Professor Danielle Wood, head of the Space Enabled research group, joined WGBH's Curiosity Desk to discuss the growing challenge of space debris and how sustainable space design can protect both the space environment and life on Earth.

In the conversation, Wood explained why the rapid increase in satellite launches demands new approaches to space traffic management and policy. She highlighted her group's work designing simulations and engineering analyses to reduce collision risks, as well as her role advising the US delegation to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Wood also described the Space Enabled group's three core areas of activity: partnering with leaders in Africa, Latin America, and indigenous communities to apply satellite technology to local needs such as monitoring drought and tracking methane emissions; advocating for equitable access to space; and inventing new technologies — including a beeswax-based propulsion system designed to safely de-orbit satellites at the end of their missions.

"I think it's so important that humanity pauses right now," Wood said. "We have a chance to say, look, we're about to have the ability to send things regularly to the moon. Let's be so thoughtful."