Speaker
Description
The “LCA Ground Segment” project (ESA Contract No. 4000123991/18/NL/GLC/as) aims to assess the environmental performances and the applicability of eco-design principles to Ground Segment through the elaboration of a specific methodology, the involvement of ground segment experts and the in depth evaluation of the most promising options.
The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a standardized methodology, which assesses environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product/service life cycle, from raw material extraction and materials processing to manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance and disposal or recycling.
The Ground Segment’s (GS) main functions are the management of the communications between the in-orbit satellite and the mission control centre as well as the archiving and processing of the mission-specific scientific data collected.
The one-year study (started in June 2018), managed by RINA with the support of Spanish Space Company Deimos Space and French Consulting Company Bertin Technologies, is going to:
• Identify and define various “generic families” of GS representatives for Telecommunication (TC), Navigation (NAV), Scientific, Earth Observation (EO), CubeSat missions, covering their specific infrastructures and operations.
• Perform LCA of the environmental impact of the various GS families.
• Provide datasets and methodological guidelines about LCA methodology applied to GS in order to update/complete the ESA LCA Handbook and Database.
• Investigate innovative eco-design options (technical solutions, spin-ins and/or new technologies, innovative processes, etc.) by also considering non-technical aspects (cost and risks, TRL, implementation roadmap, etc.) which can be applied to the various GS family’s infrastructures and operations in order to reduce their environmental impact.
Actually the consortium is completing the analysis and the identification of different GS families, starting with collecting data through a questionnaire from selected GS facilities: ESTRACK Cebreros, Redu and Kiruna; ESOC Darmstadt; HISPASAT Arganda del Rey; ESAC Villanueva; DEIMOS-2, DeSS and LEAF SPACE Puertollano.
The project is part of the ESA Clean Space Initiative, which promotes an eco-friendly approach to space activities.
