By Michael Mainelli
The City is bringing together investors and inventors to make sure the future of space technology is sustainable, peaceful and equitable, says Michael Mainelli
Last week, here in the City of London, the Commonwealth Secretariat launched its new space protection initiative, CommonSpace. This took place at the City’s science and innovation banquet, celebrating the City of London as a centre for science and technology, which in turn reinforces its standing as a global financial centre. This is at the heart of this year’s mayoral theme, Connect To Prosper: celebrating the knowledge miles of our Square Mile. 40 learned societies, 70 universities, and 130 research institutes surround the City of London, making this the world’s most productive concentration of knowledge networks – the world’s coffee house, where science and finance meet to solve global problems. There is no challenge more global than how we manage space.
CommonSpace integrates the Commonwealth’s plan with the principles of the Astra Carta Framework launched by His Majesty the King to help companies align their space activities with global sustainability goals. Building on the Lord Mayor’s Space Protection Initiative, launched at the International Astronautical Congress 2023, which aims to protect our planet from the growing environmental and financial problem of space junk, CommonSpace brings together 56 member states of the Commonwealth, all working to ensure the future of space is sustainable, peaceful, and equitable.
We need space for our defence, for our economic prosperity and for monitoring our environment. Defence, because we want to see what our neighbours are up to.
Economic prosperity, because from internet access to mobile phone coverage to weather data, we all depend on space technology. Global satellites underpin at least 18 per cent of UK GDP, supporting everything from mapping to weather forecasting, monitoring the power grid and enabling every single financial transaction. Indeed, the space sector is shifting from one that has been largely governmental to one increasingly commercial.
And the environment, because space is an essential part of meeting our climate change and sustainable development goals. In fact, as the UN has pointed out, nearly 40 per cent of sustainable development targets use earth observation and global navigation satellite systems. There is no way we will reach net zero with the current rate of increase of space junk. So, if we want to save our planet, we need to look beyond it.
The problem is, Earth’s orbit is becoming overcrowded, not only with new satellites, but with thousands of old ones and more than a million pieces of debris. This affects the space investment landscape and risks stifling innovation.
The City of London must take a lead in tackling this challenge. The UK is the leading destination for space investment in Europe and receives 17 per cent of all global space investment, which supports almost 50,000 jobs. We are mobilising this expertise to provide Space Debris Removal Insurance Bonds and other financial products to help companies bring space junk safely out of orbit. These insurance bonds will cover space companies with the ability to de-orbit third party space debris.
The aim is to help keep space ‘clutter-free’, seeing if we can move forward to G7 and perhaps G20 communiqués on space debris. That could, for example, involve governments requiring proof of adequate financial means for retiring unused satellite and launch vehicle materials before permitting launch, orbit, registration, or ground station use. We would like to work with the private sector to develop a market for such guarantees and require adequate financial guarantees as a condition of launch by the end of this decade.
If we would not accept waste being dumped on the street, we should not accept it in space either. Using our expertise in space and insurance, the UK has the opportunity to establish itself as a global leader in space finance, working with our fellow Commonwealth members to ensure space regains its potential to transform all our lives for the better.
Michael Mainelli is Lord Mayor if the City of London
