TPI: EU's View on Orbital Debris Trends Is Too Pessimistic
The mandatory orbital debris framework in the European Commission's proposed EU Space Act, with its goal of lowering total space debris by 50% by 2034, doesn't account for space industry trends, the Technology Policy Institute said Tuesday. As space activity…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
increases, there are also increased market incentives for space debris removal services, wrote TPI senior fellow Sarah Oh Lam. Given the 50% reduction goal, the EU Space Act "might as well put a moratorium on space launches," she said, since the European Space Agency estimates that debris will keep growing during the next 200 years, even without additional space launches. The legislation doesn't include projections of marketplace responses "that can create technologies to mitigate debris without chilling investment, launch activity, and opportunity costs of diminished space development."