Space sustainability beyond ‘zero debris’: from orbital safety to circular materials
Space sustainability rests on the peaceful and socioeconomic use of space. Current measures focus on maintaining orbital trafficability, largely following a linear material flow, neglecting impacts on Earth’s atmosphere and environment. A holistic approach should extend concern from orbital safety and ground casualty risk to full circularity of spacecraft materials.
Authors
- Bernhard Seifert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2070-2731)
- Axel Solt-Rindler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6151-8490)
- Elisabeth Billich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1537-3076)
- Johanna Sperl
- Christian Hansmann
- Werner Engel
Institutions
- Kompetenzzentrum Holz (AT)
- Forschungs- und Technologietransfer (Austria) (AT)
- BOKU University (AT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Engineering
- Published
- 2026-09-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-026-00797-z
- Primary Topic
- Space Satellite Systems and Control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft