More than 40 companies, research centres and international organisations - including Safran, Airbus Defence and Space, the Association of Space Explorers, the German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI), the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and Thales Alenia Space - signed the ‘Zero Debris Charter’ on Thursday 6 June.
This charter, which has already been signed by twelve countries (see EUROPE 13415/4), aims to make future missions neutral in terms of space debris by 2030.
“It is critical to protect the future of our most valuable and crucial space assets by keeping Earth’s orbits clear from debris. By jointly signing the ‘Zero Debris Charter’, the diverse entities demonstrate global leadership in space debris mitigation and remediation”, explained Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA).
According to the ESA, more satellites have been launched in the last two years than in the six decades of space exploration. If swift and decisive action is not taken, the exponential growth of the debris population will pose an ever-increasing danger to satellites and astronauts, and could render certain valuable orbits completely unusable, the Agency said in a press release.
See the signatories: https://aeur.eu/f/ck3 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)