Net Zero Space Initiative Calls for Protecting Earth Orbit’s Environment

Net Zero Space Initiative Calls for Protecting Earth Orbit’s Environment

Almost a dozen space stakeholders signed the Net Zero Space Declaration today, agreeing to take action to avoid the creation of new hazardous space debris and remediate what is already there.  This initial group includes actors from across the space ecosystem including a launch company, satellite operators, companies offering tracking/servicing/debris removal services, a space agency, and a university.

The Paris Peace Forum formulated the declaration, which calls on satellite operators, launch companies, space agencies, academia and civil society to commit to achieving “sustainable use of outer space for the benefit of humankind by 2030.”

When announcing their support, all stakeholders will commit to declaring concrete, tangible example(s) of actions they took, or are planning to undertake, in accordance with the scale of their operations and within their means so as to contribute to the “Net Zero Space” goal.

The intial group includes

  • Arianespace
  • Astroscale
  • CGSTL/Chang Guang Satellite
  • the French space agency CNES
  • the European Union’s Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST) consortium
  • Eutelsat
  • the International Institute of Air and Space Law at the University of Leiden
  • Isispace
  • Planet
  • Share my Space, and
  • SpaceAble

The Paris Peace Forum will serve as the secretariat and report annually on progress.

The declaration says in part:

Article I of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 provides that the exploration and use of outer space are “the province of all [hu]mankind”. The protection of Earth’s orbital environment should be at the center of all space activities in order to guarantee that current and future actors will continue to have access to and use of this domain. It is therefore critical to ensure the sustainable development of both public and private space activities, to protect the integrity of existing and future objects in orbit, and to maintain equitable access to outer space for all. Our common goal is to ensure safe space operations and the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. To do so, we seek to adopt appropriate mitigation and remediation measures in all space operations from the outset, taking into account the distinctive features of the different orbits used for space operations.

We share the conviction that this goal can only be achieved by international and multi-stakeholder cooperation through gathering forces from the private sector, civil society, and academia, as well as public authorities and regulators. All entities operating in orbit, or contributing on Earth to space operations, have a part to play in this task.

Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël said the “charter fully reflects Arianespace’s long-term policy in support of a sustainable and responsible space sector” and reflects major improvements incorporated in the Ariane 6 rocket to reduce the creation of space debris.  Ariane 6 is expected to debut next year.

Eutelsat, one of biggest global communications satellite operators, reiterated its “commitment to a safe and uncluttered environment” and said it has a success rate of over 95 percent for deorbiting its spacecraft.

Satellite servicing and debris removal company Astroscale outlined what it aready is doing with the launch of its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) in March 2021 to validate technologies and capabilities for rendezvous and proximity operations and spacecraft capture.

Other signatories also tweeted (#NetZeroSpace) their commitment to the declaration’s goals and the Paris Peace Forum invited anyone interested in joining to contact them at netzerospace@parispeaceforum.org.

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