The Green Circularity: Life Cycle Assessments for the Space Industry

The environmental impacts of space activities are particularly challenging to understand and address given their complexity and distribution across different domains and industries. This paper provides an overview of environmental and sustainability trends and offers options for the U.S. government, and Department of Defense (DOD) in particular, to consider and adopt environmental life cycle assessments (E-LCAs) in space acquisitions. As both DOD and civilian spacefaring agencies seek reduced environmental footprints, E-LCAs can motivate the space industry to improve designs, practices, and realize operational and economic efficiencies.

Authors: Karen L. Jones and Asha K. Jain