The Outer Space Treaty,14 the cornerstone of international space law, provides very little in terms of environmental obligations in respect of activity in outer space. 3 The European Space Agency (ESA), 'The latest figures related to space debris, provided by the ESA's Space Debris Office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany', as updated on 6 December 2023 (https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Space_Debris/Space_debris_by_the_numbers). 5 Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), 'Report on the Status of the Space Debris Environment', January 2023 (2023 IADC Report), p. 6. 7 United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), 'Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space', Vienna 2010, p. 1. 12 '"Irresponsible": Nasa chides China as rocket debris lands in Indian Ocean', The Guardian (9 May 2021) (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/09/chinese-rocket-debris-earth-indian-ocean); 'India hit by more suspected space debris', Space News (16 May 2022) (https://spacenews.com/india-hit-by-more-suspected-space-debris/;) '25-ton Chinese rocket debris crashes to Earth over Indian Ocean', Space.com (30 July 2022) (https://www.space.com/chinese-long-march-5b-rocket-space-debris-crash); 'NASA Administrator Statement on Chinese Space Debris' (30 July 2022) (https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-administrator-statement-on-chinese-space-debris/).
