European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen and NASA's Kathleen Rubins on a field trip to the volcanic island of Lanzarote, in preparation for a moon landing (Photo: ESA/A.Romeo)

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Europe to define new space ambitions at February summit

EU & the World

by Lisbeth Kirk, Arrecife,

European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen and NASA's Kathleen Rubins on a field trip to the volcanic island of Lanzarote, in preparation for a moon landing (Photo: ESA/A.Romeo)

Space is thought to be unlimited, but the lower Earth orbit (LEO) is limited - and filling quickly up with new satellites and space litter from old ones.

The lack of space has already put the two richest men on planet Earth, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, at odds.

Musk's Starlink has placed some 16,000 satellites in orbit to deliver high-speed internet to anyone on the planet.

Amazon's Bezos' competing project, Kuiper, hopes to have 3,200 satellites in operation after its first l...