Description
The term ‘space activities’ is a broad term that encompasses the use and exploration of the space environment by different users, whether these be satellite operators, astronomers, observers of cultural practises or others. The impacts of space activities also extend across many different Earth, space and human systems. Whilst some of these impacts are beneficial, others act counter to our definitions of space sustainability. As such, management tools are needed to reduce the extent of these negative impacts. To translate into effective management practises, these tools must be able to perform quantitative assessments of the impacts with respect to definitions of space sustainability. However, achieving this in a way that acknowledges the many diverse perspectives encompassed within space sustainability has not yet been realised at any level of space activity management. This work presents the model EMISSARY, a systems dynamics model which encompasses lessons from Earth-based applications of threshold-based methods for resource management. EMISSARY is a model designed to provide an understanding of the interconnections and trade-offs that exist between the multiple perspectives of space sustainability. With these insights, a holistic understanding can be gained of the impacts of space activities on the conditions within these broad and interconnected systems. In this paper, EMISSARY was used to illustrate how the needs of astronomers can be assessed in conjunction with the needs of other constituents of the space system.
