro.2026.04.026 000171740 0248_ $$2sideral$$a149491 000171740 037__ $$aART-2026-149491 000171740 041__ $$aeng 000171740 100__ $$aShi, Qian 000171740 245__ $$aA system-of-systems approach to US space sustainability governance 000171740 260__ $$c2026 000171740 5203_ $$aThe rapid expansion of satellite deployments and commercial activity in low Earth orbit has outpaced existing policy frameworks, raising urgent concerns about long-term space sustainability. This work proposes and applies a system-of-systems-based framework to assess structural and operational gaps in the United States’ approach to orbital stewardship. The framework combines a knowledge graph method to map institutional relationships and oversight fragmentation, with system-of-systems design principles to characterize structural drivers of the sustainability challenge and guide policy development and prioritization. The resultant analysis covers three major governance gaps: weak enforcement, fragmented standards, and policy lag, and organizes efforts to close these gaps into the domains of space situational awareness, space traffic management, and space environment preservation. A taxonomy of sustainability metrics organized by aim, method, and scope is also provided to support future policy evaluation and capacity planning. Overall, this work serves as a foundation for systematic sustainability assessment and informed governance strategies that can support adaptive policy design, compliance planning, and long-term orbital stewardship. 000171740 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess$$aAll rights reserved$$uhttp://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ 000171740 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000171740 700__ $$aHuang, Yinchien 000171740 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-8507-4679$$aArnas, David$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000171740 700__ $$aDeLaurentis, Daniel 000171740 7102_ $$12005$$2595$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Matemática Aplicada$$cÁrea Matemática Aplicada 000171740 773__ $$g247 (2026), 315-336$$pActa astronaut.$$tActa Astronautica$$x0094-5765 000171740 8564_ $$s4887019$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/171740/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000171740 8564_ $$s2733721$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/171740/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000171740 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:171740$$particulos$$pdriver 000171740 951__ $$a2026-06-03-11:04:23 000171740 980__ $$aARTICLE