New report sets guidelines to eliminate space trash

A special report was released today outlining efforts toward a more sustainable space by 2030. The main messages of the report are to minimize intentional and unintentional debris, anticipate and plan for how space debris will affect the Earth’s environment and people, and to encourage continued collaborative efforts toward zero debris.

Siegfried Eggl is an author on a chapter in the Zero Debris Technical booklet.  He made a couple of trips to The European Space Agency Center in Germany to participate in discussions with the agency operatives and partners from academia and industry.  

“We had a heated exchange between industry partners and astronomers on the wording of some recommendations in chapter six which deals with the protection of the dark and quiet sky from interference through space objects,” Eggl said. “The propositions of the opposing camps seemed hard to reconcile at first, but I think we found a viable compromise in the end.”

In the past, astronomers and those in the space industry worked hand in hand, for instance, when designing and operating space telescopes. With the advent of satellite constellations in low Earth orbit, Eggl pointed out that they suddenly find themselves at odds with one another. Eggl holds a unique place at the table because he works in both fields, holding positions in both the Departments of Aerospace Engineering and Astronomy at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He hopes the work that went into creating this booklet will help everyone pull in the same direction.

“We cannot continue with business as usual,” Eggl said. “We have to be much more conscientious about space as a limited resource that needs cooperation between all stakeholders. Having translated policy into technical terms will help clarify what needs to be done. Long-term, I can see this becoming the first major step in a continued effort to ensure and maintain access to space for all.” 

Eggl said there are not many efforts like this one to reduce debris in space. “There is a space debris and now space sustainability office at NASA, and the Federal Communications Commission and the International Telecommunication Union have some regulation and/or best practices, but this is really a new thing, motivated by the incredible increase in the number of objects being launched in the past couple of years.”

He hopes the booklet will become a guiding star to be followed by those in space industry and space agencies.

“International collaboration is and has always been vital in space exploration,” he said. “When satellites constellations are spanning the entire globe, it is difficult to look for solutions solely on a national level.”

Click to view or download the Zero Debris booklet.

Eggl is a member of the International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference as well as a member of the Center for AstroPhysical Surveys in the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois.