Who Cares for Space Debris? Conflicting Logics of Security and Sustainability in Space Situational Awareness Practices.

Abstract

Satellites and space technologies enable global communication, navigation, and weather forecasting, and are vital for financial systems, disaster management, climate monitoring, military missions and many more. Yet, decades of spaceflight activities have left an ever-growing debris formation - rocket part, defunct satellites, and propellant residues and more - in Earth's orbits. A congested outer space has now taken the shape of a haunting specter. Hurtling through space at incredibly high velocities, space debris has become a risk for active satellites and space infrastructures alike. This article offers a novel perspective on the security legacies and infrastructures of space debris mitigation and how these affect current and future space debris detection, knowledge production, and mitigation practices. Acknowledging that space debris is not just a technical challenge, but an ethico-political problem, we develop a transdisciplinary approach that links social science to aerospace engineering and practical insights and experiences from the European Space Agency´ (ESA) Space Debris Office. Specifically, we examine the role of secrecy and (mis)trust between international space agencies and how these complicate space situational awareness practices. Attending to the "mundane" practices of how space debris experts cope with uncertainty and security logics offers a crucial starting point to developing an ethical approach that prioritizes care and responsibility for innovation over ever more technological fixes to socio-political problems. Space debris encapsulates our historical and cultural value constellations, prompting us to reflect on sustainability and responsibility for Earth-Space systems in the future.