The European Space Agency’s approach towards environmental impact assessment in the atmosphere: Lessons learned, knowledge gaps and roadmap

The European Space Agency (ESA) through the Clean Space Office has approached the assessment of the environmental performance of its activities by applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) since the early 2010’s. ESA through its Green Agenda (EGA) has put sustainability as one of its key pillars aiming at reducing the environmental impacts of ESA projects. The assessments of the three traditional space, launch and ground segments have been instrumental in the creation of the ESA LCA Handbook and Database which are being applied systematically to its missions. Nevertheless, significant knowledge gaps remain, particularly in understanding the intricate interactions between launcher exhaust emissions and spacecraft demise with the upper layers of the atmosphere—critical steps in the life cycle assessment process. This work will present the growing necessity to better understand the potential environmental impacts at all altitudes, the current challenges of including atmospheric impacts into LCA thinking and ESA’s consolidated efforts to address key knowledge gaps. In addition to addressing areas of uncertainty, this paper will detail ongoing activities and outline how ESA plans to enhance awareness and implement measures to mitigate the environmental impacts of space activities.