NASA Unveils Space Sustainability Strategy to Ensure Future Use

NASA is seeking to advance its global leadership in preserving space through the Space Sustainability Strategy that the agency rolled out on Tuesday. 

According to Pam Melroy, NASA deputy administrator and a Wash100 award winner, the already busy space is “only getting busier,” and the strategy’s implementation is a timely move to ensure that the critical parts of space are preserved for future use. 

The strategy seeks to integrate space sustainability efforts, including the analytical tools and technologies that operators have adopted worldwide, NASA said. 

A new NASA director will be appointed to coordinate inter-agency activities related to sustainable space operations, including the best practices developed so far. 

The strategy’s approaches include support for equitable access to space and ensuring that the agency’s missions and operations promote space preservation. The strategy also focuses on identifying cost-effective methods to meet sustainability goals and incentivizing the use of sustainable practices via technology and policy adoption.

NASA’s space sustainability operational approach covers the four domains of Earth, Earth orbit, cislunar space or the orbital area near and around the moon, and deep space. The strategy’s first volume concentrates on Earth orbit sustainability, with additional volumes on the other domains planned for production later.

Earlier NASA efforts to promote space sustainability include research funding for three university-based teams awarded in September 2022.