Ibadan, June 6, 2024. – More than 40 companies, research centers and international organizations signed the Zero Waste Charter at the Berlin International Air Show (ILA), confirming their dedication to the long-term sustainability of human activities in space. The Zero Waste Charter, which ESA launched at the ESA Space Summit in Seville in November 2023, is an initiative for future missions to achieve waste neutrality in space by 2030.
Together with ESA, twelve European countries recently signed the Charter at the ESA/EU Space Council in Brussels. Additionally, more than 100 organizations around the world have registered their intention to sign and join the collaborative effort in the coming months; dozens of them signed the Zero Waste Charter at the Berlin Air Show.
Speaking about this feat, Josef Aschbacher, Director General of ESA, explained: “It is essential to protect the future of our most valuable and crucial space assets by keeping Earth's orbits free of debris. By jointly signing the Charter, the various entities demonstrate global leadership in space debris mitigation and remediation.” Aschbacher also added: “The European space sector leads by example and by collectively taking this step, we gain crucial momentum towards achieving the goal of Zero Waste by 2030.”
Likewise, Holger Krag, Director of Space Safety at ESA, said: “In recent years, the number of debris in space has skyrocketed, increasing the risk of damage to space assets. Today, as a united community, we are sending a strong signal that the space sector is ready to act. The Zero Debris community is committed to getting to work on waste mitigation standards and technologies to make clean, sustainable use of space a reality.”
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