우주쓰레기로 인한 우주환경문제와 그 감경을 위한 법적 고찰

The Recently, there has been a global craze for ESG. Following this global trend, Korea is also experiencing an explosion of interest in ESG in various fields, and companies and various organizations are declaring ESG management. However, Korea has yet to establish even a comprehensive evaluation standard for ESG, and it is a paradoxical situation that the preparation and implementation of ESG regulatory legislation is still ambiguous. Under these circumstances, it is necessary for Korea to become an international leader in the field of space environment protection by taking the lead in establishing new international standards not only in ESG but also in the 3-S field, which is the safety, security, and sustainability of space activities. Since Korea entered the space industry in 1989 with the establishment of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, on May 25, 2023, the third launch of the Korean launch vehicle Nuri was successfully completed. With this, Korea became the seventh country in the world to have its own launch vehicle and joined the ranks of the so-called "G7" space powers. On the other hand, unlike the recent global craze for ESG and environmental issues, the environmental issues in space have not yet received much attention or concern, not only in Korea, a member of the Space Club, but also globally. This is especially true when compared to the fact that ESG discussions are being held globally for the sustainable survival and development of humanity, and environmental issues are becoming an issue every day. In fact, the reason for this is that the number of countries directly involved in space development is limited, despite the fact that environmental issues, which are crucial for the sustainable survival and development of humanity, deal with the core values of ESG. In particular, the issue of space debris is far too unfamiliar in comparison to its importance. It is clear that the problem of space debris is not limited to the countries involved in space development. Currently, we've launched about 12,000 satellites into space, of which about 7,000 are in Earth orbit. However, only about 3,500 of them are confirmed to be operational. In particular, there are about 27,000 space vehicles registered with the CSpOC, so all but 3,500 of them are space debris. Moreover, with more than 60,000 satellites scheduled to be launched in the next decade, the problem of space debris is even more dangerous than the problem of garbage on Earth. However, the above is only the space debris of satellites that have reached the end of their life cycle. The problem becomes even more serious if we include space debris, which is a byproduct of satellite launches. Space debris is traveling in Earth's orbit at a faster speed than a bullet, and the problem of it colliding with a satellite that is performing normal activities is a very serious one. In addition, the global environmental consequences of end-of-life space debris falling to Earth can be devastating to any part of the planet, regardless of whether or not it is a country participating in space development. In fact, the issue of space debris, or space environment, is very important as a matter of survival before the issue of sustainable development of humanity on Earth. Therefore, this article aims to spark interest in the space environment as well as the Earth environment in the coming space age from the ESG perspective, which has been discussed in recent years. To this end, this article will review the current space waste guidelines in terms of international standardization of ESG-based space waste mitigation criteria as a new international standard.