There is still a long way to go before we have a legal and binding response in the field of Space Traffic Management (STM) and, in the meantime, it is preferable to think about technological solutions and the exchange of best practices in order to respond to the challenges of space debris.
This was the answer given to EUROPE by several experts, including some from the European Space Agency (ESA), on the sidelines of the 8th Space Debris Conference on Tuesday 20 April.
Speaking about the European Commission’s project on space traffic management (see EUROPE 12663/13), Rolf Densing, Director of Operations and Head of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), welcomed the fact that “the EU is starting to talk about space traffic management and regulation”.
However, Mr Densing recalled that this is a national competence under Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union. “But Member States need to coordinate and be prepared to involve the EU. The issue is not entirely in the hands of the EU or ESA”, he added.
As for the need for binding international rules, Holger Krag, who heads ESOC’s Space Debris Management Office, said he hopes to eventually see common, binding rules emerge in the field of space traffic management, but that it takes time to reach a consensus on the international scene. The focus should therefore be on technological and cooperative solutions in a bottom-up process of best practices, he said.
Several technologies were mentioned, including automated collision avoidance devices using artificial intelligence or the use of a laser which, using weak pulses, could deflect the trajectory of certain risky objects. The importance of designing satellites to allow them to de-orbit, or of retirement programmes (such as ClearSpace-1) or refuelling programmes, was also mentioned.
Asked about the possibility of using the constellation for connectivity envisaged by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12634/9), Mr Densing, like Mr Krag, replied that the project is quite feasible: the idea of using a constellation of satellites to track objects and debris in orbit around the Earth is already being studied.
The space debris situation is becoming increasingly problematic as large constellations of several thousand satellites (such as Starlink) begin to be deployed: since 1957, some 6,000 launches have taken place. At present, 26,000 objects - 2,800 of which are operational objects - are permanently monitored.
It is estimated that there are 900,000 1 cm objects in orbit and about 128 million objects larger than 1 mm. These objects remain beyond the reach of current detection systems and pose a real threat to space programmes, especially European ones. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)