The December 2025 issue of ESSI's Orbitwise newsletter – a round-up of general space sustainability news – has been published
22 December 2025
The December 2025 issue of ESSI's Orbitwise newsletter – a round-up of general space sustainability news from around the world – has been published. It features news from the European Space Agency, UK, North America, China, India and Australia.
WELCOME
Welcome to this ESSI Orbitwise as 2025 draws to a close. It was excellent to see many of you at the recent Advisory Board and Executive Committee meetings and also the meeting launching the preparation of the Space Debris Space Sustainability principles. Thank you to all of our members for their consistent collaboration.
Standards
The first two space sustainability principles drafted by ESSI have now been developed into two space sustainability standards:
- BSI Flex 1969 version 1.0 – Space Sustainability – Overarching Principles and Framework – Guide
- BSI Flex 1971 version 1.0 – Space Sustainability Launch Standard
Work at the British Standards Institution has now started again on both standards, following the recent public consultation and publication of version 1.0 of both standards. Over the next months, both drafts will be updated with the relevant Advisory Groups and then published as version 2.0 in 2026.
Establishment of the working groups to form further principles
ESSI has now set up the working group to draft the Space Debris Space Sustainability principles. We thank everyone involved in the working group.
Three other working groups will be set up in January 2026 to begin scoping and drafting three further space sustainability principles.
Space Sustainability Database
ESSI is thrilled to announce that we have developed and built a searchable database currently containing over 1,500 space sustainability standards, principles and guidelines. This is unique and we are pleased to say that we will shortly make this database publicly available to you all without charge for your use.
International Collaboration
ESSI has been collaborating with many organisations across the world to produce papers, articles, information notes and insurance models to incentivise space sustainability actions. We will shortly add many of these to the ESSI website.
We thank all ESSI’s members for your ongoing support.
Happy Holidays to all and best wishes for a prosperous 2026.
SPACE SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE
EUROPE
ESA
Copernicus Sentinel-6B satellite launched to continue recording sea-level rise
On 17 November 2025, the Sentinel-6B satellite launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California. This satellite contributes to the Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission, which serves as the world’s primary reference for satellite sea-surface height measurements. Sentinel-6B is set to build upon the work of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched in November 2020.
Sentinel-6B carries the latest radar altimetry technology to further extend the sea-surface height records that began in the early 1990s. These measurements are crucial for understanding sea-level rise and shaping climate policy.
Learn more here
Funding boost expands ESA’s Space Safety programme
During the European Space Agency’s (ESA) 2025 Ministerial Council (CM25), member states committed to a budget of €955 million for the next three years for the Space Safety programme. This amount increases the budget by thirty percent (30%) and will cover all plans outlined in the Space Safety programme proposal. The programme’s highest priority is to continue its Cornerstone missions, grouped across three main goals: Planetary Defence; Space Weather; and Active Debris Removal and In-Orbit Servicing (ADRIOS).
“The very strong funding for the years ahead is a powerful signal of Member States’ commitment to European autonomy in space safety as we face continuing geopolitical uncertainty,” says Holger Krag, Head of Space Safety at ESA.
“We can now look with confidence to the future and plan the next three years to give Europe a crucial push towards resilience, sustainability and self-reliance in space safety.”
Read more here
ESA releases Space Environment Report 2025
On 21 October 2025, ESA released its Space Environment Report 2025, based on data collected until the end of 2024. Key takeaways include the following.
- Approximately 40,000 objects are now tracked by space surveillance networks, with around 11,000 of those being active payloads. There are estimated to be over 1.2 million space debris objects larger than 1cm in size.
- Intact satellites or rocket bodies are re-entering the atmosphere more than three times per day on average.
- 2024 had several major fragmentation events, leading to an increase of over three thousand tracked objects.
Read the full Report
ESA hosts Atmospheric Impacts of Spacecraft Launch and Re-entry workshop
Under the ESA Green Agenda and the Clean Space Office, ESA hosted its second workshop on the Atmospheric Impacts of Spacecraft Launch and Re-entry. This event built on insights from the first conference, Understanding the Atmospheric Effects from Spacecraft Re-entry. The workshop focused on key scientific, engineering and environmental issues, including: field measurement campaigns, chemistry of launch and re-entry emissions, advancements in modelling and laboratory simulations, methodologies for integrating atmospheric impacts into life cycle assessments and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Read more about the workshop
Orbit Fab secures ESA and UK Space Agency refuelling contract
Orbit Fab has secured the first stage of a contract from ESA and the UK Space Agency worth £1.3 million to demonstrate in-orbit refuelling capabilities by 2028 alongside a consortium of European partners. The consortium – KISPE Space Systems, Gate Space Innovation, Blackswan Space and Indra Deimos – is tasked with using Orbit Fab’s GRASP interface to dock with a target spacecraft and transfer multiple propellants using Orbit Fab’s RAFTI fuelling port. The Advance Satcom Technology with Refuelling and Logistics (ASTRAL) contract is co-funded through ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme.
UK-led HydroGNSS mission launched under ESA’s Scout programme
HydroGNSS, the first mission under ESA’s Scout programme, was launched on 28 November 2025. Built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and backed by £26 million in UK Space Agency funding, HydroGNSS will use GNSS reflectometry to monitor global water cycle variables including soil moisture, flooding and vegetation cover. This data is crucial for weather forecasting, agricultural planning and tracking climate change.
UK space Minister Liz Lloyd said: “The launch of HydroGNSS is yet another success story for British space innovation. Backed with government funding, this UK-built satellite will play an invaluable role up in space, helping tackle some of the most pressing environmental challenges we face on Earth. As we build the UK's space capabilities, groundbreaking missions like HydroGNSS demonstrate that Britain is at the forefront of space technology that delivers real-world impact for people and our planet.”
UK
UK Space Agency funds studies to tackle space debris
Through the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), the UK Space Agency has awarded more than £380,000 across ten technical studies to support international research into space debris. The studies will contribute to the IADC’s four working groups covering measurements, environment and database, modelling and mitigation.
Read more about the funded studies
UK Space Agency leads global research on atmospheric ablation
When satellites burn up upon re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, particles and gases are released, potentially affecting atmospheric chemistry. This process, known as atmospheric ablation, is the focus of three studies commissioned by the UK Space Agency. These projects are being led by Durham University, University of Southampton and Belstead Ltd. Durham University stressed the need for improved observational technologies and multi-disciplinary collaboration to inform future UK policy; Southampton University proposed a hybrid re-entry approach, combining material selection, design-for-demise strategies and trajectory optimisation; and Belstead Ltd found that ablation depends on factors such as particle size and surface properties, recommending targeted testing to better assess environmental risk.
Also commissioned by the UK Space Agency, a Global Network on Sustainability in Space (GNOSIS) report highlighted how space lacks globally agreed sustainability metrics, unlike terrestrial activities. The report recommends improved tracking of orbital populations, improved space weather modelling and more systematic assessment of re-entry impacts.
NORTH AMERICA
Atomic-6 unveils new protective system, Space Armor
Georgia-based aerospace materials company, Atomic-6, unveiled their new technology, Space Armor, last month. Space Armor, designed to shield satellites and spacecraft from high-speed collisions with space debris, is made via a proprietary fibre-to-resin manufacturing method. Atomic-6 says its Space Armor tiles are lighter and more effective than traditional shielding systems such as the Whipple Shield, which has been in use since the Apollo era. Space Armor is also radio transparent, unlike traditional metal shields which block radio waves.
Space Armor has successfully undergone extensive hypervelocity testing here on Earth, allowing Atomic-6 to prepare to send the tiles to orbit next year.
ASIA
Astronauts’ return delayed due to space debris incident
The return of astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie from China’s Tiangong Space Station was delayed. It is suspected that pieces of space debris hit the return spacecraft, the Shenzhou-20. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) is now completing tests to ensure the spacecraft is safe for use. No new return date has been set yet for the uncrewed capsule. The astronauts returned to Earth safely on 14 November 2025 on Shenzhou 21.
Read more
OrbitAID wins Indo-Australian MAITRI grant for in-orbit refuelling interface
India’s OrbitAID has secured a partnership to deploy the nation’s first in-orbit docking and refuelling interface, under the Indo-Australian Space MAITRI grant. The interface, known as the Standard Interface for Docking and Refuelling Port (SIDRP), will be deployed on an Australian Space Machines Company mission in 2026.
AUSTRALASIA
Suspected space debris found on fire in Western Australia
In October 2025 a burning object made of carbon fibre was discovered on a desert road near a mine site in Western Australia. “The object remains under investigation, though its characteristics are consistent with known space re-entry debris … further technical assessment will be undertaken by engineers from the Australian Space Agency to assist in identifying its nature and source,” said a police spokesperson. Some suspect the debris to be part of a Chinese Jielong rocket that launched in September.
Read more
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Following the success of SDC2024, the Space Debris Conference 2026 (SDC2026) will take place on 26-27 January 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Organised by the Saudi Space Agency, the event aims to: drive forward international cooperation to mitigate space debris; highlight new technologies for debris tracking, avoidance and removal; and advance global policies and licensing standards for safer space environments.
Please let us know if you would like to include an event or publication in this update or would like more information on any matter – contact@essi.org