Evolution of Policies and Technologies for Space Debris Mitigation Based on Bibliometric and Patent Analyses

The lack of technologies for space debris removal and explicit rules for the use of space are jeopardizing the future of space activities. Thus, the objective of this work was to analyse the current scientific research for space debris mitigation, prevention, monitoring and removal. We used bibliometric and patent analyses from the following databases: Space-Track, CelesTrak, Derwent and Web of Science. In this work, the scientific, technological and political actions oriented to space debris mitigation were divided into (1) prevention policies, (2) monitoring and (3) capture. We observed great interest, mainly by the major spacefaring nations, in the development of technologies for detection and removal of space debris from low Earth orbit. This increasing interest to develop feasible technologies and effective policies includes governments, space agencies, universities, institutes and private companies, especially from the main spacefaring nations.