CUPs in the Near Earth Space Ecology

Peter M. Weiske, Stephen Dovers, William J. Durch and John Handmer

Chapter 6 in Re-imagining Risk and Disruption, 2026, pp 110-135 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The Near Earth Space Ecology is a harsh, high-value operational environment now home to a rapidly expanding constellations of satellites in an aggregation we call the Space Systems Complex (SSC). Compared to the topics addressed in other chapters, it is a more ‘left of boom’ arena, due both to its remoteness and high access threshold, and to early ‘first space age’ agreements to restrict claims of sovereignty as well as the testing or deployment of nuclear weapons. But as relevant technology has advanced and spread, access to space has become nearly routine for a growing number of governmental and commercial actors. Increased access to near-Earth space in particular, and the rapidly growing (and rapidly moving) populations of objects in that space, have in turn increased this ecology's vulnerability to an array of Threat~Risks, from coalescent collision ‘cascades’ generating thousands of pieces of formerly high-tech, high-speed shrapnel (‘orbital debris’, OD), to deliberate military interventions. The OD problem has grown rapidly in recent decades, a result of accelerating deployments of large new satellite constellations, accidental collisions and anti-satellite weapon testing. Efforts to reduce the risks of conflict or other loss, though ongoing in established multilateral forums, lag far behind the emergent risks, and the chapter discusses the ramifying potential of serious damage to the SSC in several ‘dark skies’ scenarios.

Keywords: Outer Space; Satellites; Space Debris; Space Weapons (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035375264
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