Chaos in Orbit: Why Earth Needs a 'Space Council' Before It's Too Late

Space Has Become the "Wild West"

The world needs a "space council" to govern orbital traffic.

December 18, 2025

The world needs a space council to govern orbital traffic.

With the surge in launches and satellites, space has turned into the "Wild West," while existing international agreements—including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty—have grown outdated. The plummeting cost of orbital launches and the rapid expansion of private space companies have intensified competition and heightened the risk of collisions in orbit, Foreign Policy reports (translated by Charter97.org).

Today's core challenges lie less in territorial disputes or lunar resource extraction than in satellite safety and space traffic management. There are no universal flight coordination protocols, standardized procedures for decommissioning defunct orbital objects, or institutionalized communication channels between governments and private firms.

Yet many principles have already been agreed upon: for instance, the UN's Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities outline voluntary norms for data sharing, coordination, and debris minimization. However, compliance remains unregulated, and the lack of enforcement mechanisms could spark a crisis as the space economy reaches full scale.

The author proposes a solution: establishing a conference of parties (or council) for the Outer Space Treaty. This format would allow for the gradual refinement of concepts like "due regard" for other actors and standards of accountability, transforming broad treaty obligations into concrete rules.

The council would serve as a platform for regular meetings of delegates, scientists, and private-sector representatives, streamlining diplomatic negotiations and developing agreed-upon "rules of the road" for space. This approach mirrors annual climate conferences, focusing global attention and creating incentives for collective action.