ABSTRACT
According to this chapter, the issue of space debris has to be considered at the global level, as it is a growing challenge for the international community. Only in the last 20 years, Europe has become increasingly aware of the necessity to deal with the subject, primarily in the goal of securing safety for its satellites. The accumulation of launches since the beginning of the space era – as many as 7,500 objects by January 2017 – has resulted in the multiplication of uncontrolled objects in orbit: launcher stages, defunct satellites, small fragments due to fairing jettison shock and various materials due to processes of deterioration. Even if technical measures were adopted by space agencies to limit its increase, the amount of debris keeps rising, albeit at a moderate rate. The concerns related to space debris and the risks of collision with operational spacecraft are thus increasingly pressing in light of the intensification of space activity, including the expected multiplication of small satellites.
