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A global coalition of scientists is urging the United Nations to incorporate the safeguarding of Earth’s orbital zone into the U.N.’s sustainable development objectives.
The scientists — spearheaded by authorities from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Plymouth in the U.K., and the University of Texas at Austin — believe that integrating space into the U.N.’s Agenda for Sustainable Development would reinforce the call for space preservation, an issue that has gained urgency in recent times.
The emergence of megacons constellations — swarms of hundreds or thousands of small satellites that provide internet service or survey the Earth from above — has resulted in an exponential increase in the satellite population. Approximately 15 years prior, fewer than a thousand satellites orbited our planet. That figure has surged by more than tenfold since and is projected to keep rising. As satellites conclude their missions, they become hazardous debris capable of colliding with other orbiting entities, thereby creating masses of fragmented debris.
“Introducing a Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] specifically dedicated to space would be a groundbreaking advancement in protecting one of Earth’s most essential environments,” stated Melissa Quinn, general manager at the space situational awareness firm Slingshot Aerospace, who is involved in the initiative, during an interview with Space.com. “Space is no longer an endless frontier; it is a limited resource under mounting pressure from human activity.”
In the nearly 70 years since the inception of history’s first satellite — Russia’s Sputnik — humanity has relied on space technology for numerous facets of contemporary life, including television transmissions, internet access, and satellite navigation.
“This is not merely about conserving space for its own sake,” Quinn remarked. “It’s about guaranteeing that the systems we depend on daily remain robust, fair, and accessible for future generations. A dedicated SDG could spur the international collaboration essential to confront this issue proactively.”
Related: How frequently does the International Space Station have to evade space debris?
The U.N.’s Agenda for Sustainable Development, established in 2015, encompasses 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These encompass eliminating hunger and poverty; enhancing healthcare and educational access for the global populace; ensuring gender equality, access to clean water and sanitation; and climate protection.
The researchers assert that one of the pre-existing goals, in particular, pertains to the space issue. SDG No. 14 concentrates on the conservation of marine ecosystems and addresses the pollution of the world’s oceans by plastics. This complex ecological challenge mirrors the escalating problem of space debris.
The scientists propose that insights gained from managing marine debris could aid in averting “another planetary crisis before it is too late,” as noted in a declaration.
“Not so long ago, our oceans were perceived as limitless resources to exploit and infinite repositories for our waste,” commented Thomas Dowling, a lecturer specializing in remote sensing and geospatial science at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, within the statement. “We have come to realize that viewpoint was severely flawed — many marine environments have now become desolate wastelands, and more than eight million tons of plastic waste are estimated to enter the ocean annually.”
For many years, experts in space sustainability have been raising alarms about the increasing volumes of space debris orbiting Earth. The European Space Agency reports that there are presently around 40,500 pieces of uncontrolled space junk larger than 4 inches (10 centimeters), with between 0.4 and 4 inches (1 to 10 cm) approximating 1.1 million pieces, alongside an additional 130 million fragments smaller than 0.4 inches (1 cm).
These fragments traverse the planet at nearly 5 miles per second (8 kilometers per second), endangering everything in their path. Some experts are already cautioning that a perilous condition known as “Kessler syndrome” — an uncontrollable chain reaction of collisions where every impact generates fragments that further damage spacecraft — may be in progress.
“The rapid escalation in satellite launches has augmented the risk of collisions and debris,” Quinn noted. “In 2024, we observed a 17% increase year-over-year in the average number of close passes in low Earth orbit per satellite. With over 12,500 spacecraft currently circling our planet, including more than 3,300 inactive satellites, urgent, unified global measures are required to guarantee that space remains safe, sustainable, and secure.”
Aside from the space debris dilemma, researchers studying the atmosphere are concerned about the potential repercussions of satellite reentries on Earth’s atmosphere. The atmospheric incineration of satellites during their descent to Earth results in aluminum oxide, which can harm atmospheric ozone and modify Earth’s albedo — its capacity to reflect sunlight. Some speculate that, if not addressed, satellite-related air pollution could compromise the effective measures established by the ozone-protecting Montreal Protocol and intensify prevailing climate change in the decades to come.
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