ESA, as well as other governmental bodies, like NASA and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), has been analysing the evolution of the situation in orbit, producing reports with the aim of highlighting the need and urgency to foster the emergence and growth of industrial players to lead the space safety and sustainability effort.
In its most recent report, ESA emphasises two key points. The number of objects in space in increasing steadily. The density of active objects, within some heavily populated orbits, has already reached the same order of magnitude as space debris. 2024 saw several fragmentation events adding thousands of new debris objects. This increased population of RSOs results in an increase operational effort and therefore cost as well as an increase of the risk profile of satellite operations for a vast (and diverse) value chain. In 2023 insurance companies reported record losses due to claims made. Claims surpassed the collected premiums significantly, mainly driven by two incidents: a 445m$ claim for the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite and Inmarsat’s 348m$ claim for its 6-F2 communications satellite.
On a positive note, the adherence to space debris mitigation standards is slowly improving over the years, especially in the commercial sector. However, this positive trend is not enough to stop the increase of the number and amount of space debris.
Some players wait for regulation to come into play. Certainly, in recent years, national and international agencies have taken important steps in their collaborative effort to develop comprehensive frameworks that support transparency, accountability, and the sustainable use of orbital space. And regulation will play a positive role in fostering a market for SDA by establishing clear standards, encouraging data-sharing, and setting industry benchmarks for accuracy and reliability.
While we work towards international regulation, which today seems less likely to be instated soon, due to growing geopolitical tensions and space being increasingly seen as a contested environment, some key actions, worth highlighting, are supporting the development of the commercial market.
ESA has set itself the goal to significantly limit the production of debris by 2030 through its Zero Debris Approach. The Agency has updated its debris mitigation requirements that govern how the Agency's missions are designed, built, flown and disposed of, also setting the rules for any company or institution that works with ESA on its missions. This has turned policy into demand and into action. It is also thanks to this effort, that Neuraspace is now servicing close to 450 satellites.
Clearly, we don’t have to wait for regulation, addressing space safety and security can happen now.
Image Source: ESA