Skip to main content

Sustainability guidelines could help solve the growing problem of trash in space

Not content with trashing our own planet, it seems that humanity has caused a growing problem with space debris as well. As we rely increasingly on satellites for everything from weather forecasting to navigation, humans have fired more and more of them into orbit — which is now filled with discarded satellites, upper stages of rockets, and assorted other bits of space junk as a result.

There are a number of inventive research projects that aim to find ways to pluck this orbiting trash out of the cold expanse of space. However, a better, more suitable solution would involve making sure that we stop polluting in this way to begin with. With that in mind, a new set of “Space Sustainability Rating” guidelines aims to ensure that future satellite operators and space launches comply with special mitigation rules laid out by the so-called Space Debris Office (yes, that’s a real thing!)

Recommended Videos

The guidelines are being developed by the World Economic Forum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, and European Space Agency (ESA) based on a concept initiated by the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space Technologies.

Distribution of space debris in orbit around Earth

“There are numerous debris reduction and mitigation guidelines that can be applied at the design, manufacturing, launching, operating, or disposal stage of any mission, but the challenge has been getting the global community to apply these in a consistent way,” said Holger Krag, head of ESA’s Space Debris Office, in a statement.

According to the organizations involved, there are currently upward of 22,000 debris objects in orbit that are regularly tracked using radar and other methods. Colliding with any of these could damage or destroy a functioning satellite. That’s the case even when the debris is tiny, since their extremely high speeds make them into projectiles similar to bullets that are able to inflict amounts of damage far beyond their small size. Last year, ESA-operated satellites had to conduct 27 debris avoidance maneuvers, and that number is only expected to grow on a year-by-year basis.

Abiding by these guidelines will almost certainly add to the cost or reduce the life span of future satellites. As a result, calls for such rules in the past have typically been met with resistance. If something is going to be done about this issue, however, it’s important to get all involved on the same page. Hopefully that’s exactly what these guidelines will accomplish.

Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Satellite snaps remarkable image of a huge piece of space junk
A depiction of space junk in low-Earth orbit.

The space junk photographed by Astroscale's satellite shows the upper stage of a rocket that's been orbiting Earth for the last 15 years. Astroscale

Orbital debris removal company Astroscale has shared a remarkable image captured by the Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) satellite.

Read more
Japanese satellite chases down space junk
Image of a piece of space debris seen from Astroscale's ADRAS-J satellite.

There's a growing problem of junk cluttering up the space beyond our planet. Known as space debris, it consists of broken satellites, discarded rocket parts, and other tiny pieces of metal and other materials that move around the planet, often at extremely high speeds. Space debris has threatened the International Space Station and impacted China's space station, and junk from space has even fallen onto a house in the U.S. recently.

Many scientists have called for greater environmental protections of space, but how to deal with all the existing debris is an open problem. Much of the debris is hard to capture because it is oddly shaped or traveling at great speed. Cleanup suggestions have involved using magnets, or nets, or lasers. But now a system from Japanese company Astroscale has taken an up-close image of a piece of space debris it has been chasing down, and it could help make future cleanup easier.

Read more
Asimov’s vision of harvesting solar power from space could become a reality
Simplified diagram of space solar power concept..

It's an idea straight out of science fiction: A space station orbits around Earth, harvesting energy from the sun and beaming it down to our planet. Isaac Asimov popularized the concept in his 1941 story Reason, and futurists have been dreaming about it ever since.

But this notion is more than just an idle fantasy -- it's a highly practical concept being pursued by space agencies across the world, and it's almost within reach of current technologies. It could even be the solution to the energy crisis here on Earth.

Read more