Space Safety and Sustainability, Part I: Past and Present Practices

• Science & Technology

• Understanding the Effects of Technology on Economics and Governance

This essay highlights the space sustainability paradox, where the increasing use of space to support global sustainability goals, like climate monitoring and disaster response, may itself lead to unsustainable conditions, both on Earth and in its orbit. The authors identify gaps in policy and in the technological capabilities necessary for addressing this challenge, and profiles the relevant bodies, both national and international, who play a role in managing space traffic.

Key Takeaways

• Commercial innovation is reducing the costs to launch satellites and other vehicles into orbit. This progress is bringing substantial benefits to humanity, ranging from improved weather pattern tracking to strengthened national security. But as more and more objects are launched into orbit, there is also greater risk of collisions, which will lead to more space debris.
• Without careful management now, such proliferation of space traffic, and the consequential risk posed by the increased space debris, could lead to catastrophic outcomes in which entire orbits are closed off for generations.
• In what is known as the space sustainability paradox, the increasing use of space to support global sustainability goals may itself lead to unsustainable conditions, both on Earth and in its orbit.
• Both technological innovation and policy action are needed to resolve this paradox, and the United States must take the lead both on a national and international basis.

Space Safety and Sustainability, Part I: Past and Present Practices by Hoover Institution

Cite this report:

Simone D'Amico, Tycho Bogdanowitsch, and Rebecca Wang, "Space Safety and Sustainability, Part I: Past and Present Practices," Hoover Institution, Technology Policy Accelerator, September 2025.