Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sustainable skies and the Earth–space environment

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Sustainability

View current issue Submit your manuscript

The rapid launch of hundreds of thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit will significantly alter our view of the sky and raise concerns about the sustainability of Earth’s orbital space. A new framework for sustainable space development must balance technological advancement, protection of space environments and our capacity to explore the Universe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Projections of space objects onto Earth.

References

  1. ESA’s Annual Space Environment Report (European Space Agency, 2023).

  2. Byers, M., Boley, A. & Wright, E. J. Space Saf. Eng. 10, 1–6 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Boley, A. C. & Byers, M. Sci. Rep. 11, 10642 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Schulz, L. & Glassmeier, K.-H. Adv. Space Res. 67, 1002–1025 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Murphy, D. M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2313374120 (2023).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines IADC-02-01 Rev. 3 (Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, 2021).

  7. Best Practices for the Sustainability of Space Operations (Space Safety Coalition, 2023).

  8. Saada, A. et al. Promoting responsible space practices: a primer on the Space Sustainability Rating. Aerospace Europe Conference 2023 — Joint 10th EUCASS–9th CEAS Conference (2023); https://doi.org/10.13009/EUCASS2023-432

  9. Walker, C. & Benvenuti, P. (eds) Dark and Quiet Skies II Working Group Reports (2022); https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5874725

  10. Mallama, A. et al. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2309.14152 (2023).

  11. Walker, C. et al. Bulletin of the AAS https://doi.org/10.3847/25c2cfeb.346793b8 (2020).

  12. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities A/AC.105/2018/CRP.20 (United Nations, 2018).

  13. Letizia, F., Virgili, B. B. & Lemmens, S. Adv. Space Res. 72, 2552–2569 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France

    A. Williams & R. Green

  2. European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany

    A. Williams

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    A. Boley

  4. Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

    G. Rotola

  5. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    R. Green

Authors
  1. A. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Boley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. Rotola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. Green
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

A.W. led the author team, conceived the article framework, drafted parts of the manuscript and created Box 1. A.B. drafted parts of the manuscript and conducted the simulations to produce Fig. 1. G.R. and R.G. drafted parts of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to A. Williams, A. Boley, G. Rotola or R. Green.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Williams, A., Boley, A., Rotola, G. et al. Sustainable skies and the Earth–space environment. Nat Sustain 7, 228–231 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01308-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01308-8

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation