The environmental sustainability of space sciences

Jürgen Knödlseder – IRAP

Anthropogenic activities are increasingly perturbing the Earth system, pushing it out of the safe operating zone that forms the basis of human civilisations. As emphasised by the CNRS ethics committee, research agents need to take responsibility for the environmental impacts of their activities, and work on their reduction. In this presentation I will focus on the environmental sustainability of space sciences, since they are a fundamental part of astrophysical research, in particular at IRAP. I will summarise the current knowledge about the environmental impacts of space sciences, explaining their origin, and identifying the impacts that are of most concern. I will then discuss possibilities to reduce these environmental impacts. I will demonstrate that the current evolution of space activities, in particular in view of the Newspace dynamics, is not sustainable. I will conclude by discussing a possible path forwards.