Clear Orbit Secure Future 2026

2.3 Understanding the impact of debris The socioeconomic risks of orbital congestion extend beyond the direct costs quantified in this report. Analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development4 highlights the broader value at stake: Value at risk: An estimated $191 billion in global economic activity in 2024 depends on satellite services, with the bulk of the value concentrated in orbits in the congested 500–600 km orbital band. Benefits at stake: Satellite-enabled services generate major public benefits. Weather forecasting avoids about $1.4 billion in costs annually, while air-quality monitoring satellites could save thousands of lives each year. Rising collision-avoidance activity, shortened spacecraft lifetimes and recurring service interruptions translate these physical risks into sector-level economic consequences: Telecommunications: Degraded signal quality and downtime leads to corrective mechanisms, service credits and customer churn. Earth observation: Data discontinuity weakens for scientific and safety applications and for commercial services such as insurance, supply-chain monitoring and carbon accounting. The report’s data estimates suggest that service interruptions could cost up to $26.3 billion, compared to $15.5 billion in infrastructure damages, showing that the primary burden lies in lost service value rather than hardware replacement. However, the indirect consequences – including degraded connectivity, less accurate navigation signals and reduced availability of Earth observation data – could have far greater and wider-ranging economic and societal impacts than the direct cost alone. The report’s data estimates suggest that service interruptions could cost up to $26.3 billion, compared to $15.5 billion in infrastructure damages. Clear Orbit, Secure Future: A Call to Action on Space Debris 16