| AAS | American Astronomical Society |
| ADR | active debris removal |
| AFSPC | Air Force Space Command |
| AIAA | American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
| ALTAIR | ARPA Long-Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar |
| Ames | Ames Research Center |
| AMOR | Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar |
| APA | Administrative Procedure Act |
| ARTEMIS | Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun |
| ASAT | anti-satellite |
| ASEB | Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board |
| BLE | ballistic limit equation |
| CA | Conjunction Assessment |
| CARA | Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis |
| CEOS | Committee on Earth Observations Satellites |
| COLA | Launch Collision Avoidance |
| COSPAR | Committee on Space Research |
| DARPA | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
| DAS | Debris Assessment Software |
| DLR | German Aerospace Center |
| DOD | Department of Defense |
| DPE | damage predictor equation |
| EMP | electromagnetic pulse |
| ESA | European Space Agency |
| ESD | electrostatic discharge |
| EVA | extravehicular activity |
| EVOLVE | 2-dimensional Evolutionary Debris Model |
| FAA | Federal Aviation Administration |
| FCC | Federal Communications Commission |
| GEO | geosynchronous/geostationary Earth orbit |
| GPM | Global Precipitation Measurement (mission) |
| GSFC | Goddard Space Flight Center |
| HAX | Haystack Auxiliary |
| HITF | Hypervelocity Impact Technology Facility |
| HPLA | high power large aperture radar |
| HRMP | Harvard Radio Meteor Project |
| HST | Hubble Space Telescope |
| HVIT | Hypervelocity Impact Technology |
| IADC | Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee |
| IAF | International Astronautical Federation |
| IDP | interplanetary dust particle |
| IFM | Interplanetary Flux Model |
| ISS | International Space Station |
| ITAR | International Traffic in Arms Regulations |
| JSC | Johnson Space Center |
| JSpOC | Joint Space Operations Center |
| KSC | Kennedy Space Center |
| LARC | Langley Research Center |
| LDEF | Long Duration Exposure Facility |
| LEGEND | LEO-to-GEO Environment Debris model |
| LEO | low Earth orbit |
| LMT | Liquid Mirror Telescope |
| LSC | UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee of Committee on the Peaceful Purposes of Space |
| LSP | Launch Services Program |
| MCAT | Meter-Class Autonomous Telescope |
| MCSurv | Manned Spacecraft and Crew Survivability |
| MEM | Meteoroid Environment Model |
| MEO | Meteoroid Environment Office |
| MMOD | meteoroid and orbital debris |
| MODEST | Michigan Orbital Debris Survey Telescope |
| MSCSurv | Manned Spacecraft and Crew Survivability code |
| MSFC | Marshall Space Flight Center |
| NaK | sodium potassium |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| NORAD | North American Aerospace Defense Command |
| NRC | National Research Council |
| NRO | National Reconnaissance Office |
| OCM | Orbit Conjunction Messages |
| OCT | Office of the Chief Technologist |
| OD | orbital debris |
| ODA | orbital debris assessment |
| ODPO | Orbital Debris Program Office |
| OMB | Office of Management and Budget |
| ORDEM | Orbital Debris Environment Model |
| ORSAT | Object Reentry Survival Analysis Tool |
| OSTP | Office of Science and Technology Policy |
| Pc | probability of collision |
| PRA | probabilistic risk analysis/assessment |
| PSFT | Propulsion Systems Foundation Technology |
| PVDF | polyvinylidene fluoride |
| RCS | radar cross-section |
| RORSAT | Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite |
| SBM | standard breakup model |
| SBRAM | Satellite Breakup Assessment Model |
| SDA | Space Data Association |
| SDC | Space Data Center |
| SEM | Size Estimation Model |
| SGP4 | Simplified General Perturbations 4 |
| SNR | signal-to-noise ratio |
| SOCIT | Satellite Orbital Debris Characterization Impact Test |
| SP | special perturbations |
| SSN | Space Surveillance Network |
| STD | NASA Technical Standard |
| STSC | UNCOPUOS Science and Technology Subcommittee |
| TLE | two-line element set |
| TRL | technology readiness level |
| UN | United Nations |
| UNCOPUOS | UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space |
| UNGA | UN General Assembly |
| USAF | U.S. Air Force |
| USSR | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
| USSTRATCOM | U.S. Strategic Command |