UK wants to end space debris

Just a couple of days ago, various areas of central and southern Spain watched in disbelief as an incandescent object crossed the night sky. Prisoners of astonishment, they thought they were facing a kind of UFO. Shortly after, they discovered that it was space debris: the remains of a Chinese CZ-2F space rocket on its re-entry to Earth. Now, to fight against these remnants concentrated around the planet, The United Kingdom will invest five million pounds.

This was announced this Thursday by the British Science Minister, George Freeman, at a summit on the subject held in London, where he presented a new Spatial Sustainability Plan. It is a set of measures that “will demonstrate the commitment, ambition and drive of the United Kingdom« to improve the responsible use of the firmament.

Faced with the increase in waste around the Globe, the Government will work with the industry to establish a new Space Sustainability Standard, with the objectives of encouraging good practices in companies and officially recognizing those companies that take steps to minimize their footprint in Earth’s orbit, according to the minister. With this, they also look for be more attractive to investors.

Among the measures favored by the new British program is advancing technologies such as active waste removal, servicing and manufacturing in orbit and sustainable development. With these provisions, the United Kingdom seeks to be at the forefront of protecting the space operating environment. To achieve its goals, the Executive of Boris Johnson You will work with industry, academia and insurers.

An ‘unsustainable’ amount of space debris

Given the progressive increase in space debris in the vicinity of the planet, the British Government considers that the volume of waste is unsustainable from an environmental and commercial point of view, so it requires quick action to clear Earth’s orbit. It also stresses the need for future projects to minimize their footprint through recyclable manufacturing, satellite recovery and waste mitigation.

The active removal of waste contemplated by the Johnson Executive is “a key tool for cleaning up space debris”, according to the minister. Therefore, the current plan to eliminate this waste will receive five million pounds for its last phase.

“The program will now proceed apace to select two consortium projects who will receive grants this summer», explained the Ministry in a statement. In addition, the National Space Surveillance and Tracking Programme, which has recently received an additional £5 million in funding, will include a new collision assessment service ‘Monitor your satellites’. Currently, the registration of all operators of this type of devices licensed in the United Kingdom has already been opened after the success of the tests carried out with several companies.

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Reference article: https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5020562/0/reino-unido-invests-five-million-pounds-to-finish-space-garbage/