The Case for Space Sustainability in 2026

‍By Krystal Azelton and Alex Shi, Secure World Foundation

In May 2026, Secure World Foundation (SWF) released an updated edition of our Space Sustainability Infographic, a single-page graphic primer on why space sustainability matters, the challenges it faces, and what can be done to keep outer space safe, secure, and peaceful. The infographic is designed to be a visual explainer and a quick reference to help anyone understand at a glance why the space sustainability issue, often described as remote and technical, is in fact foundational to daily life on Earth.

This new version captures the rapidly evolving state of our orbital environment. As of January 2026, more than 14,500 satellites were active in Earth orbit, supporting a range of applications on Earth. This number has only risen since that date. That’s more than ten times the number of operational satellites a decade ago. The pace of growth, driven largely by very large constellations operating in low Earth orbit, is reshaping how we manage orbital activity.

This Insight accompanies the infographic and offers a fuller explanation of why we think the underlying message – that orbits constitute a shared, finite resource, and that space sustainability requires coordinated action – has only grown more urgent.

‍Space Sustainability As An Earth Issue

Space sustainability is often framed as a problem for space programs, satellite operators, and a relatively narrow community of governments and regulators in spacefaring nations. That framing understates the stakes and potential consequences of inaction. Communications, internet access, financial transactions, disaster forecast and response, navigation and GPS, scientific research, and large parts of national security infrastructure all depend, directly or indirectly, on the continued availability of various satellite systems. If access to orbit is inhibited, whether by debris, congestion, conflict, or some combination of all these factors, the consequences will be felt by everyone on Earth, not just spacefaring nations.

The impact on emerging space actors is of particular concern, as these are the actors that may have a more limited capacity to operate safely in a more congested orbital environment. Greater collision avoidance burdens and growing uncertainty around orbital access can disproportionately affect nations and organizations still developing their space programs and commercial ecosystems. As highlighted in SWF’s Handbook for New Actors in Space, these challenges risk narrowing the pathways through which emerging actors can safely and sustainably participate in space activities, a key aspect of addressing global challenges like disaster management. This is part of why SWF emphasizes that the sustainability of outer space is not merely a technical issue, but also a question of equity, development, and long-term global benefit.

‍The Three Space Sustainability Challenges

The infographic organizes the most pressing risks to the orbital environment into three key space sustainability challenges.

‍Space debris.‍

As of January 2026, more than 54,000 debris objects greater than 10cm in size are tracked in Earth orbit, and an additional 1.2 million pieces of debris between 1 cm and 10 cm in size, too small to be tracked, are estimated to also be in orbit. At orbital velocities of up to 8 km/s, even small fragments carry enormous kinetic energy and can severely damage or even disable a satellite. The Kessler Syndrome (i.e., the prospect of cascading debris-on-debris collisions resulting in self-sustaining debris growth over time) is no longer a hypothetical concern. Recent scientific studies show that object populations in heavily used low Earth orbit (LEO) altitudes (e.g., 520 km to 1,000 km) are already at or near levels that can trigger runaway growth, even if no new objects were to be launched.

‍Orbital congestion.‍

Orbits are a finite resource. Specific altitude bands and inclinations are particularly high in demand, including sun-synchronous orbits for Earth observation, geostationary orbit for communications, and the LEO shells that house large constellations. As competition for these operationally critical regimes intensifies, the need for effective coordination mechanisms and safe operational practices grows. At the same time, the orbital environment is also becoming more dynamic, with emerging capabilities such as satellite servicing, refueling, autonomous maneuvering, and active debris removal pointing toward greater interdependence among systems. The transition toward a more operationally dense and “interactive” orbital environment will raise new challenges for space situational awareness (SSA), coordination, interference management, and liability.

‍Space security.

‍The orbital environment is also affected by deliberate actions. Anti-satellite testing by China, India, Russia, and the United States has generated significant amounts of long-lived trackable debris. Beyond destructive testing, the development of capabilities to disrupt, degrade, or destroy space systems for national security reasons creates risks for all operators and complicates efforts to build norms of responsible behavior. SWF tracks these developments in our annual Global Counterspace Capabilities Report.

‍Perhaps more importantly, these three challenges are not independent. Congestion increases collision risk, collisions generate debris, and both are further complicated by security-related events that can destabilize the orbital environment as a whole.

‍The Path Forward

The infographic also lists the policy and technical measures that, taken together, can help preserve a usable orbital environment. These include debris mitigation (designing satellites and missions to reduce debris generation in the first place), debris remediation (removal of existing debris), reliable post-mission disposal, robust SSA, satellite servicing and circularity concepts, transparent data sharing, modernized licensing and regulation, sustained research and development, and international and regional cooperation.

There has been promising movement on some of these fronts in recent years. At the international level, UNCOPUOS (United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) established a new Expert Group on SSA in 2025 to advance cooperation on SSA information exchange, interoperability, and operational coordination among member states. In Europe, the proposed EU Space Act, the first draft of which was introduced in 2025, seeks to establish more harmonized safety, resilience, and sustainability requirements across member states. In the United States, the Department of Commerce has begun operational rollout of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) to support conjunction warnings and SSA services for commercial operators. Industry-led standards and voluntary best-practice frameworks have also expanded, including initiatives focused on debris mitigation, satellite servicing, and conjunction coordination practices. 

Yet efforts remain uneven across jurisdictions and are perhaps not yet calibrated to the anticipated scale and speed of space activity. Collision avoidance coordination still mostly depends on bilateral operator-to-operator communication, with varying data quality, operational norms, and response expectations. Many newer commercial operators lack access to high-quality SSA data and conjunction assessment capabilities, and are struggling to navigate the fragmented and evolving regulatory expectations across jurisdictions. Emerging space nations, on the other hand, may lack the institutional capacity to develop and enforce the domestic frameworks needed to fulfil international obligations and ensure operational safety. Overall, the gap between voluntary best practice and operational regulatory frameworks, and between national rulemaking and international coordination, remains substantial. Closing that gap is the work ahead.

‍All the Heaven’s a Stage, and All of Us Players

Much of the visible work on space sustainability takes place in highly technical and specialized settings, including UNCOPUOS, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), regulatory proceedings, and discussions at standards bodies. These forums are essential, but they are often not readily accessible to those outside. Yet the constituency for a sustainable orbital environment extends far beyond the experts directly engaged in these debates. Policymakers, business owners, journalists, educators, students, civil society advocates, and citizens in both spacefaring and non-spacefaring nations all have a stake in the outcome, and all require meaningful entry points into the conversation.

The infographic is one such entry point. It is not a substitute for the deeper analysis captured in other SWF publications and research, our interventions and statements at international fora, or comments on regulatory filings, but is intended as a resource that initiates engagement and connects interested readers to the more detailed analysis, underlying data, and ongoing policy and technical work on space sustainability.

Space sustainability is, ultimately, about safeguarding the benefits of space for everyone, including those who do not yet have direct access to space. The 2026 update to our infographic is part of SWF’s continuing effort to make that case clearly and to as wide an audience as possible.