Satellite Constellations and the Sustainable Use of Outer Space

Abstract

Over the past decades, the space community has experienced a paradigm change. With ongoing technological advancements, space applications have become indispensable for society. Among the results are a significant growth in the amount of space missions, and a similar increase in the number of public and private actors participating in space activities. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the space sector expanded and parts of constellations of thousands of satellites started to be launched. These constellations form a new trend in commercial space activities. The emergence of satellite constellations, combined with the increasing complexity of space operations, raises challenging questions regarding the risk of orbit congestion and interference. This contribution names some major risks that are severely jeopardising the long-term sustainability of space activities. While the classic corpus iuris spatialis is the starting point, a particular focus will be on the Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines, and their role as incentive for responsible behaviour of state and non-state actors and as a reliable starting point for developing rules of the road for outer space.