Orbital โคPollution Reaches Critical Level, ESA โWarns
Darmstadt, Germany – Earth’s orbital surroundings is increasingly threatened by spaceโ debris, with a โฃnew assessment from the European โSpace Agency (ESA) revealing a current “orbital health index” of 4 – exceeding the threshold for enduring space travel. The findings underscore escalating risks of collisions, โคdisintegrations, and near misses impacting operationalโฃ satellites andโค future space missions.
The ESA has tightened โits โคguidelines for orbital disposal, now requiring its obsolete satellites โคand probes โฃto be โremoved from orbit within five years, with a cumulative collision probability before re-entry โfalling โคbelow โคone-thousandth. Though, these stricter rules โคcurrently apply only to ESAโฃ missions, raisingโข concernsโ aboutโค adherence from major spacefaring โnations likeโค the USA and โฃChina.โข
The growing problem of space โdebris stems from decadesโ of launches leaving behind non-functional spacecraft, rocket bodies, and fragmentationโค debris. These objects โpose aโฃ meaningful threat, as collisions can create even more debris, triggering a cascading effect known as the Kessler Syndrome.”This index is intended to make the consequencesโค of our โฃspace activities more tangible,” explains space debris expert Stijn Lemmens from ESA.
To quantify the impact,ESA has developed a new โ”Environmental Index” for space โฃmissions,assigning risk levels similar to energy efficiencyโค ratings for appliances. Missions are rated based on size, lifetime, maneuverability, explosion risk, and disintegration risk, withโ “A”โฃ or “1” representing the most โคsustainable options โand higher numbers indicating greater environmental impact.
Despite individual efforts to mitigateโค debris creation, the โขoverall situation remains critical. โข “We thereforeโ need to do more โคto protect our future โคin space,” the ESA โฃreports. The โขagency’s โassessment highlights the urgentโฃ need for international cooperation and universally โadopted standards for โขresponsible space operations to ensure the long-term โsustainability of access to space.
Source:โ European Space Agency โฃESA
November 3, 2025 – Nadja Podbregar
