Verified facts grounded in source documentation.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre successfully launched PHI-1, the first modular satellite platform developed under the Payload Hosting Initiative, in partnership with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs on November 30, 2025.
Madari Space plans to launch a pilot orbital data center system into Low Earth Orbit in 2026 in collaboration with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
The SSC's international guidelines directly address many aspects of the 21 consensus Long-Term Sustainability guidelines approved by the United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in June 2019.
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics estimates there are 14 defunct spacecraft in LEO that were either licensed by the U.K., owned by British entities, or registered by the U.K. with the United Nations.
Amanda Solloway supports the United Kingdom partnering with the United Nations to implement and promote long-term sustainability standards to emerging and established space-faring nations.
The 3SOS initiative intends to build on existing efforts including the 21 space sustainability guidelines approved by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in June.