Workshop topics and outcome
Space, as any other ecosystem, has a finite capacity. The continuous growth of space activities, due to our increasing reliance on services from Space, the privatisation of the space market and the lower cost of deploying smaller and distributed missions in orbit, is from one side improving human-life quality and, however, it is also contributing to overloading this delicate system. International discussion is ongoing at the Inter Agency Debris Coordination Committee and at COPUOS on how to measure the overall capacity of the space environment and assess the impact that individual missions have on it.
The 2nd Space capacity allocation for the sustainability of space activities workshop will be held in Politecnico di Milano (Italy) on 3-5 June 2026, in Bovisa Campus at the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology.
The workshop is organised by Politecnico di Milano, the European Space Agency Space and the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). The workshop is sponsored by the GREEN SPECIES project funded by the European Research Council lead by Politecnico di Milano and co-sponsored by Secure World Foundation.
This workshop is open to space operators, regulators, researchers working in the space debris field and in space law. The aim is:
- to discuss and compare current advances in research on space capacity modelling and management to make a step further in reaching an international agreement on modelling the Space capacity and defining an accepted threshold.
- to offer a constructive and interdisciplinary framework to advance the discussion on space sustainability and space capacity management from a legal and economic perspective.
- to embrace different factors that affect space sustainability such as: long-term orbital capacity, short term slotting for space traffic management, emission into the atmosphere at re-entry and launch, integration between re-entry and air traffic control, light pollution by orbiting spacecraft.
In this view, the following topics will be addressed and discussed during the workshop:
- From modelling to a forecast of the long-term evolution of the space object population environment;
- Analysis on how mitigation guideline can adapt to the change in the launch trend and the increase of large constellations;
- Comparing indices to assess the impact of missions to the space debris environment;
- Measuring and defining thresholds for the overall space carrying capacity;
- Proposals to manage the space environment on the long-term;
- Integrate different indicators such as light pollution, atmosphere emissions, casualty risk at re-entry, etc.;
- Policy and economic studies on space debris mitigations and applicability of capacity management strategies;
- Economic studies on space debris mitigations and applicability of capacity management strategies.
As outcome of the workshop, a special issue of a journal will be initiated with invited publications. In addition, a report and statement to be shared with the outcome of the discussion will be prepared.
Workshop organisation
The workshop will be organised in presence only, with presentations by participants alternating with working sessions and discussions. Some presentations will be also broadcasted for remote participants.
