IISL Happy Hour #15 held

IISL Happy Hours are events coordinated and co-hosted by IISL Members Setsuko Aoki and Quentin Verspieren. This is a monthly 60-minute program starting with a presentation by an IISL member about a recent project or study, followed by a free discussion session during which all participating IISL members are invited to chat and report on their relevant activities.

For the 14th IISL Happy Hour, Dr. Quentin Verspieren, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at The University of Tokyo and Space Safety Programme Coordinator at the European Space Agency, presented ESA’s recent Zero Debris Charter initiative, by which the Agency facilitated the drafting of the the world’s most ambitious vision of space debris mitigation and remediation to-date. He emphasises the importance of translating globally accepted space norms (e.g. LTS Guidelines) into concrete technical targets, to drive the implementation of more virtuous practices. Dr. Verspieren also insisted on the value of non-binding instruments in establishing a bold global consensus on space sustainability issues.

The presentation was followed by an active Q&A session on the compatibility of such initiative with pre-existing ones, on the importance to deal with legacy assets and on how to look beyond Zero Debris at a Circular Economy in space. Attending IISL members then shared updates on their recent activities and new members introduced themselves to the community.

The video recording of the 15th IISL Happy Hour is available below.