The signatories of the Statement for a Responsible Space Sector, developed to help mobilise the space sector towards sustainability, held their plenary meeting in Paris at ESA’s Nikis headquarter building , on November 14. With 33 of the 75 signatories present, the group discussed a governance structure, named its first chairing entity and heard updates from its working groups.
Established in 2022 with already 23 signatories, the Statement for a Responsible Space Sector has since grown to 75 Signatories from 20 countries spanning across the entire space sector value chain. This year 37 new entities joined the statement’s vision to advance sustainability on Earth, in Earth's orbit and beyond.
Participants in the plenary agreed on a governance structure for the Statement, with ESA serving as its Secretariat and a signatory volunteering on a yearly basis as the chairing entity. The first volunteer is the International Space University (ISU), which after unanimous approval becomes the first chairing entity, and will host the next plenary at the end of 2025.
In addition, OHB SE, Centre national d'Études spatiales (CNES), Airbus Defence and Space, Eutelsat Group, ISU, and Exolaunch gave testimonies on their activities linked to the Statement’s values and principles. These testimonies:
· emphasised the importance of leadership support and external regulations
· advocated for comprehensive ESG strategies and tools to assist smaller companies
· highlighted the value of collaboration in decarbonisation and ecodesign
· stressed the need for transparency to advance shared goals.
Working group leaders updated participants on activities including sustainable procurement, ecodesign & life-cycle assessment, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas methodology.
In addition, the development of a 2025 activity roadmap was suggested to focus on deliverables from the various statement activities.
Two weeks after the plenary, a CSRD workshop took place on the 5th of December, co-organised by CNES and ESA.
