Creating a Sustainable Space Environment

In the midst of the oil spill, the economic crisis and all the other headline-grabbing events, it was easy to miss the new National Space Policy that President Obama signed on June 28, 2010. The dramatic new policy calls for greater international cooperation in outer space activities and opens the door for potential international agreements to enhance the sustainability and stability of outer space. Furthermore, it calls for shared funding and expertise on major space projects for the benefit of all peoples and for exchanging data about space debris and other hazards to improve the safety of space operations. It represents a commitment to revitalize U.S. leadership in space for the purposes of maintaining space as a productive environment for the peaceful use of all nations.

Because of the physics of space, actions by one nation very much can affect all. If one country inadvertently or intentionally decides to create a lot of trash in orbit, that can prevent others from being able to enjoy the benefits of space. Objects in low Earth orbit move at dizzying speeds (17,000 mph), which means that a collision with even a very small piece of debris from space activities can have devastating consequences to other satellites and spacecraft.

The US military is tracking over 21,000 pieces of space debris that are the size of a softball and bigger, but there are hundreds of thousands more pieces of debris that are too small to track, but potentially very dangerous. According to NASA, “The higher the altitude, the longer the orbital debris will typically remain…. Above 1,000 km, orbital debris will normally continue circling the Earth for a century or more.”

In today’s world, the benefits of space affect almost every aspect of our lives, such as TV, mobile phones, and other technologies. Being irresponsible with how we use space can have damaging consequences for all of us. If we litter the space environment, we are limited in how we use space to improve life on Earth. As such, all nations have a responsibility to act to preserve the right of future generations to use and explore space. The National Space Policy’s new direction is the first step in ensuring the use of space for all nations and all people.

Is there a way to eliminate space debris? Will countries work together to make a clean future for the continued use of space?