EPFL Space Center and the Sustainable Space Initiative at the University of Auckland are starting a new joint project, led by Emmanuelle David and Priyanka Dhopade.
The project, Advancing Sustainable Space Governance Through Science-Informed Policy for Emerging Space Nations, looks at how space sustainability research can be turned into practical policy tools for countries that are new to space activities.
Over the next two years, we will look at Swiss and European approaches, such as the Space Sustainability Rating, life-cycle assessment and new European space regulation, and study how they could be adapted to Aotearoa New Zealand's growing space sector. We also want to bring recent findings on launch emissions, spacecraft re-entry and aerospace supply chains into policy discussions.
The exchange goes both ways. New Zealand can learn from Switzerland's experience in space sustainability, and its young, fast-moving commercial space sector offers a useful case study for testing how sustainability frameworks work in practice. The project includes researcher exchanges, meetings with policymakers and industry, support for early-career researchers, and will end with a policy briefing and a roadmap for future Swiss and New Zealand research.
The work is funded by a Leading House Asia Pacific Policy Engagement Grant, hosted by the University of Zurich under Switzerland's bilateral science and technology cooperation programme. The grant supports partnerships that link research to policy questions and build lasting research networks between Switzerland and the Asia-Pacific region.
We're looking forward to working together and bringing science, engineering and policy closer on this topic.