As of 1 January 2009, there were 1,186 objects with a cross-section of more than 1 m catalogued in the geostationary region and its immediate vicinity. Of these, only 381 are operational satellites.

Geostationary orbit is a scarce resource and, unlike in low-Earth orbit, we cannot rely on the natural mechanisms occurring below a certain altitude to keep it clean of debris.

Debris can drift inside an operating satellite’s orbital “box”. An explosion in the vicinity of geostationary orbit can have catastrophic consequences, generating new debris and posing new collision hazards.
Measures to mitigate debris in this orbit are therefore an absolute and urgent necessity: allowing too much debris to build up here could ultimately make this very valuable region of space unusable.

Mitigation measures are relatively simple and can be achieved at a moderate cost. They consist in boosting end-of-life objects to about 300 km above GEO, then passivating them to avert future risks of explosion.
Although such measures are not mandatory, some operators are applying them already to free up slots occupied by old satellites for new ones.

But uptake of mitigation measures is still relatively slow. In the last 10 years, only one-third of operators have performed end-of-life reorbiting operations in full compliance with IADC rules. Another third have gone no further than partially reorbiting a satellite to ensure it does not interfere with others in geostationary orbit. And the remaining third have done nothing at all: when their satellites run out of fuel, they simply discard them in space, with the obvious consequences. However, more and more operators are now starting to apply mitigation measures.

In response to this situation, space agencies are working together to raise these issues with operators and persuade them to act. Their aim is not only to increase regulatory compliance, but also to identify obstacles and update regulations where necessary.
To this end, CNES organized two workshops on end-of-life disposal in geostationary orbit, in January 2006 and January 2008, bringing together 50 participants from space agencies, operators and manufacturers.