Space Industry Debris Mitigation Recommendations

The World Economic Forum's 2023 recommendations call for space operators to adopt ambitious targets for post-mission disposal, collision avoidance, and data sharing to protect the orbital regime. Key targets include achieving a 95-99% post-mission disposal success rate and removing spacecraft from Low Earth Orbit within five years of end-of-life. The document also urges governments to mandate these disposal timelines for missions launched by 2030 and to support the development of Active Debris Removal technologies.

• Spacecraft operators in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are encouraged to achieve a post-mission disposal (PMD) success rate of 95-99% or higher, with a target of removing spacecraft from LEO within five years after the end of their operational life. These targets should be applied progressively to new missions starting in 2023, aiming for full implementation by 2025.
• For missions operating at or above 375km altitude, operators should maintain active manoeuvrability and the ability to perform timely collision avoidance manoeuvres throughout the entire mission lifetime, including the de-orbit phase.
• The recommendations emphasize the need for transparency and coordination, requiring operators to respond to space traffic management requests and proactively share data, including operator points-of-contact, ephemerides, and manoeuvre plans in standard formats.
• The document suggests that third-party liability insurance organizations use metrics like the Space Sustainability Rating (SSR) to provide incentives for sustainable missions, provided these financial measures do not disrupt commercial competition.
• Governments are urged to require that missions launched as of 2030 have end-of-life equipment removed from LEO within five years or less by 2025. Additionally, governments should support the technical and financial maturation of Active Debris Removal (ADR) and automated Space Situational Awareness.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Space Industry Debris Mitigation Recommendations. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_Industry_Debris_Mitigation_Recommendations_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Space Industry Debris Mitigation Recommendations. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_Industry_Debris_Mitigation_Recommendations_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=World Economic Forum |title=Space Industry Debris Mitigation Recommendations |date=June 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_Industry_Debris_Mitigation_Recommendations_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{worldeconomicforum2023space, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Space Industry Debris Mitigation Recommendations}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_Industry_Debris_Mitigation_Recommendations_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }