The OECD Space Forum is investigating the economics of space sustainability and seeks to encourage leading-edge academic research in this new domain. The OECD and 11 space agencies are offering researchers and students the opportunity to join an international project. PhD, post-doc and Master’s students as well as academic staff from universities and research organisations from around the world are invited to tackle the same research questions and join an international community of practitioners.

 

What is the project about?

The OECD Space Forum is seeking involvement from students and academics in disciplines such as economics, engineering, and computing, working alone or as part of small multi-disciplinary teams, to respond to the same statements of work described below. The aim is to deliver an original research paper to be presented to the international community in December 2023. After peer-review, the best papers will be selected and published in an OECD publication. The OECD Space Forum Secretariat and space experts will guide participants throughout the research process.

This is the second edition of a truly multidisciplinary project with participants from around the world asked to develop and present solutions based on the same initial statements of work (participants may pick one or multiple statements of work to research):

1. Understanding the value of space-based infrastructure (e.g. specific segments of the infrastructure such as earth observation, satellite telecommunications, human spaceflight infrastructure)

2. Evaluating the impacts of space debris incidents, including impacts on society (e.g. denial of service) and specific users (e.g. operators themselves, government users)

3. Identifying the effects of policy options for addressing space debris (e.g. taxation, insurance, active debris removal, etc.)

 

Timeline

The project will bring together individuals researcher and international teams during the 2022-2023 academic year with the following timeline:

23 September 2022: Extended deadline for formally registering interest in participating in the project.

11 October 2022: The formal start of the project will take place with a first hybrid/virtual conference assembling participants, space agencies and other interested stakeholders.

 
 

How to participate
 

‌‌ Download the guidelines for participation and FAQ

 

 

Further reading

 

• Earth's orbits at risk: The economics of space sustainability
• Space sustainability: The economics of space debris in perspective