NASA's Space Sustainability Strategy: A Blueprint for the Future of Earth's Orbit

NASA has unveiled its Space Sustainability Strategy, a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring the safety, stability, and sustainability of operations in Earth's orbit. This strategy addresses the growing problems posed by the fast-changing space environment and lays out a clear route for ensuring that space stays accessible and valuable to future generations.

The strategy identifies several major challenges to space sustainability, such as a lack of a unified framework for assessing sustainability, insufficient metrics and modeling, uncertainties in the space environment, tensions between mission interests and sustainability, and the need for a coordinated global response. These problems underscore the difficulty of ensuring that space activities do not jeopardize the long-term survival of the space environment.

Goals & Objectives

To address these problems, NASA has established six goals:

1. Create a Framework for Assessing Space Sustainability: NASA intends to develop a model that includes parameters for assessing sustainability, determining tolerable risk thresholds, and publishing the agency's influence on space sustainability on an annual basis.

2. Prioritize Ways to Reduce Uncertainties: This includes finding potential for advances in sensing and anticipating the operational environment, researching novel approaches to space operations, and establishing risk-management measures for orbital debris.

3. Reduce Barriers to Space Sustainability Through Technology Development and Transfer: NASA intends to invest in technologies that support critical aspects of space sustainability and encourage their adoption by other space operators.

4. Amend or Develop rules That Provide Incentives for Space Sustainability: The agency intends to amend its rules and standards to reflect sustainability goals while also supporting economic and policy research relevant to space sustainability.

5. Maintain and improve coordination and collaboration outside of NASA. This goal emphasizes the necessity of working with interagency partners, communities focused on space sustainability, and the international space community.

6. Improve NASA's Internal Organization to Support Space Sustainability: NASA intends to assess and implement an organizational structure to focus on the coordination and accountability of the agency's space sustainability initiatives.

Actions for Federal Contractors

As a federal contractor, you can take the following measures in response to NASA's Space Sustainability Strategy:

1. Align with NASA's sustainability goals: Examine your operations and services to ensure they are consistent with NASA's sustainability goals. This could entail following best practices for decreasing orbital debris and developing sustainable space activities.

2. Invest in Technology Development: Look at chances to create or invest in technologies that promote space sustainability, including as debris reduction tools, improved sensing capabilities, and autonomous maneuvering systems.

3. Collaborate with NASA and Other Partners: Look for opportunities to work with NASA and other partners on projects and initiatives that contribute to space sustainability. This could include collaborative research, technology demonstrations, or participation in space sustainability consortiums.

• Fed Contract Pros can assist contractors in identifying and engaging with possible partners for collaboration on space sustainability efforts. This could entail connecting contractors with NASA, other government organizations, industry partners, and university institutions working on similar sustainability initiatives. Consider our 1-on-1 coaching services today.

4. Stay informed and participate in policy discussions. Keep up to date on advances in space sustainability policies, and engage in talks with policymakers, industry groups, and international organizations to advocate for policies that encourage sustainable space practices.

• Subscribe to our newsletter and visit our blog on a regular basis for updates and advancements.

5. Share Knowledge and Best Practices: Help the larger space community by sharing your experience, best practices, and lessons gained on space sustainability. This can help to develop a culture of sustainability throughout the sector.

6. Prepare for Future possibilities: As NASA promotes space sustainability, federal contractors will likely find new possibilities in technology development, mission support, and policy research. Stay prepared to capitalize on these opportunities by developing applicable competencies and experience.

NASA's Space Sustainability Strategy lays out a clear plan for ensuring the long-term health of Earth's orbit. As a federal contractor, identifying with this strategy and actively contributing to its objectives can help your firm become a leader in sustainable space practices. Working closely with NASA and other stakeholders, federal contractors may play an important role in ensuring that space remains a secure and accessible environment for future generations.

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FedFeather Frank says:

“This blog post is important because it provides a concise summary of NASA's Space Sustainability Strategy and offers practical actions that federal contractors can take to align with the agency's goals, thereby contributing to the long-term sustainability of space operations and positioning themselves as leaders in the evolving space industry.”