EU Declares War on Space Junk: A Deep Dive into the New Space Act, the Starlink Dilemma and the Hidden Climate Costs of Orbital Debris
The EU Space Act was presented on 25 June 2025 and would impose EU-wide rules on launch licensing, debris-mitigation, end-of-life disposal, cybersecurity and environmental impact, with fines up to 2% of global turnover. If approved, most provisions would apply from 2030, including special traffic-coordination duties for mega (100+) and giga (1,000+) constellations. The debris crisis features about 40,000 tracked objects orbiting Earth and more than 1.2 million pieces larger than 1 cm, with at least 3,000 new debris fragments created in 2024. Starlink has launched 7,578 satellites, of which 7,556 were operational as of 30 May 2025. SpaceX logged over