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Space Circularity Blog Post 10: Buzzword or Breakthrough? Is the Circular Space Economy a Useful Concept?
After a few weeks of pulling apart the components, actors, systems, and incentives that might form a circular space economy, it’s time to step back. Not to wrap things up with a neat bow — but to ask a more fundamental question. Is the circular space economy actually a useful concept? Or are we applying
Space Circularity Blog Post 9: Follow the Money – Can a Circular Space Economy Pay for Itself?
It’s easy to agree that space should be sustainable. It’s harder to make it profitable. For all the talk of orbital recycling, satellite servicing, and debris removal, one question keeps cropping up: who’s going to pay for it — and how? Circularity is not just a technical challenge, but an economic one. On Earth, we’ve
Space Circularity Blog Post 8: Circularity by Design – Why Satellite Modularity Might Be the Game Changer
If space is to become a truly circular domain, it won’t happen by chasing down debris with nets or lasers — it will happen upstream, in design choices. One of the most compelling — and most elusive — of those choices is modularity. At its core, modularity means designing satellites not as sealed, single-purpose machines,
Space Circularity Blog Post 7: Who Would Do What? Mapping the Actors in a Circular Space Economy
Circular economies aren’t powered by principles alone — they’re powered by people, organisations, and aligned incentives. On Earth, recycling systems rely on designers, regulators, service providers, and material processors to work together. When that coordination fails, even the most well-intentioned circular initiatives tend to stall. In space, where access is costly and every object hurtling
Space Circularity Blog Post 6: Do We Need Recycling Plants in Orbit or Is That Missing the Point?
This may seem a slightly controversial post by the title but stick with it. The answer is yes, but… If space is to develop a circular economy, it’s natural to imagine the infrastructure that would support it. One of the most frequently imagined — and most visually compelling — ideas is an orbital recycling station.
Space Circularity Blog Post 5: Constellations and Circularity – Can We Recycle the Most Common Satellites in Orbit?
Conversation about circularity in space often returns to the same foundational question: what are we trying to recycle, exactly? While the term might conjure images of defunct satellites or upper stages from long-abandoned missions, the most pressing objects to consider aren’t relics of the past — they’re the small, operational satellites being launched today in
Space Circularity Blog Post 4: Shared Domains, Shared Responsibility: Circularity in Commons-Based Systems
When we talk about sustainability in space, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking about hardware – satellites, rockets, materials. But just as important is the context those systems operate within. Space is not privately owned, nationally enclosed, or governed by a single authority. It is a shared domain – a commons. On
Space Circularity Blog Post 3: What’s Inside a Satellite – and Is It Worth Recovering?
In the previous posts, I outlined what a circular economy might mean in space, and looked at how Earth-based circular systems in shared domains have developed – or struggled to. Now it’s time to get more specific. If we’re serious about circularity in orbit, we need to look closely at what’s actually up there. Satellites,
Space Circularity Blog Post 2: Lessons From Earth
If we want to apply circular economy principles to space, it’s worth looking back to where those principles first gained traction – here on Earth. In recent decades, sectors as diverse as construction, electronics, and even shipping have adopted forms of circular thinking. Not always fully or successfully, but often enough to offer us case
Space Circularity Blog Post 1: What is a Circular Economy?
On Earth, the term “circular economy” has gained traction across industries and policy circles as a framework for reducing waste, conserving resources, and redesigning systems to keep materials in circulation. The model offers an alternative to the traditional linear model of “take, make, dispose”, which generates significant environmental harm and relies heavily on continued access