SWF and LeoLabs Host Orbital Debris Remediation Summit in New Zealand

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Secure World Foundation and LeoLabs hosted an Orbital Debris Remediation Summit in Queenstown, New Zealand, February 20-22, 2024, to discuss and develop means to collectively address how to catalyze the operational deployment of remediation missions to include active debris removal (ADR). The event brought together a focused group of international experts from industry, governments, and civil society to brainstorm ideas for making progress on ADR, and specifically on large space debris.

The first day of the event was a workshop that explored potential concepts and innovations to overcome economic, programmatic, economic, and diplomatic hurdles to making remediation a reality. The second day featured further discussions as well as a tour of LeoLabs' Kiwi Space Radar, located on the South Island of New Zealand. The third day included a visit to the University of Auckland on the North Island to discuss future research needs to support ADR and potential collaborations with academia. 

A summary of the workshop discussions will be available soon and the findings and recommendations will be featured at SWF's 6th Summit for Space Sustainability, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan, July 11-12, 2024.

For more information about the event, please contact SWF Chief Program Officer Dr. Brian Weeden.