ESA Chief Warns: Space Debris Must Be Cleaned Up Now — Or Lose Orbit Forever

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher has issued a stark warning: the build-up of space debris is reaching a tipping point, and simply avoiding new junk is no longer enough.

Writing on LinkedIn as the 9th ESA Space Debris Conference opened this week, Aschbacher highlighted how vital space has become to everyday life, from communications to climate monitoring. But the increasing congestion in orbit is putting all of that at risk.

“To keep spaceflight safe, bold action is required with the current level of pollution and congestion in orbit.”

Space Traffic Now Growing at an Alarming Rate

The numbers are striking. A new satellite is launched every 3 to 4 hours. Large object re-entries, once a monthly event, now happen almost daily. Over 11,000 active satellites are in orbit, with 3,000 more expected this year alone. Meanwhile, more than 40,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 cm are already circling Earth, each capable of destroying a satellite on impact.

The danger doesn’t end there. Even if all launches stopped today, the threat would keep growing.

“There is a scientific consensus among agencies that even if we stopped launches altogether, the number of debris would still keep increasing because of collisions leading to more fragments, again and again, also known as the Kessler syndrome.”

“Not Adding New Debris Is No Longer Enough”

Aschbacher didn’t mince words. The time for passive prevention is over.

“In other words: not adding new debris is no longer enough. We must now actively clean up the space debris environment to halt the onset of a chain reaction that could render heavily utilised regions unusable. Immediate and decisive action is necessary.”

This echoes the findings of ESA’s 2025 Space Environment Report, released just yesterday, which warned that without active debris removal, parts of orbit could soon become unusable due to runaway collisions.

ESA Leads the Charge with Its Zero Debris Approach

ESA is already taking action. Its Zero Debris Approach aims for no new junk from any ESA mission by 2030. This is backed by updated policy, industry support, and international cooperation.

Key initiatives include:

• ESA’s 2023 update to its space debris mitigation standards.
• Industry support through the Space Safety programme.
• The growing Zero Debris Charter—now with over 150 signatories, including 19 nation states.
• The Zero Debris Technical Booklet, outlining essential technology and policy steps to get to zero.

“No single actor in space can tackle the problem of space debris on its own. We are in this together.”

A Crisis and an Opportunity for Europe

ESA sees this challenge as a moment for European leadership. It is helping industry redesign missions, building tech for active debris removal, and supporting projects like ClearSpace-1 to clean up old satellites.

Aschbacher also called for unity amid rising geopolitical tensions, stressing that collaboration is essential to keep space safe for everyone.

“Given that there is a need for a more autonomous and resilient Europe, the topic of space debris is a prime opportunity to demonstrate vision and leadership.”

With the 2025 Space Debris Conference underway and the ESA report now public, Europe is clearly laying out its path: act fast, act together—or risk losing orbit for good.