Space sustainability

Space sustainability aims to maintain the safety and health of the space environment, as well as planetary environments.

Similar to sustainability initiatives on Earth, space sustainability seeks to use the environment of space to meet the current needs of society without compromising the needs of future generations. It usually focuses on space closest to Earth, Low Earth Orbit (LEO), since this environment is the one most used and therefore most relevant to humans. It also considers Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO) as this orbit is another popular choice for Earth-orbiting mission designs.

The issue of space sustainability is a new phenomenon that is gaining more attention in recent years as the launching of satellites and other space objects has increased. These launches have resulted in more space debris orbiting Earth, hindering the ability of nations to operate in the space environment while increasing the risk of a future launch-related accident that could disrupt its proper use. Space weather also acts as an outstanding factor for spacecraft failure. The current protocol for spacecraft disposal at end-of-life has, at large, not been followed in mission designs and demands extraneous amounts of time for disposal.

Precedent created through prior policy initiatives has facilitated initial mitigation of space pollution and created a foundation for space sustainability efforts. To further mitigation, international and transdisciplinary consortia have stepped forward to analyze existing operations, develop standards, and incentivize future procedures to prioritize a sustainable approach. A shift towards sustainable interactions with the space environment is growing in urgency due to the implications of climate change and increasing risk to spacecraft as time presses on.