It was inspiring to be at the 4th Sustainability Summit in London last week and to see such alignment from the UK Space Agency, our Science Minister and HRH Prince of Wales on the critical journey to leave a sustainable orbital economy to future generations.

During the event, Science Minister George Freeman, announced the government’s Plan for Sustainable Space, which is intended to demonstrate the UK’s commitment, ambition and drive to improve our nation’s sustainable use of space.

“This plan will ensure a safe and sustainable commercial space sector which rewards responsible satellite programs by lowering the costs of launch licenses and insurance for sustainable satellites and space missions,” he said.

A key part of this initiative is the government’s desire to collaborate with industry on developing a new Space Sustainability Standard. “To harness space for sustainability, we need an agreed framework of standards for measuring and managing debris, improving satellite repair and retrieval, and kite-marking genuinely sustainable supply chains, Mr Freeman explained.

I am incredibly encouraged by this government announcement and intent to take an international lead in setting a regulatory framework that can create a sustainability space economy for all. Telespazio looks forward to contributing to this endeavour, as the regulation itself needs to be shaped through our understanding and knowledge of the orbital population dynamics, and we have strong experience of working internationally to advise governments on space domain awareness. The Telespazio group offers a complete portfolio of Space Domain Awareness services: Space Weather, Space Traffic Management, Space Intelligence.