Addressing the inevitable : legal and policy issues related to space debris mitigation and remediation

The increasing proliferation of space debris represents a major and pressing challenge, given the threats it poses to space activities as well as to the environment in space and on Earth. This chapter proposes to examine some of the primary legal and policy challenges – and opportunities – related to the regulation of space debris, in terms of both mitigation and remediation. It emphasizes the main elements of the issue of space debris through an overview of the current factual situation and the threats it entails. Concern about space debris has become an increasingly pressing topic in international for a due to the global consequences of pollution in outer space. In light of the inadequacy of the international legal framework to effectively address the issue of space debris, and in the face of the growing threat that these debris constitute, a variety of more technical instruments has been adopted by several States and international agencies.