ABSTRACT
The public awareness of space hazards was historically the concern of a limited number of countries, who had operational scientific space missions. However, the increase of activities in the New Space era and the growing volume and variety of ground-based infrastructures dependent on space systems change the picture. The space debris risk is considered as an emerging risk. This is based on the following promises: the rapid development of the space debris environment, the growing inter-connectivity between spaceborne and ground-based infrastructures, the development of new technologies for problem assessment and mitigation. The space industry has evolved towards the predominantly commercial operation. In the New Space era, it is essential to prepare not only the active players but also the public for the challenges in front of the future space activities which are taking place with no political or geographical frontiers. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
