Commercialising and Sustaining Space: The Final Rubbish Dump -- Bonding For Better Orbits?

What goes up comes down, mostly. Many space enthusiasts neglect to mention that space is filling up with millions of pieces of junk. Space is limitless, but orbit is quite limited. The “Tragedy of the Commons” is the idea that when people have unfettered access to a finite, valuable resource, they often overuse it and destroy it. Further, as space funding moves to the private sector, investors are increasingly questioning the risk junk poses to the assets they’re funding in space.

The City of London’s 2023-2024 Space Protection Initiative rose to this challenge and connected the space industry with the insurance industry to keep space ‘clutter-free’. They propose that space debris can be kept from increasing through the introduction of Space Debris Removal Insurance Bonds (SPADRIBs). These ‘surety bonds’, aka ‘performance bonds’, would ensure that financial resources are available for the de-orbiting of failed satellites and spent launch vehicle materials,…