ESA's Space Environment Report Shows a Growing Gap Between Space Growth and Sustainability

The latest ESA Space Environment Report highlights an important reality for the space sector: while efforts to improve space sustainability are gaining momentum, they are not yet keeping pace with the growth of space activity.

The increasing number of satellites in orbit reflects the tremendous value that space-based services deliver to society, from communications and navigation to Earth observation and national security, as well as enabling entirely new applications such as in-orbit drug manufacturing. The challenge is not the growth itself, but ensuring mitigation and remediation efforts scale alongside it.

As the number of launches continues to increase, maintaining that balance will become increasingly important.

A Growing Space Economy Requires a Growing Sustainability Effort

The report shows that in 2025, more than 4,000 new payloads were launched into orbit, equivalent to roughly ten new payloads entering space every day. This has been driven largely by commercial constellations and the growing use of rideshare missions, reflecting the accelerating growth of the space economy. While future launch activity will depend on factors such as launch availability and market demand, there is little indication that this trend will reverse in the near term as operators continue to expand existing constellations and prepare new ones.

At the same time, operators are making progress in adopting more responsible practices. As seen in section 6.1.1 of the full report, compliance with debris mitigation measures is improving, and end-of-life disposal is receiving greater attention.

Yet ESA's report also highlights a growing imbalance. Large rocket bodies and other high-risk objects continue to be abandoned and remain in orbit after completing their missions, many of them representing some of the highest long-term fragmentation risks in the orbital environment. As the number of active spacecraft increases, these legacy risks continue to accumulate, placing greater pressure on the long-term sustainability of key orbital regions.

The Sustainability Challenge Is About Balance

A growing space economy depends on launching new spacecraft, deploying new services and expanding access to space. The objective should not be to limit innovation or growth. Instead, the goal should be to ensure that growth is matched by equivalent advances in mitigation and remediation.

Successful transportation systems operate on this principle. As activity increases, so too does the need for infrastructure, maintenance and traffic management. Space is no different. As the number of active payloads increases, the systems that support sustainable operations must also expand. Otherwise, the gap between growth and sustainability widens over time, increasing operational risk and creating substantial long-term financial implications for the space industry.

Why Mitigation and Remediation Matter

Mitigation remains essential. Designing spacecraft responsibly with servicing and removal in mind, avoiding in-orbit breakups and ensuring satellites are safely disposed of at the end of their missions are all critical steps towards a more sustainable orbital environment.

But mitigation on its own addresses only future behaviour. It does not remove risks that already exist. Today's orbital environment contains decades of accumulated objects, including defunct satellites, rocket bodies and debris fragments. In fact, research has shown that removing the 50 highest-risk objects from orbit could reduce the future growth of the debris environment by around 50%.

Mitigation also has inherent limits. Even with reliable spacecraft design and disposal planning, not every mission will end exactly as intended. Some spacecraft may suffer failures before completing their end-of-life manoeuvres, leaving them stranded in orbit and contributing to the population of non-functional objects.

End-of-life services can help ensure satellites are removed from operational orbits responsibly. Active debris removal can address legacy risks and failed derelicts that would otherwise remain in orbit for years or decades. Together, these capabilities help reduce the imbalance between the rate at which risks are created and the rate at which they are removed.

From Services to Infrastructure

Historically, end-of-life services, active debris removal and in-orbit servicing have been viewed as individual mission capabilities. Increasingly, they should be viewed as infrastructure. As the space economy matures, these capabilities will become just as important as launch systems, ground stations and satellite networks. They provide the means needed to manage spacecraft throughout their entire lifecycle, from deployment and operations through servicing, disposal and eventual removal.

At Astroscale, we see this shift already underway. Programmes such as ELSA-M, ADRAS-J2, ESA's CAT in-orbit demonstration and Astroscale France’s deorbiting demonstration with Exotrail and Eutelsat are helping mature the capabilities needed for sustainable operations in orbit. Together, they support a broader vision: building the operational infrastructure required for long-term sustainable growth in space.

Building a Circular Space Economy

For many years, space sustainability was viewed primarily through the lens of mitigation and remediation. Today, the industry increasingly needs infrastructure that can actively manage the orbital environment after launch. End-of-life services, active debris removal and on-orbit servicing represent that next step.

As orbital activity continues to expand, the disposal or single-use model that space has used since the launch of the first satellite becomes increasingly difficult to sustain. A more resilient future is one in which spacecraft can be serviced, upgraded, refuelled, relocated and responsibly retired. A future where operators can extend the value of existing assets and maximise their return on investment. A future where resources already in orbit are used more efficiently. This is the foundation of a circular space economy.

Active debris removal and end-of-life services help address the challenges already present in orbit today. In-orbit servicing helps create a future where fewer risks and fewer discarded assets are generated in the first place. Together, these capabilities form part of the infrastructure that will enable sustainable growth across the space sector.

Growth and Sustainability Must Advance Together

The key message from ESA's latest report is not that growth in space should slow down. It is that sustainability efforts must scale up.

End-of-life services, active debris removal and on-orbit servicing are no longer emerging concepts. They are becoming the infrastructure needed to support continued growth while reducing long-term risks.

If space is to continue delivering benefits for generations to come, growth and sustainability cannot be treated as competing objectives. The future of the space economy depends on scaling both together.