GHGSat is a founding signatory to the world’s first Zero Debris Charter for the international space community launched by the European Space Agency. This sets out ambitious and measurable targets for space debris mitigation and remediation targets for 2030, as the sector strives to deliver a more sustainable future for space.
Around 130 million pieces of space debris (over 1 mm) are currently orbiting the planet. This waste represents a significant risk for operational satellites – even tiny slivers of metal have considerable destructive potential when travelling at up to 15,400mph (25,000 km/hr).
GHGSat is rapidly growing its satellite constellation in order to meet global demand for transparent and accurate data on greenhouse gas emissions. However, we are committed to growing our fleet sustainably. This means ensuring that the orbital environment is not degraded and ensuring that space can continue to deliver the services that increasingly underpin everyday life on Earth. These include our ability to monitor and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Coordinated by ESA, the Zero Debris Charter is the product of a worldwide consultation process involving over 40 organisations, including GHGSat. The result is a global consensus on space sustainability and a new forum for the exchange of ideas and development solutions of support of space debris mitigation goals.
The Zero Debris Charter builds on a decade of work within ESA as it developed its own internal standard for limiting debris in Earth and Lunar orbits by 2030 across the Agency’s missions and activities – ESA’s Zero Debris approach. It also draws upon discussions and ideas that were established by international initiatives on space debris mitigation, including the World Economic Forum, which GHGSAT has engaged in.
