Target audience
Space stakeholders (engineers, scientists, non technical managers, policy practitioners, etc.) active in space agencies, aerospace industries or related fields and concerned about preserving the sustainability and safety of the space environment in the long-term.
The course will be given in English.
Overview
In recent years, the exponential growth of spatial activities, driven in part by the expanding commercial use of space, has yielded promising business opportunities. However, this expansion has also left behind a significant challenge – an ever-increasing population of space debris, with over 29,000 objects currently observable in Earth’s orbit. With the number of satellite launches continuing to increase, ensuring the enduring viability of this vital frontier for future generations is critical.
As active participants in space agencies and aerospace industries, how can we secure the long-term usability of space? And, how can we design and operate missions and space businesses with a keen focus on sustainability?
Objectives
- Understand what space sustainability means (history, geopolitical challenges, latest research updates) and how to measure it from economic, societal and environmental perspectives
- Acquire tools and methodologies to develop more sustainable missions (ESA’s MASTER and DRAMA suite, Space Sustainability Rating, Life Cycle Assessment & Environmental Impact Assessment, etc.)
- Grasp how the space sector can benefit from the adoption of Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approaches
- Engage with space sustainability researchers, industry experts, and fellow members of the space community
Program
Day 1 : Introduction to Space Sustainability
- Introduction to Space Sustainability
Emmanuelle David, EPFL - Space Sustainability History & Geopolitics Challenges
Minoo Rathnasabapathy, MIT - Space Law and regulations
UK Space Agency - Practitioner’s testimony : How to think of sustainability? From the example of climate neutral aviation to the big picture
Sascha Nick, EPFL
Day 2 : Technologies Incorporated in Space Sustainability
- Technical Challenges of Space Sustainability: Space Logistics, SSA
Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib, EPFL & Dr. Stephan Hellmich, EPFL - The metrics of space sustainability and how to measure sustainability in the economic, societal, and environmental perspective
Emmanuelle David, EPFL - Space Sustainability Rating (SSR) : How it works and how SSR can contribute to the development of more sustainable missions
Emmanuelle David, EPFL - Servicing the Hubble Telescope
Prof. Claude Nicollier, EPFL
Day 3 : The metrics of Sustainability
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) & Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from an eco-design perspective during mission development
Mathieu Udriot, EPFL - ESA’s tools to develop more sustainable missions : MASTER (Meteoroid and Space Debris Terrestrial Environment Reference) & DRAMA suite (Debris Risk Assessment and Mitigation Analysis)
Vitali Braun, IMS Space Consultancy - Group work : Practical experimentation of tools and methods
- Practitioners presentation
Romain Buchs, Clearspace
Day 4 : ESG / CSR and Economics of Space Sustainability
- ESG/CSR and economics of space sustainability
Sabrina Alam, BDO Luxembourg - Earth-Space Sustainability: A broadened policy agenda for satellite infrastructure systems
Dr. Xiao-Shan Yap, EPFL - Conclusion, Emmanuelle David, EPFL
Click here to consult the full PROGRAM
Instructors
- Sabrina Alam, Director, Sustainability Services, BDO Luxembourg
- Vitali Braun, Space Debris Engineer, IMS Space Consultancy
- Emmanuelle David, Executive Director, EPFL Space Center (eSpace)
- Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib, Academic Director, EPFL Space Center (eSpace) ; Director of the Laboratory of Astrophysics (LASTRO), School of Basic Sciences (SB), EPFL
- Dr. Minoo Rathnasabapathy, Research Engineer, MIT Media Lab & Fellow, Future of Space, World Economic Forum
- Mathieu Udriot, Engineer, EPFL Space Center (eSpace)
- Dr. Xiao-Shan Yap, Senior Policy Advisor, EPFL Space Center (eSpace)
Guest Lecturers
- Romain Buchs, Space Policy & Strategy, Clearspace
- Dr. Stephan Hellmich, Scientist, EPFL
- Sascha Nick, Scientist, Laboratory of Environment and Urban Economics, EPFL
- Prof. Claude Nicollier, Swiss Astronaut
Testimonial from a participant
“The course was a great mix of technical applications and policy assessment exercises to get us thinking about space sustainability, a key element to further innovation in low Earth orbit. I learned a lot about life cycle assessment of space technology and the history of space sustainability policy at the global level. It was extremely interesting!”
Kristi
Innovation Commissioner
Certification
A certificate of attendance will be delivered at the end of the course.
Organisation
- EPFL Space Center (eSpace), EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne), Switzerland
In collaboration with :
- Karman Project
- European Space Agency (ESA)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Steering Committee
- Emmanuelle David, Executive Director, EPFL Space Center (eSpace)
- Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib, Academic Director, EPFL Space Center (eSpace) ; Director of the Laboratory of Astrophysics (LASTRO), School of Basic Sciences (SB), EPFL
Practical information
Dates and schedule
- Monday March 24, 2025, 1 pm to 6.30 pm
- Tuesday March 25, 2025, 9 am to 5 pm
- Wednesday March 26, 2025, 9 am to 5.30 pm
- Thursday March 27, 2025 8 am to 12 pm
Course venue
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Required Material
Participants should bring their own laptop (for hands-on experience).
Course fee
2’400.- Swiss Francs
10% special discounts:
- For contributing members of EPFL Alumni
- For EPFL partners
The discounts are not cumulative.
Registration deadline
Online registration is closed. To register, please contact at the following email address: patrice.odiet@unil.ch
Be alerted as soon as registration opens for the next edition of this course, register on our Stay Informed platform.
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