Speaker
Description
Atmospheric re-entry is an increasingly important yet still underrepresented phase in the environmental assessment of space systems. Although design-for-demise (D4D) strategies are essential for compliance with debris mitigation requirements, they also promote material ablation and the release of chemical species into the upper atmosphere. Current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approaches largely neglect re-entry or represent it through highly simplified, static assumptions, failing to capture the transient, trajectory-dependent, and altitude-specific nature of emissions.
This work presents, for the first time, a time-resolved and trajectory-dependent LCA framework for satellite atmospheric re-entry, enabled by the Trans-atmospherIc flighT simulAtioN (TITAN) tool developed at the University of Strathclyde. TITAN uniquely models spacecraft byproduct generation at component level along a full six-degree-of-freedom trajectory, incorporating detailed thermochemical species information through Gibbs energy minimisation of air–material mixtures. This enables explicit prediction of emitted species, including metals, metal oxides, and more complex compounds, as continuous functions of time and altitude throughout the re-entry phase.
The main novelty of this study lies in coupling TITAN’s time-dependent emission profiles with LCA methodologies to evaluate environmental impacts dynamically along the re-entry trajectory. In contrast to conventional approaches based on aggregated emission inventories, the proposed framework resolves both when and where emissions occur, allowing impact characterization as a function of altitude and flight conditions. This constitutes the first implementation of a fully dynamic LCA methodology for spacecraft re-entry, capturing the evolving interaction between emissions and atmospheric layers.
A representative satellite, consisting of an aluminium structure, solar arrays, and electronic subsystems, is analysed under both uncontrolled tumbling and controlled re-entry scenarios. The resulting emission inventories are processed within an LCA framework based on the Strathclyde Space Systems Database, developed at the University of Strathclyde and built upon ecoinvent processes, to quantify impact categories such as particulate matter formation, atmospheric toxicity, and potential perturbations to atmospheric chemistry. By preserving the temporal and spatial resolution of emissions, the approach extends traditional static models and reveals sensitivities to re-entry dynamics, flight conditions, and material composition.
By introducing a novel coupling between detailed re-entry physics and dynamic life cycle impact assessment, this work establishes a new capability for evaluating the environmental footprint of spacecraft demise. It supports the development of greener
materials, improved D4D strategies, and more informed policy decisions, directly contributing to ESA’s Clean Space objectives for sustainable space operations.