  The recent growth of the space sector, spurred by a surge in private actors,
has led to a sharp increase in our ability to address societal challenges
through space data. However, this has exacerbated an already critical situation
in space: the proliferation of space debris and a critical expansion of space
traffic which is leading to high levels of orbital congestion. In parallel,
increased levels of spacecraft production and orbital launches are also
heightening the environmental footprint of the sector. This might lead to a
paradoxical situation whereby the use of space to support the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) becomes unsustainable from the perspective of both the
Earth and space environment. This situation can be described as the space
sustainability paradox. This paper presents this concept for the first time and
argues that existing policies and remediation actions are not a long-term
sustainable solution for tackling this issue and may actually intensify the
problem. This places an added importance upon addressing space sustainability
in a more coherent, strategic and responsible manner, potentially based on the
doughnut economic model of social and planetary boundaries. Doing so may
prevent the sector from falling victim to a tragedy of the commons type of
scenario and avoid negative trends from becoming the norm. As a result, this
would ensure that outer space can continue to be used by future generations to
address societal challenges, without priming severe and enduring damage to the
Earth and space environment.
