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What to do with space debris

IEverything has changed in space travel in recent years, and this can be summed up in one sentence. “There are about 6,500 satellites in space, of which about 3,000 belong to the American multi-billionaire Elon Musk,” says Rolf Densing, ESA’s European Space Agency director for mission operations. There are private individuals, new goals are set: Space X, Musk’s space company, wants to send another 42,000 satellites into orbit in the coming years. It is also heading to the moon and Mars, even in manned space travel. Densing likes it. He sounds a bit like the saying “competition is good for business” when he talks about the influence of private space operators.

Of course, ESA also cooperates with these suppliers. For example, with a Swiss start-up that is developing something like a waste disposal probe for space debris on behalf of ESA. Because where there are a lot of satellites, there is also a lot of garbage. There is a lot to do, including in international legislation. So there are jobs that are more boring than those of Densing and his colleagues – and apparently ESA is so attractive as an employer that employees don’t get carried away despite private offers. “Whoever is here loves to stay long,” says Densing at a FAZ “Club of Clever Minds” event. As evidence, a look at the curriculum of Holger Krag, head of ESA’s space security program, shows just that: Krag is the foremost expert on space debris, who started in Darmstadt in 2006 and leads the fastest growing program since 2019. ‘ESA. So much to do.

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