London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

As space junk threat grows, government and investors seek solutions

A growing swarm of debris in space has led the U.S. government to attempt to set new space hygiene norms, while private companies are also investing in ways to tackle the messy orbital environment.
Thousands of commercial satellites are being launched into Earth's orbit at a record pace, driving up the risk of collisions that could spawn swarms of hazardous debris. And with no set norms for military space behavior, some fear a potential space weapon attack that could generate far more debris.

At stake are billions of dollars in assets - the orbital devices crucial to navigation and smartphone maps, text messaging, calls and internet connections that are used by industries and people globally.

U.S. Space Command on Friday released a formal list of what it views as responsible space behaviors, in a bid to steer military norms in orbit.

"The idea is we hope our adversaries do the same," Brigadier General Richard Zellmann, deputy director of the command's operations unit, told Reuters.

The wide-ranging report includes a section on space debris that urges space players to dispose safely of their defunct satellites and notify other operators if any problems with their spacecraft might pose a debris hazard.

"You have to find a way to allow the economy to grow in the space domain, and in order to do that you need to make sure that it remains sustainable," said Zellmann, who oversees much of the Pentagon's space tracking efforts.

"Key to that is going to be ensuring that we can either solve that debris problem, or at least mitigate it to the point that it's acceptable."

While governments try to tackle international rules, the immediate response to the littering of orbit is coming in large part from the private sector.

Tokyo-based Astroscale, with subsidiaries in the U.S. and Britain, is testing a debris removal device called ELSA designed to latch onto defunct satellites and drag them toward Earth's atmosphere for a fiery disposal.

Jack Deasy, vice president of business development at Astroscale's U.S. subsidiary, said industry-specific policies for space behavior similar to the norms proposed by U.S. Space Command are urgently needed before a catastrophic collision occurs that could lead to burdensome regulations.

"That kind of rushed, crisis-driven thing is not always the best way of setting up long-term policies that sustain the ecosystem," he said.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has launched thousands of Starlink internet satellites in low-Earth orbit in recent years. A handful of other companies, including Jeff Bezos' Amazon (AMZN.O), plan to do the same.

"Particularly in the (low-Earth orbit), which is increasingly crowded, the people who are investing billions of dollars to run those constellations have a lot of incentive to keep that clean themselves," said Deasy.

Astroscale this week closed a series G funding round that brought in $76 million, a substantial sum in an industry otherwise facing a drought in investment as investors seek safer bets amid rising inflation.

Putting the firm's total funding at $376 million, investors included Mitsubishi Electric (6503.T) and Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, a prospective passenger on SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket system.

"Garbage scattered in outer space can become a big problem in the future," Maezawa tweeted on Monday as he announced a $23 million investment in Astroscale.

Another part of the space debris mitigation equation is in-space satellite servicing, concepts in development by dozens of firms including Astroscale, Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), Maxar (MAXR.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA). The idea: deploy service satellites to approach and latch onto broken or fuel-spent spacecraft to extend their lifespan.

Those mission extension concepts, which Astroscale and Northrop Grumman have begun testing in space, have sprouted a patchwork of other companies looking to build on the momentum.

Australia-based Neumann Space, for instance, is developing a technology that could help recycle old, defunct satellites into fuel - using the scrap metal to generate plasma thrust for new satellites. That could be used in partnership with satellite-serving companies, it hopes.

"It's great because you can do mission extension by refueling with what's already in space," Neumann Chief Executive Herve Astier said. His company plans to launch a test satellite in June.

"Using the metal that's already there, that's a way to move forward in terms of sustainability."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×