SpaceX, which has most satellites, may join space debris charter

By Alimat Aliyeva

The European Space Agency (ESA) is in talks with Elon Musk's SpaceX company about the possibility of joining an international charter designed to reduce the growing amount of debris in space, Azernews reports.

ESA, which currently unites 22 countries, is actively involved in efforts aimed at reducing the mass of space debris thrown into the orbit of the planet by past space missions and posing a threat to active satellites. Joseph Aschbacher said 110 countries and institutions have already signed the ESA zero-debris charter, which aims to end any new formation of orbital debris by 2030.

When asked whether SpaceX, which owns about two thirds of satellites operating in low Earth orbit, will join this initiative, the ESA Director General replied: "Not yet, but we are discussing this issue with them. This is a constantly evolving law, and fundamental initiatives will continue in accordance with it."

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Of the approximately 10,300 active satellites in orbit, about 6,300 are part of Elon Musk's fast-growing Starlink series, according to the U.S. Space Force. Like Amazon, which plans to launch more than 3,000 Kuiper constellation satellites over the past decade, China is building its own space array to compete with Starlink.

The head of ESA added that, unlike SpaceX, the charter was signed by Amazon.

According to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at Harvard University who tracks space debris, there are currently 18,897 tracked fragments of space debris in orbit. They consist of inactive payloads and rocket hulls, as well as debris or malfunctioning satellites.

Currently, there are no international laws on space debris, but in recent years, countries and space agencies have begun to come up with proposals to solve this problem.