UNIVITY Commits to Minimum Space Debris
As outer space becomes a more important carrier for communications connectivity, the number of orbiting satellites and space trash increases. As a way to reaffirm its commitment to sustainable, responsible, and sovereign space connectivity, UNIVITY has signed the Zero Debris Charter to eliminate orbiting waste by 2030. Formerly known as Constellation Technologies & Operations (CTO), UNIVITY means to safeguard the future of outer space while building a very-low-Earth-orbit (VLEO) infrastructure to deploy high-speed, low-latency internet access from space. The charter is a strong indication of UNIVITY’s intention to make Europe a responsible, competitive, and sustainable space power.
The total amount of space debris, currently more than 40,000 objects larger than 10 cm and about 1.2 million smaller fragments orbiting Earth at almost 28,000 km/h, creates a congested orbit for satellites and the orbital paths are expected to grow more crowded without action. To promote awareness of the importance of cooperation among the global space community, the European Space Agency (ESA) acted as a facilitator to clear the space congestion and more than 100 organizations contributed to the co-development of the Zero Debris Charter.
For UNIVITY and its growing VLEO infrastructure, the charter is an opportunity to show the close relationship of technology and environmental responsibility (see figure). According to Charles Delfieux, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of UNIVITY: “Signing this charter reaffirms our commitment to a shared vision: a competitive but also responsible European sovereignty. UNIVITY proves it is possible to deploy an ambitious constellation and aim for technological excellence without compromising the long-term sustainability of space.” Delfieux adds: “Space is the next frontier for telecom, and we must explore it with boldness, responsibility, and awareness.” Quentin Verspieren, Space Safety Programme Coordination Lead at ESA, notes that “the Zero Debris Community keeps growing, and it is wonderful to see UNIVITY’s strong commitment to advancing towards Zero Debris objectives, developed by the global space community in an open and collaborative way.”
