With orbits increasingly crowded with satellites, debris and space junk, the use of circum-terrestrial space is in danger of becoming the Wild West of the new millennium.
The overbearing entry of private entrepreneurs into the world of space has multiplied the number of services provided by in-orbit instruments, causing the space economy to grow tumultuously. Orbits are filling up alarmingly, and we are only at the beginning of the proliferation of mega constellations created to provide planet-wide Internet connections. There are no laws to manage the number of satellites in orbit, which are growing at such a dizzying rate that there are fears of real orbital bottlenecks that could cause catastrophic collisions.
We need to extend the concept of sustainable use to the space around us, but also to the other bodies in the solar system, so as not to repeat the same mistakes we have made on the Earth’s surface. Looking further afield, to the Moon and Mars, human settlements will have to respect the ecosystem of celestial bodies. Particular attention must be paid to the risks of biological pollution. Explorers (both human and robotic) risk transporting terrestrial material. Likewise, our handling of extraterrestrial samples requires well-equipped laboratories and continuous surveillance.
Ecological consciousness was also born thanks to images of the Earth from space. Thus we have discovered the beauty and fragility of our planet; now it is time to think about a new space ecology.