WEF Bows Space Mission Sustainability Rating

The World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Space developed a space sustainability rating (SSR) for scoring space missions in an aim to help reduce orbital debris and the risk of on-orbit collisions, the WEF said Monday. It said it developed the measure over the past two years along with the European Space Agency, MIT Media Lab, BryceTech and University of Texas-Austin. Missions that voluntarily participate receive one of four scores, graded on such criteria as data sharing, choice of orbit, measures taken to avoid collisions and plans to de-orbit satellites on completion of missions. The EPFL Space Center at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology will lead and operate the SSR and begin issuing sustainability certifications to mission operators in early 2022, it said.