Delegates for Addressing Space Debris, Orbital Sustainability, and Rights to Space Infrastructure

Delegate Profiles

Countries:

United States
Focus: Leading space power with major government, military, and commercial space infrastructure.
Mission Objectives: Promote responsible space behavior, public-private partnerships, improved space traffic coordination, and protection of commercial satellite networks while preserving freedom of access to orbit.

China
Focus: Major state-led space power with growing satellite, lunar, and space station capabilities.
Mission Objectives: Advocate for state sovereignty, equal access to orbital infrastructure, and international agreements that prevent space from being dominated by Western corporations or military alliances.

Russia
Focus: Legacy space power with major launch, satellite, and military-space capabilities.
Mission Objectives: Push for limits on militarization, non-interference with national space assets, and agreements that protect existing state space infrastructure from foreign inspection or removal.

India
Focus: Rapidly growing space power with cost-effective launch capabilities and a major developing-world role.
Mission Objectives: Advocate for affordable access to orbit, capacity building for developing states, and debris rules that do not unfairly punish emerging space programs.

Japan
Focus: Advanced technology state with strong interest in orbital safety and debris-removal innovation.
Mission Objectives: Promote international debris-removal standards, space traffic management systems, and public-private cooperation for sustainable orbital development.

France
Focus: European space leader with strong concern for strategic autonomy and orbital security.
Mission Objectives: Support European-led space sustainability rules, stronger liability frameworks, and protection of critical space infrastructure from reckless satellite deployments.

Germany
Focus: EU leader in regulation, engineering, environmental standards, and space sustainability.
Mission Objectives: Champion strict debris mitigation rules, environmental responsibility in orbit, and transparent licensing standards for governments and corporations.

United Kingdom
Focus: Space regulation, satellite insurance, commercial space services, and allied space security.
Mission Objectives: Promote enforceable commercial licensing rules, insurance mechanisms for debris damage, and cooperation between states, insurers, and private satellite operators.

Brazil
Focus: Emerging space actor with strategic launch geography and interest in economic development through space access.
Mission Objectives: Advocate for Global South access to launch services, satellite infrastructure, and orbital data without allowing wealthy states or corporations to monopolize orbital resources.

United Arab Emirates
Focus: New space economy built around national modernization, prestige, and commercial partnerships.
Mission Objectives: Support public-private space development, shared orbital infrastructure, and international investment models that allow newer space powers to participate in the space economy.

Regional and Organizational Representatives:

European Union
Focus: Unified space regulation, digital sovereignty, satellite infrastructure, and sustainability standards.
Mission Objectives: Advocate for binding debris mitigation rules, coordinated space traffic management, and European control over key space infrastructure.

African Union
Focus: Expanding access to satellite services for communication, agriculture, climate monitoring, and development.
Mission Objectives: Push for equitable access to space infrastructure, funding for space capacity building, and protections against orbital overcrowding that harms developing states.

ASEAN
Focus: Regional cooperation on satellite data, disaster response, maritime security, and communications.
Mission Objectives: Promote shared regional satellite infrastructure, affordable access to space-based services, and international assistance for tracking debris and protecting satellites.

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs / COPUOS
Focus: International space law, peaceful use of outer space, and long-term sustainability guidelines.
Mission Objectives: Build consensus around global debris standards, space traffic coordination, and peaceful, inclusive use of orbital infrastructure.

International Telecommunication Union
Focus: Radio spectrum allocation, orbital slots, and global communications coordination.
Mission Objectives: Address competition over orbital positions and spectrum rights, especially for satellite internet constellations and developing-state access.

Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee
Focus: Technical standards for limiting, tracking, and reducing orbital debris.
Mission Objectives: Promote practical debris mitigation measures, post-mission disposal rules, collision-avoidance procedures, and technical cooperation between space agencies.

Specialized and Non-Governmental Representatives:

SpaceX / Starlink
Focus: Large-scale commercial satellite constellations and private orbital infrastructure.
Mission Objectives: Defend the role of private industry in expanding global internet access while supporting flexible debris rules that do not cripple commercial launch and satellite operations.

Eutelsat OneWeb
Focus: Commercial satellite broadband, international connectivity, and public-private satellite services.
Mission Objectives: Promote shared satellite infrastructure for global communications, especially for remote regions, while supporting coordinated standards for constellation safety.

Astroscale
Focus: Commercial debris removal, satellite servicing, and end-of-life disposal technology.
Mission Objectives: Advocate for a market-based debris removal economy, clear legal authority to remove inactive satellites, and contracts between governments and companies for orbital cleanup.

ClearSpace
Focus: Active debris removal and sustainable in-orbit services.
Mission Objectives: Push for international rules clarifying ownership of debris, liability during debris-removal missions, and government support for cleanup operations.

Planet Labs
Focus: Earth observation satellites supporting agriculture, disaster response, climate monitoring, and economic planning.
Mission Objectives: Emphasize that space infrastructure creates direct economic benefits on Earth and must remain accessible, sustainable, and protected from debris-driven disruption.

General Mission Objectives:

Reduce creation of space debris and clarify liability for collisions, debris damage, and failed deorbiting.

Determine legal authority for debris removal and ownership of inactive objects.

Protect critical space infrastructure and ensure long-term orbital sustainability.

Ensure equitable access to satellite services, data, and orbital resources for developing states.

Define whether space infrastructure should be government-controlled, privately owned, or internationally shared.

Core Debate Questions:

Who has the right to build, own, and profit from space infrastructure?

Should orbital infrastructure be controlled by national governments, private corporations, international organizations, or public-private partnerships?

Should companies that create orbital debris pay into a cleanup fund?

Should developing nations receive guaranteed access to satellite services and orbital data?

Who has legal authority to remove dead satellites or rocket debris?

Should satellite megaconstellations face stricter limits before they are launched?

Can space remain a global commons if corporations control most of the infrastructure?

Should space debris be treated as an environmental issue, a security issue, an economic issue, or all three?

Some food for thought to get you started