ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AS A TOOL FOR SPACE DEBRIS MITIGATION

摘要

Environmental implications of space activities can no longer be ignored. Although environmentalist aspirations have not been among the most popular ones in the use of outer space, it has become quite clear that without an increasingly precautionary and sustainable approach, the space sector will continue to create environmental hazards that will rapidly diminish its future prospects. Above all, the current space sector needs better debris mitigation and hence the use of improved environmental assessment systems, among other mechanisms.Despite their success in many other areas - and the obvious need for them in space activities as well -environmental assessment procedures are still not well-established in the space sector. Partly this is because such assessments are often not quite as effective and reliable in the space sector as they tend to be in many other fields of human activity. However, many possibilities exist to amend the current deficiencies in space environmental assessments caused by lack of data, time and resources - if the will exists. Besides, the potential for damage in space activities is likely to remain at least in the foreseeable future so significant that it should never be reasonable to omit a thorough assessment of environmental and other impacts of space missions, despite the potentially high (immediate) costs and uncertainties involved.