Artwork by J. Andrews of a solar-powered robot mining machine on the surface of the moon, the Mark II ³He lunar volatiles miner, circa 1992. The design envisioned a robot that would collect rocks rich in Helium 3, a potential fuel for nuclear fusion power stations. Image: University of Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics / Science Photo Library

Workshop

A Case for Space Environmentalism
Emerging Impacts of Spaceflight

April 13–14, 2026

Meridian Hall

Convened by

Miles Timpe
Early-Career Fellow 2025–2026

Details

Participation in the workshop is free of charge, with no registration or participation fees.

Refreshments and lunch will be provided on both days. Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs, unless otherwise agreed with the organizers.

Registrations are now closed. Please contact Miles Timpe if you are interested in attending.

Participation in the associated workshop “Environmental Law in the Space Age” is welcome but not required.

As space activity accelerates, identifying and assessing its environmental and socioeconomic impacts is becoming increasingly important. With a particular focus on emerging space technologies and applications, this workshop makes a case for addressing how space activities may affect both the Earth environment and environments beyond Earth, now and in the future.

In addition to examining ongoing impacts, the workshop explicitly engages with plausible future activities, including large-scale orbital infrastructure, space-based illumination systems, lunar resource extraction, and longer-term human presence beyond Earth. The workshop will further explore how the common treatment of Earth and space as separate domains can limit understanding of the environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural impacts of these activities on Earth, while also considering how space environments themselves may be affected, may hold value in their own right, and may warrant stewardship in light of how future generations may depend on and value them. It will also examine how expanding space activities could reshape human cultural relationships with space, especially via the night sky.

By bringing these perspectives together, the workshop aims to synthesize the most urgent emerging concerns to inform a connected workshop on space law and policy.

Associated workshop

Environmental Law in the Space Age
A Workshop on Emerging Space Activities

April 15, 2026, 9:00–17:00

Convened by Miles Timpe

Workshop

Program
Day 1

09:00	Arrival at the venue & coffee
09:45	Welcome and opening remarks By Miles Timpe and Sebastian Bonhoeffer
10:00	Space Environmentalism in Science Fiction Sarah Lohmann ETH Zurich & Zurich Science Fiction Network, CH
10:30	Earth and the Solar System in Context Perspectives from Exoplanetary Science Paolo Angelo Sossi ETH Zurich, CH
11:00	Coffee break
11:30	Environmental Monitoring from Space Part II UZH Space & NPOC Supporting Sustainable Development from Space Claudia Röösli University of Zurich, CH
12:00	Space Environmentalism in Switzerland Unlimited Light Pollution from Above? DarkSky Switzerland’s View on Airborne and Orbital Light Pollution Lukas Schuler Dark Sky Switzerland, CH The Swiss Good Offices for Space Clémence Porier ETH Zurich, CH Planetary Protection Guardians of the Galaxy or Cosmic Party Poopers? Jennifer Wadsworth (virtual) European Space Deep-Tech Institute (ESDI), CH
13:00	Lunch break
14:00	Mario's famous observatory tour
14:30	The Planetary Age Geoengineering from Space Kai-Uwe Schrogl European Space Agency, FR
15:00	Launch & Reentry Emissions Steps Forward for More Complete Life Cycle Assessment in the Space Sector Karin Treyer Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), CH Anticipating Regulations with EcoDeltaV Fact-Based Environmental Impact Assessments in the Space Sector Marnix Verkammen EcoDeltaV, CH Impact of Particulate Matter from Space Activities on Stratospheric Ozone Chemistry Markus Ammann & Claudia Mohr Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), CH Rockets and the Ozone Layer Why the Space Boom Creates New Environmental Problems Timofei Sukhodolov PMOD/WRC, CH
16:00	Coffee break
16:30	Launch & Reentry Emissions Panel Discussion Moderator: Marnix Verkammen (EcoDeltaV, CH) Claudia Mohr ETH Zurich & Paul Scherrer institute, CH Karin Treyer ETH Zurich & Paul Scherrer institute, CH Timofei Sukhodolov PMOD/WRC, CH
17:00	Orbital Infrastructure Data Centers in Space From Someone who Runs Them on Earth Pim Witlox Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), CH Orbital Illumination Systems The (Re-)Emergence of Space Mirrors Miles Timpe Collegium Helveticum, CH
	Closing first day Followed by a small reception

Program
Day 2

09:00	Arrival at the venue & coffee
09:30	Earth-Space Sustainability Xiao-Shan Yap Utrecht University, NL
10:00	Earth-Space Governance EU Law and Earth–Space Extractivism at the ‘Arctic Gateway to Space’ Tom Royer University of Lapland, FI History, Concept, and Challenges of an SDG 18 Related to Space & How Theology Can Inspire Sustainability Still Today Andreas Losch University of Zurich, CH The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean Regulating Outer Space as an Environment Güneş Ünüvar(Virtual) Moon Village Association, LU
11:00	Coffee break
11:30	Dark & Quiet Skies Why the Human Environment Includes Darkness and Orbital Space Ruskin Hartley DarkSky International, US
12:15	Lunar Environmentalism Detonative Chemical Propulsion for More Sustainable In-Space Applications Simi Wespi Stellar Alpina, CH Mining the Moon Projected Environmental Impacts of Lunar Helium-3 Mining Miles Timpe Collegium Helveticum, CH Unsupervised Distribution Learning for Lunar Surface Anomaly Detection Daniel Angerhausen SETI Institute, CH
13:00	Lunch break
14:30	Synthesis workshop Part I Participants will form breakout groups around an emerging technology, application, or scenario of concern. Each group will identify the environmental or socioeconomic impacts of their chosen topic and seek to identify gaps in our technical understanding of these topics. Each breakout group will prepare an overview of their topic to be presented the next morning at the space law and policy workshop.
15:30	Coffee break
16:00	Synthesis workshop Part II Continued after the coffee break.
16:30	Plenary session
17:00	Closing remarks