Keeping space tidy should become a global UN goal, say researchers

The growing threat of space junk is to be tackled by a new global agreement to protect Earth’s orbit, a group of researchers is urging the United Nations to make space protection a top international goal.

Although there are guidelines to deal with it space debrissuch as the UN’s 1967 Outer Space Treaty, by researchers writing in the journal a landcalls for further action to “increase awareness of the use of orbital resources and the growing risk of orbital contamination, sending a strong message that Earth’s orbit is not disconnected from Earth.”

Specifically, the group proposes to add space protection to the existing UN sustainable development goals (GEHs), there are 17 broad objectives to be met by the member states by 2030. These include eradicating poverty, promoting quality education and gender equality, guaranteeing access to cheap and clean energy and combating climate change. sustainable future”, says the team member Heather Koldewey In the Zoological Society of London. “But there’s nothing for space.”

To correct this, the researchers want to add an 18^th SDG, to ensure that satellites and rockets are de-orbited at the end of their useful lives to prevent collisions and the creation of new debris, and to introduce fines and legislation to ensure accountability. “We know from the oceans that it is very difficult to remove debris once there,” says Koldewey. “We want to avoid the same thing happening in space.”

The number of active satellites in orbit has increased in recent years, from less than 3000 in 2020 to more than 10,000 today. Most of that increase is down to the roughly 7,000 satellites that make up SpaceX Starlink the mega constellation of the internet in space. Thousands more are planned by various companies and countries, including Amazon Chinaas they create their own large constellations. In addition, there are thousands of empty rockets around the Earth and millions of pieces of space junk.

18 including space debris^th The SDGs can raise the profile of the issue, he says Christopher Newmanspace lawyer at Northumbria University, UK. “Anything that raises awareness about space debris has to be a good thing,” he says. However, he says it is more difficult for countries to take action. “If we get an 18^th SDG, what’s next?” he says “All international agreements and treaties are creatures of compromise.”

Hugh LewisA space debris expert from the UK’s University of Southampton says creating a space-focused SDG would be a “worthwhile endeavour”. However, he added that the UN’s mechanisms to deal with space debris are already in place long-term sustainability goals for space activity and more localized actions, such as in the US, where the Federal Communications Commission a the five-year rule to remove dead satellites from orbit. “It’s hard to argue that it’s not on the UN agenda,” says Lewis.

Furthermore, there is the question of whether the SDGs achieve their goals. Last year, the UN reported this less than a fifth They were on track with the goals set in the existing 17 SDGs.

Also, the elephant in the room is that nothing significant can happen without the agreement of SpaceX and its owner, Elon Musk. “You can’t talk about space governance now without talking about them,” says Newman. “We can no longer look to the member states.”