As Low Earth Orbit Booms, Can Space Sustainability Keep Up?

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is no longer an emerging economy. It is rapidly becoming critical infrastructure.

Over the past few weeks, some of the biggest stories in space have pointed in the same direction: our reliance on LEO continues to grow. Starlink has surpassed an 11,000-satellite milestone, direct-to-cell services are advancing in Japan through Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile, commercial stations such as Starlab are moving toward reality, and China's Zhuque-3 programme has highlighted the growing pace of launch innovation.

These developments are generating excitement across the industry as they reflect new commercial opportunities, greater global connectivity and continued investment in space-based services.

But perhaps the bigger story is not any single programme or company. It is the growing number and diversity of spacecraft being launched, and the increasing reliance that governments, businesses, and communities place on them every day.

That trend is visible here in the UK as well. While Starlink often grabs the headlines, Eutelsat OneWeb has helped establish Europe as a major player in satellite connectivity, and recent UK Space Agency investments in a number of space domains highlight the strategic importance of space infrastructure for the UK's future.

Together, these developments point toward a future in which space becomes even more integrated into everyday life.

They also raise an increasingly important question: Can space sustainability keep up with the growth of low Earth orbit?

Why More Spacecraft Mean More Responsibility

Growth in orbit brings new opportunities, but it also creates a more complex and crowded orbital environment. As more spacecraft enter LEO, operators must manage increasing numbers of conjunction assessments, collision avoidance manoeuvres, and end-of-life disposal activities. Large constellations require continuous monitoring as part of routine operations. A report filed by SpaceX with the US Federal Communications Commission shows Starlink had to perform about 300,000 collision-avoidance manoeuvres solely in 2025 to avoid space debris and other satellites .

This does not mean growth is a problem. Expanded connectivity, stronger resilience, and greater access to space deliver real benefits around the world.

However, growth must be accompanied by sustainability.

The future of the space economy depends not only on launching spacecraft, but also on managing the orbital environment they depend on. As the number of satellites in LEO increases, industry and government need to start considering the full lifecycles of satellites, and this includes both proper satellite disposal at end of life, and considering options of how to extend satellite lifetime or reuse satellites as part of a circular economy.

Space Sustainability Is Becoming a Business Requirement

For many years, orbital debris was often discussed as a future challenge. Today, it is an operational reality. Satellite operators, insurers, investors, regulators, and governments increasingly recognize that a healthy orbital environment is critical infrastructure. Without it, services such as satellite broadband, direct-to-cell communications, Earth observation, and future commercial space stations become more difficult and costly to sustain.

Simply put: space sustainability enables space growth.

That is why in-orbit servicing, end-of-life disposal, and active debris removal are attracting increasing attention across the global space sector.

The commercial opportunity is becoming clearer as well. Novaspace's latest In-Orbit Services Markets report projects that emerging in-orbit services will generate approximately $3 billion in cumulative service revenues over the next decade, underscoring growing demand for capabilities that extend mission life, improve asset utilization, and support a more sustainable approach to space operations.

Sustainability is no longer just about mitigating risk. It is increasingly becoming a driver of innovation, investment and long-term growth across the space economy.

How Astroscale Supports a Sustainable Space Economy

Success in space is no longer measured solely by how many satellites we launch. It is increasingly measured by how well we manage them once they are there.

Inspect

Space operations begin with understanding the health and condition of assets already in orbit.

Astroscale demonstrated the value of on-orbit inspection through ADRAS-J, a ground-breaking mission which successfully conducted close-proximity rendezvous and inspection operations with a massive non-cooperative H2A rocket body. The importance of space situational awareness is also receiving increasing attention in the UK. Astroscale’s Orpheus mission aims to strengthen UK capabilities in space weather monitoring and space situational awareness, helping improve our understanding of an increasingly crowded and contested orbital environment. As reliance on space infrastructure grows, visibility into both spacecraft health and the surrounding environment will become increasingly important.

Service

Although the majority of satellites these days are single use, there is interest growing towards repeatable in-orbit servicing, which enables satellite life to be extended in some form – where a single satellite can be reused as opposed to being simply disposed and replaced with a new replacement satellite.

Astroscale is building capabilities designed to support the full operational life of a spacecraft. These include the ability to perform a number of life extension options (including relocation) with our LEXI (Life Extension In-Orbit) mission, options to refuel satellites with our Provisioner or REFLEX-J missions, or satellite upgrading with our IRUS mission. Astroscale UK’s IRUS programme concept puts key satellite components (e.g. a payload or processor) into plug-and-play blocks which can be replaced with new blocks on-orbit. This means an older satellite could be upgraded with new technology, instead of replacing the whole satellite.

By servicing satellites rather than replacing them, operators can increase resilience, reduce costs, and make more efficient use of the orbital environment.

Remove

Even with servicing, every satellite eventually reaches the end of its mission. Astroscale is developing both End-of-Life (EOL) services and Active Debris Removal (ADR) services to remove satellites from orbit when they have reached this point. Our EOL services are designed for satellites equipped with Docking Plates and have thus already been prepared to be serviceable. Our ADR services focus on satellites unprepared for servicing, and can include remove of large space debris which has been in orbit for decades.

Astroscale UK's ELSA-M mission represents an important step toward making end-of-life disposal a routine part of satellite operations and establishing responsible removal as a standard practice.

As launch activity accelerates and constellations expand, removal services will play an increasingly important role in preserving the long-term sustainability of the orbital environment.

Towards Sustainability: A Complete Lifecycle Approach

The next generation of space infrastructure requires lifecycle management from launch through retirement.

By combining inspection, servicing, and removal, Astroscale is helping create a future where assets can be managed more sustainably, operators can derive greater value from their investments, and LEO can continue supporting innovation, connectivity, and economic growth.

Recent headlines may focus on Starlink, direct-to-cell networks, commercial space stations, or reusable rockets. Together, they tell a much bigger story: space activity is accelerating.

The industry's next major achievement will not simply be launching more satellites or building larger constellations. It will be ensuring that low Earth orbit remains safe, accessible, and productive for decades to come.

At Astroscale, we believe sustainability is not a constraint on growth. It is what enables growth.