Prof Nicolas Peter, International Space Univeristy (ISU) Faculty and Head of the ISU Space Policy and Entrepreneurship Lab (SPEL) was invited to be an expert panelist, on 8 June 2023, at the 2023 Space-Comm Expo held at Farnborough International (UK). The panel taking place at the Keynote Theatre focused on “Space Sustainability: Building on SSA capabilities and debris mitigation strategies”. It touched upon the multifaceted challenges posed by space debris and the necessity to ensure the sustainability of space activities in the years to come to support the development of the global space economy. The panel was moderated by Jean-Paul Kneib, Academic Director at eSpace, and Professor at EPFL, a strong partner of ISU in the domain of space sustainability. Other panelists besides Prof Peter included Andrew Faiola Commercial Director at Astroscale, Rory Holmes, Managing Director at ClearSpace UK, and Katherine Courtney Chair of the Steering Board for the Global Network on Sustainability in Space.
The panel discussed the current challenges that space debris poses as a threat to the long-term viability of space activities, and how the industry can work together to mitigate them. Prof Peter shared the results of his work on space sustainability and the potential changes that need to be made in the regulatory and policy landscape to mitigate associated risks with space debris, including the need to collaborate to establish guidelines for responsible space utilization, and draw some parallel with the global Internet Governance for instance. Prof Peter shared also some of the insights done in the context of the SPEL and the Eurospacehub project and in particular the need to have appropriate “rules of the roads” and potential avenues for pricing models of space debris cleanup.
Picture from left to right: Nicolas Peter, Katherine Courtney, Andrew Faiola, Rory Holmes, Jean-Paul Kneib
