Near-earth Satellites

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Monday 13th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

That is a very specific question about rejoining that organisation, and I do not have an answer to it for my noble friend, but I shall certainly write on that specific point.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, there are already an estimated 36,000 near-earth space objects circulating around our planet, and the prospect of many thousands more commercial satellites being launched in the coming decade. Given the prospect of serious collisions, what are the Government doing to create an agreement on cleaning up space junk—for example, by bringing down satellites when they have finished the end of their mission, and so on? Is this an issue on which the Government should take a role as global leaders, to make sure that we are leading the way rather than following in the footsteps of other countries?