A new software tool lets engineers treat sustainability as a design metric for spacecraft and rockets, according to the European Space Agency. The Assessment and Comparison Tool (ACT) was funded by ESA, with the EPFL Space Center in Switzerland leading a consortium of companies, and is now commercialised, maintained and being improved by the project's spinoff company EcoDeltaV.

ESA says ACT can generate life-cycle assessments for space hardware, spacecraft, launchers, ground stations and complete missions, and can be used from the earliest design stages as well as later in a project. The agency says conventional life-cycle assessment, which tracks a product "from cradle to grave," leaves open questions for space systems, such as high-altitude emissions, specialised space materials, and systems that end their lives in orbit or burn up on reentry.

ESA's Valère Girardin said the aim was to make life-cycle assessments simpler for complete space transportation scenarios so environmental hot-spots can be seen early. EcoDeltaV advisor and co-founder Emmanuelle David said the company offers the upgraded tool to help companies assess designs and reduce environmental impact from the moment ideas are formulated.