In order to address the issues posed by space debris on spaceflight activities UNCOPUOS has taken the initiative to create a set of internationally agreed guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities.
These guidelines contain recommendations on the policy and regulatory frameworks for space activities, the safety of space operations, rules of engagement for international cooperation, capacity-building and awareness, and scientific and technical research and development.
The content of the this document is written in response to those guidelines by raising awareness of space activities, and aims to:
• Provide a transparent overview of global space activities,
• Estimate the impact of these activities on the space environment,
• And quantify the effect of internationally endorsed mitigation measures aimed at sustainability of the environment.
The document is structured as follows: Section 1 contains the definitions, data sources, and methodologies used to compile this document. Section 2 contains the history of the space environment since the beginning of the space age. Section 3 contains a snapshot of the space environment for a specific year analysed. The content of Sections 2 and 3 are further analysed in depth in Sections 4, 5, and 6 where respectively the intentional release of objects, fragmentation events, and end-of-life operations of space missions are covered. Section 7 summarises the space activities in Low Earth Orbit up until the year of analysis into an environment index. Section 8 contains a summary of the main space environment trends identified.
ESA’s Annual Space Environment Report – Full document
