Speaker
Description
When looking at the complex value chain of space systems, the obsolescence risk due to the use of critical raw materials (CRM) is a critical issue for the space industry and needs to be investigated and anticipated.
The European space sector needs to find ways to anticipate obsolescence risks related to CRM use and develop technological solutions that minimize those risks as early as possible in the design of future space systems.
ESA has adopted the eco-design approach to design future space missions in a more environmentally friendly way: eco-design is a preventive approach to mitigate the environmental impacts of a product (good or service) as early as possible in the design phase. To do so, ESA successfully applied Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to space activities. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a powerful method, standardized at international level by ISO, to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of products and services in a comprehensive and objective manner and from a multi-criteria life cycle perspective.
ESA deemed these obsolescence risks as a fully-fledged dimension of its eco-design framework towards more sustainable space activities. This is why ESA commissioned a consortium led by Deloitte Sustainability to develop an LCA-related methodology to identify, flag and classify the obsolescence risks due to CRM use through the complete life-cycle of space products.
The project’s first step consists of a literature review and interviews aiming to identify existing similar initiatives in other sectors. Secondly, the project team has calculated the main raw materials’ criticality for the European space sector. Thirdly, a systematical methodology was developed to map the CRM obsolescence risks to the use of certain space components/materials in the design of a space mission. This methodology now needs to be tested on several test cases to check its applicability.
In this presentation, we will recall the context and challenges related to the use of Critical Raw Materials in the European Space Sector. Then, we will present the methodology used to recalculate the criticality of main raw materials and the factors that were specifically adapted to the case of the European space industry. Finally, we will present the methodology proposed to map the obsolescence risks related to CRM use in the early design of a space mission and discuss about the next steps of the project.
