Space debris mitigation guidelines for lunar orbits

The following guidelines originate from a collaborative initiative between the EPFL Space Center and Politecnico di Torino, as part of ongoing research within a master’s thesis dedicated to exploring the state of the art of sustainability policies in lunar orbit. These recommendations stem from the authors’ research efforts, complemented by a thorough review of literature and space law in both lunar and Earth orbits, incorporating insights gathered from experts and stakeholders in the field. The collective expertise contributed to infusing this document with scientific credibility, instructing on the behaviours to adopt from the design phase to the end-of-life of a mission to the Moon or the Lagrangian points of the Earth—Moon system. The primary aim is the ensure the long-term sustainability of Lunar activities. This document is matched with the final report of a master’s thesis project entitled “Sustainable missions to the Moon — Sustainability guidelines for lunar activities, a state of the art”, and as of April 2024 is not published yet. In the latter, each guideline is discussed and argued, with appropriate scientific references. Several topics presented in the guidelines have been examined in the PhD thesis “Study of cislunar dynamics and environment for orbital debris mitigation”, by P. Guardabasso, 2023, at ISAE-Suparéo University of Toulouse.