Space Sustainability: Challenges in the new Space Economy Era

The space sector is undergoing a significant growth and evolution, going from a field dominated by governments and focused on exploration and scientific development to a global economy in which private actors and international cooperation thrive. This exponential growth has brought awareness on the sustainability of space activities. This thesis explores the structure, trends, and challenges of the space economy, the role of sustainability in the space sector and the use of Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts associated to all the stages of a product, service or process life cycle. The objective of the thesis is the preparation of the documentation needed to conduct a Life-Cycle Assessment, in order to evaluate the sustainability of a project. The thesis firstly reports the historical context of the space economy, from the Cold War until the current days, identifying the main players of the sector, including space agencies, private companies, and international organizations and the differences from the beginning of the space race. It analyzes how technological innovation, lower launch costs and private investments have allowed the expansion of commercial space services, from satellite constellations to space tourism, and how these developments are changing the global market dynamics. Sustainability has become a critical issue in the space sector, since it is experiencing a constant growth. This work analyzes the challenges that sustainability faces such as orbital congestion, space debris, and the environmental footprint of launch systems. It evaluates the strategies of the most important institutions like ESA and NASA, and reviews the emerging technological solutions, including active debris removal and the use of sustainable fuels. The thesis applies Life Cycle Assessment methodology to the space systems in order to support environmental accountability in the space sector. It shows how LCA can be adapted to the space sector and how the documentation needs to be prepared for conducting the analysis tailored to the Argonaut project, the case under study, highlighting the benefits of integrating sustainability into mission design. Argonaut is a ESA’s project, commissioned to Thales Alenia Space, that will develop a reusable service module for cargo transport to the lunar orbit, supporting NASA’s Artemis program. The research concludes that the long-term success of the space economy depends not only on innovation and investments but also on sustainable practices and governance frameworks. As space plays a growing role in the global economy and society, developing it responsibly is both important and necessary.