By Yvette Gonzalez
The Secure World Foundation’s 7th Summit for Space Sustainability
The space industry stands at an inflection point. With over 12,000 active satellites currently orbiting Earth – a number projected to reach 100,000 by 2030 – we are witnessing the most rapid expansion of human activity beyond our planet in history. As this growth accelerates, so does our recognition of a fundamental challenge: how do we ensure the critical and continuous ability of space activities to benefit Earth?
At the 7th Summit for Space Sustainability taking place October 22-23, 2025, co-hosted by the Secure World Foundation (SWF), the Centre National D’études Spatiales (CNES), and the Government of France, a clear discourse will emerge that speaks to this very challenge with potential and tangible solutions. Europe is stepping forward as an unexpected but necessary leader in space sustainability policy, filling a critical vacuum in global space governance at precisely the moment when leadership is most needed. This isn’t merely about European ambition – it is about necessity in a complex space environment that demands the kind of multilateral cooperation and comprehensive frameworks that SWF has long advocated through their publications and policy guidance.
The Leadership Vacuum and Europe’s Strategic Response
For decades, space governance has been shaped by competition rather than collaboration. Traditional space powers have focused on demonstrating technological supremacy and securing national advantages, often treating space sustainability as a secondary consideration. As SWF’s recent strategic briefing for U.S. leadership emphasizes, the United States must “drive international cooperation, set enforceable norms, and implement policies that secure American interests while promoting stability and sustainability in space.” Yet this challenge extends far beyond any single nation’s capabilities or responsibilities.
The result has been a patchwork of national policies and international agreements that struggle to keep pace with the realities of evolving space commerce and exploration. The SWF Handbook for New Actors in Space documents how “the global space arena is expanding at a breathtaking pace” with a space economy that has expanded from $383.5 billion to over $630 billion in only eight years.
Europe’s emergence as a space sustainability leader represents a fundamental shift in this dynamic. Unlike traditional lead space nations, Europe brings advanced space capabilities without the baggage of superpower rivalry. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) collaborative model, built on multi-national cooperation and shared scientific goals, provides a template for how space activities can serve collective rather than purely national interests. This positioning has enabled Europe to develop innovative policy frameworks that integrate space sustainability into broader societal objectives. The June 2025 European Commission EU Space Act and ESA’s Zero Debris approach sustainability mandates do not exist in isolation. They are part of the European Union’s Green Deal, reflecting a holistic approach to environmental stewardship that extends from Earth to orbit. This integration fosters powerful synergies, allowing European policymakers to leverage terrestrial environmental expertise and apply it to space challenges, including the complex governance issues surrounding lunar activities.
Notably, Europe is pioneering what can be referred to as the “Brussels Effect” in space—the phenomenon where European regulations become global standards not through coercion, but through market influence and practical necessity. As European companies increasingly require their suppliers and partners to meet sustainability standards, these requirements ripple outward, creating de facto global standards for responsible space activity.
Beyond Binary Thinking: Space Sustainability as Adaptive Process
One of the most significant contributions of European leadership has been the reframing of space sustainability discourse. Rather than approaching sustainability as a binary question—are space activities good or bad for the environment?—European policymakers and industry leaders embraced a more nuanced, process-oriented approach that mirrors SWF’s emphasis on adaptive governance structures.
This shift recognizes what the Handbook for New Actors in Space identifies as a core challenge and what we have already seen in other sectors such as the marine industry: “space technology is advancing faster than regulatory frameworks can adapt, requiring policies that are both flexible and forward-looking.” Instead of demanding immediate perfection, frameworks focus on continuous improvement, graduated sustainability metrics, and adaptive governance structures that can evolve with advancing technology.
The ESA CleanSpace initiative exemplifies this philosophy. Rather than imposing rigid sustainability requirements that might stifle innovation, CleanSpace creates incentives for developing cleaner technologies while providing pathways for existing activities to become more sustainable over time. European institutions have also pioneered stakeholder engagement models that bring together government, industry, academia, and civil society in ongoing solutioning in response to space sustainability challenges. These forums do not impose top-down solutions;, rather, they facilitate collaborative problem-solving that leverages diverse expertise and perspectives.
Technical Innovation Meeting Policy Leadership
Europe’s space sustainability leadership is backed by substantial technical innovation that directly addresses the challenges outlined in SWF’s strategic guidance. Companies and research institutions are at the forefront of developing technologies to meet urgent and collective concerns such as orbital debris. The approach leverages commercial and international capabilities to a maximum extent while maintaining space situational awareness as a public service. Investment in sustainable launch technologies is reshaping industry norms, from reusable launch systems to innovative propulsion technologies that minimize environmental impact, creating the virtuous cycle where sustainability and competitiveness reinforce each other.
Local Impact, Global Implications for Space Governance
The transformation of Europe’s space ecosystem under sustainability imperatives offers valuable lessons that extend beyond national frameworks toward global influence. European space companies are discovering that sustainability requirements often drive innovation in new directions, demonstrating that responsible space activities can indeed serve both economic and environmental objectives.
This shift is creating new business models based on circular economy principles adapted for space. European companies are pioneering approaches to spacecraft design that prioritize end-of-life disposal, component reusability, and resource efficiency.
The educational and research implications are equally significant. European universities and research institutions are producing a new generation of space professionals who understand sustainability as fundamental to responsible space development, ensuring that sustainability leadership is prepared for the long term. The ripple effects of European space sustainability leadership are becoming increasingly apparent across legacy and newly emerging space nations. International partners are already adapting policies and practices to align with European standards as best practices.
Practical Pathways Forward:
Looking ahead to the 7th Summit for Space Sustainability, several practical pathways will dive into a discourse on advancing the broader vision of collaborative space governance. Standardizing sustainability metrics across space activities would provide the kind of clarity that industry needs through establishing benchmarks that could be adopted globally.
Enhanced information sharing protocols between European and international partners could build the trust essential for effective space traffic coordination and debris mitigation, for example. These protocols could extend to sharing best practices for sustainable space operations and lessons learned from implementing new technologies – precisely the kind of knowledge transfer SWF emphasizes as crucial for new space actors.
Strategic initiatives could focus on creating economic incentives that make sustainable space practices financially attractive rather than regulatory requirements by demonstrating how sustainability requirements can drive innovation and economic growth. The long-term vision could position Europe as a convening hub for global space sustainability discussions while building the institutional knowledge and diplomatic capital necessary to address increasingly complex challenges as space industrialization accelerates. This includes preparing for governance challenges that do not yet exist but will emerge as space activities expand – the “unknown unknown” – from environmental protection standards for lunar activities to governance frameworks for large-scale asteroid mining operations.
A Process Worth Leading: Advancing Global Space Governance
Europe’s emergence as a leader in space sustainability represents more than just policy innovation – it demonstrates that the collaborative, process-oriented approaches that SWF champions can address complex global challenges that transcend national boundaries. The Summit for Space Sustainability will provide a glimpse of what this leadership looks like in practice: thoughtful, inclusive, technically grounded, and oriented toward long-term solutions, showing how multilateral cooperation and comprehensive governance frameworks can work in practice.
As we move forward, the question isn’t whether Europe will continue to lead in space sustainability, but whether the rest of the world will embrace the collaborative potential that European leadership represents. The stakes are too high and the opportunities too valuable for anything less than our collective best effort.
The Secure World Foundation (SWF) is a private operating nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting the secure, sustainable, and peaceful uses of outer space, ensuring its preservation for future generations. As the only organization devoted entirely to space sustainability, SWF collaborates with international partners in governments, industry, and civil society to foster policies and practices that enhance the protection of the space domain. Recognizing the rapid increase in the number of actors in outer space and the urgent need to promote norms of behavior and best practices to ensure sustainable activities in space, SWF is committed to facilitating dialogue, informing policy decisions, and fostering international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. Through these efforts, SWF strives to ensure that space remains an accessible, safe, and stable operating domain for commercial, military, and civil use by all nations.
Yvette Gonzalez is a Visiting Researcher at the University of Plymouth Faculty of Health, a Spaceflight/Bioastronautics Researcher, and an Author. She serves as a Spacesuit technician and carries out space research in orbit and sub-orbit. Yvette is pioneering research in applied space medical solutions for humanity and progresses this research within the context of international emergency public health, astronaut health, space ecology, and astronautics training. Her latest published works of poetry were published in 2024. As a contributing SWG Editor and writer, her features highlight the profound impact of space exploration on the industry, planet, and humanity.
