Members of the G7 organized delegates from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the USA, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, pledging to tackle the growing hazard of space debris orbiting our planet. The summit was held in Cornwall, U.K., on Sunday and was hailed by experts in the space industry as a significant milestone.
It is currently estimated that 900,000 pieces of space junk orbit earth, posing severe risks for satellites. And space junk doesn't just go away; bits and pieces could remain floating around Earth for hundreds of years.
According to a U.K. government report, Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs, said, "There is an urgent need to stabilise global space operations. We must future-proof activities now to deliver a safe, secure and sustainable space environment for tomorrow. I welcome this clear commitment by G7 leaders to put space sustainability at the heart of the political agenda. Only through such leadership, with all nations working together, will we preserve the space environment for future generations."
The summit, after much deliberation, put out a joint statement says "We call on all nations to work together, through groups like the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the International Organization for Standardization and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, to preserve the space environment for future generations."
Earlier this year, British-based company Astroscale launched its 'ELSA-d' program to decommission satellites and clean up space debris.
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