Intensifying space activity calls for increased scrutiny of risks

As the pace of space activities accelerates and societies become more reliant on space-based systems, the associated risks deserve more attention. Satellites form a critical infrastructure on which military, civil and commercial entities rely. The services they provide are increasingly used in everyday life, raising the prominence of space safety, security and sustainability, and making the development of strategies to address the associated risks more necessary. In this article, we highlight the complexity of the risks inherent to human-made objects in space, noting in particular the pressing issue of space debris in low Earth orbit.