THE SPACE DEBRIS ENVIRONMENT OF THE EARTH

37 years of space activities have led to a large number of anthropogen ic objects orbiting the Earth. Ground-based observations with radar an d optical facilities reveal the existence of about 7500 objects in spa ce, which do not represent an immediate excessive danger. However, ade quate actions are required to keep the long-term debris hazard for man ned and unmanned missions within acceptable tolerances. In this paper the space debris environment of the Earth and its future evolution are described. New developments which could have a major impact on the sp ace environment, are the the planned multi-satellite constellations fo r communications purposes or solar power stations in Earth orbit. Fina lly, methods for debris reduction are outlined. Space debris is a glob al problem which can only be effectively solved by international coope ration.