Space Debris and the Challenge of Building International Consensus
Space technology is evolving at a tremendous pace. Economies all over the world, both individually and collectively, are relying more and more on it, not just for research and exploratory purposes but also for wide-ranging commercial usage. In 2020, the space economy rose to a massive $447 billion. In fact, it is expected to grow to around $3 trillion in the next three decades.
As exciting as the prospect sounds, development in the space arena is not that straightforward. The biggest challenge for the space economy is that of the impending space debris, whose consequences are riveting. Space debris, also known as space junk, consists of artificial objects in the earth's orbits that are no longer functional. Currently, there are more nonfunctional objects orbiting our planet than active ones. According to estimates by NASA, debris fragments larger than 10 cm are over 21,000 in number, those between 1 and 10 cm count up to 500,00, and those smaller than 1 cm exceed a whopping 100 million.
Space debris can pose a major threat to our plans of growing our operations in space. With the number of trash objects rising, the chances of two objects colliding increase significantly. Such an event might lead to a phenomenon known as the Kessler syndrome. The Kessler effect occurs when two or more satellites or debris that collide with each other trigger more collisions, exponentially increasing the debris in space. A catastrophic event like this can lead to the formation of a debris belt in the lower-earth orbit, making space less accessible. This can also cause irreparable damage to active satellites amounting to substantial economic losses. In one such instance in 2009, two communication satellites, the Russian Cosmos 2251, an inactive satellite, collided with the US Iridium 33, which was running and operational. More than 1800 pieces of debris larger than 10 cm were produced in this collision. Although many countries actively track satellites and debris orbits for any potential collision, this particular collision was far from being predicted. This shows how unreliable such a tracking procedure can be, especially as the number of objects launching into space keeps on increasing. Another serious implication of space debris is that it enters into the earth's atmosphere and falls on the surface, leading to extreme destruction and loss of life. One such incident involved China’s Long March 5B rocket, whose large pieces of debris fell in the Indian Ocean. Even the smallest of debris particles can be very destructive as they strike with incredible velocity.
Our dependence on space technology is growing by the days, with many countries having big future plans for going further into space exploration. Space tourism is just in its infant stages, and there is going to be a tremendous amount of development in humans visiting and even settling outside earth. However, it also makes us just as much accountable for the junk that we create. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty is till now the only large-scale formal effort on the part of the global parties on the need for peaceful nature of exploration and use of space. Its provisions are too generic and hardly offer any guidance for mitigating space debris. Five decades have passed since it was first ratified, and there has been a monumental evolution in space technology since then. It is evident that much of the Treaty would be irrelevant by now. Even in other existing space law treaties, there is no mention of ‘space debris.’ Satellites are legal properties of countries till the time they are functional. However, when their life is over, they are abandoned, and there is no clear condition on paper on who will be accountable for it after that.
As more and more private firms are venturing into space development, there is still no formal procedure to monitor the extent of their activities in space. More importantly, there is no way to ensure that an organization is investing in making sure that their spacecraft generate minimal wastage and take responsibility for the debris they produce. On top of this, the military and government are also carrying out anti-satellite missions to assert their power over other nations. Even though this is being done on their old satellites, there is no surety that nations will refrain from outer-space warfare in the future. This will not only lead to the creation of a massive number of debris but also hamper any scope of future development in the space arena.
As severe as space debris can be, there is no legal provision to tackle it. The international community is reluctant to take any radical measures through the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). Existing powers prefer non-binding agreements as it helps them maintain their dominance in outer space. On the other hand, emerging countries in space development fear any binding measures which would prevent their chance of growth. All of this makes a well-aligned international framework is hard to achieve. However, it is empirical that we quickly formulate the necessary instruments required to bring space debris under control. Along with active space debris removal initiatives, there is an urgent need for a standard set of rules, regulations, and procedures and a formal code of conduct that should be followed internationally. Moreover, these legal instruments should be binding on governments and all other stakeholders like private organizations, independent space initiatives, etc. Barriers should be imposed on non-abiding parties. Thus, in order to ensure sustainable use of outer space, all necessary steps must be taken with great precaution and responsibility.
References
1. https://ilareporter.org.au/2021/07/space-debris-a-major-challenge-for-the-future-of-humanity-steven-freeland/
2. https://swfound.org/media/6575/swf_iridium_cosmos_collision_fact_sheet_updated_2012.pdf
3. https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/space-debris-continued-to-be-a-big-problem-in-2021-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse/articleshow/88558981.cms
4. https://www.spacefoundation.org/2021/07/15/global-space-economy-rose-to-447b-in-2020-continuing-five-year-growth/
5. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/05/space-junk-clean-satellite/
6. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/space-debris-the-legal-issues/
7. https://room.eu.com/article/space-debris-conundrum-for-international-law-makers
Image Courtesy: NASA
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE)
Hargun is an Economics major at Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She has interests in blockchain, finance and entrepreneurship. She has long been associated with social services, working in areas like education and women's development. An avid reader, she loves travelling and is also a photographer.
