Since 1957, more than 4,800 space launches have led to an on-orbit population today of approximately 13,200 trackable objects, with sizes larger than 10 cm. Less than 800 of these are operational spacecraft. The remaining 94% are space debris, i.e. objects which no longer serve any useful purpose. About 50% of the routinely tracked objects are fragments from explosions and breakups of satellites or rocket bodies. In addition, there is evidence of a much larger population of debris that cannot be tracked operationally. Almost 600,000 objects larger than 1 cm are expected to reside in terrestrial space.

Due to relative orbital velocities of up 56,000 km/h, centimeter-sized debris can seriously damage or disable an operational spacecraft, and collisions with objects larger than 10 cm will lead to catastrophic fragmentations, releasing hazardous debris clouds. Spacecraft designers and mission operators should thus implement debris mitigation measures to avoid the release of debris, and to conserve the environment in the already densely populated low Earth and geostationary orbit regions. - The Conference will provide all pieces of information required by spacecraft and launch system designers and operators to control the space debris environment with the aim of safe, sustainable space activities for future generations.