Findings of the 6th European Conference on Space Debris

For the better part of a week, space debris experts gathered in Darmstadt, Germany to discuss the current and future state of Earth’s orbital space. The conclusions were bleak: even cessation of all launches and 100% compliance with the 25 year deorbit rule would be insufficient to keep low Earth orbit debris from spiraling out of control.  Conference participants declared that active removal of space debris is absolutely necessary to get a handle on the situation.

If you missed the conference, check out this final press conference, laying out the gathering’s key findings:

 

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The individuals seen here are:

Chair: Prof. Dr. Heiner Klinkrad, Head of ESA Space Debris Office (representing the International Academy of Astronautics, IAA)
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schildknecht, International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)
Dr. Manuel Metz, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR
Christophe Bonnal, Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES / FR)
Dr. Claudio Portelli, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI / IT)
Dr. Hugh Lewis, UK Space Agency (UKSA)
Moderator: Bernhard von Weyhe, ESA Communications