The world must act on space debris. Hong Kong can play a leading role
As China’s superconnector, the city can advance space sustainability by offering its legal, regulatory, academic and financial expertise
Hong Kong has a real opportunity to be a global player in the protection of our space ecosystem to ensure its sustainability. This is due to a confluence of positive circumstances, together with extensive global attention on the issue.
The evident government interest in this issue indicates it is being taken seriously. This was reflected in last month’s gathering of some of the most influential and diverse stakeholders across business, the aerospace sector, NGOs, academia and government, both in Hong Kong and on the mainland.
At the meeting, I raised a bigger-picture issue that I believe must be addressed: the threat to the entire global space economy posed by the so-called Kessler Syndrome, a situation when the amount of space junk reaches a critical tipping point and triggers a cascading wave of destruction that collapses the entire low-Earth-orbit ecosystem for satellites, space stations and space assets. This would destroy the space economy almost overnight.