Preserve

Capturing a derelict satellite to remove it from orbit

Humans have been leaving trash in space for more than six decades. That trend needs to start reversing, to preserve space for future generations: The ESA-led Zero Debris Charter has brought together more than 40 space actors to agree to implement a common ‘Zero Debris Approach’ by 2030. This will significantly limit the production of debris in Earth and Lunar orbits by 2030 for all future missions, programmes and activities. The aim is to establish rules that compare to every national park on Earth – what you bring in you must take with you when you leave.

The time is right for such an approach, because the debris issue is becoming more pressing than ever before – just as telecommunications, navigation and Earth-observing satellites are becoming more a part of our daily lives. Since the start of the space age in 1957, humankind has launched almost 50 thousand tonnes of material into space. Some of that has returned, but today about 10 thousand tonnes remain in orbit and on average one object returns to Earth every week, uncontrolled. These numbers are rapidly increasing. More satellites have been launched in the last two years than the entire six decades of space exploration. Earth's space environment is now filled with millions of bits of fast-moving debris, threatening our future in space. A collision with a 1 cm particle travelling 10 km/s (of which there are about a million in orbit) releases the same energy as a small car crashing at 40 km/h. If current behaviours and trends in orbit continue, crucial orbital regions will become entirely unusable. It’s time to act.

Meanwhile the EU is leading the development of a Space Surveillance and Tracking System for Europe, to achieve nondependent situational awareness of the ‘skyways’ around our planet, while ESA’s Space Debris Office is supporting the application and verification of debris mitigation measures according to internationally agreed guidelines, standards and best practices. The Agency’s Space Safety Programme aims to develop an Automated Collision Avoidance System, to ensure the safe operation of individual satellites along with large-scale orbital constellations. At a multilateral level, European institutions are working with key international partners to actively promote pragmatic and concrete solutions towards a global Space Traffic Management system.