A coordinated global action is required on space flight sustainability as thousands of pieces of dangerous debris orbiting Earth are posing a real risk, ESA stressed.

In the 7th European Conference on Space Debris, scientists pointed out that more than 750, 000 pieces of potentially dangerous debris are currently orbiting our planet. Thus, there is an urgent need o launch a coordinated international action to ensure long-term sustainability of spaceflights.

Jan Woerner, director general of ESA, appealed to all space stakeholders to keep the planet’s orbital environment as debris free as possible.

Speaking on the topic, he said, “In order to enable innovative services for citizens and future developments in space, we must cooperate now to guarantee economically vital spaceflight. We must sustain the dream of future exploration.”

Germany’s economic affairs minister Brigitte Zypries stressed that it is a global issue that could affect critical satellites delivering services to all people around the globe.

The urgent call for a global action came on the last day of the Conference on Space Debris, a gathering of more than 350 participants from science, industry, academia and space agencies worldwide held at the agency’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany.