Earth & Space Sustainability Initiative Appoints its Advisory Board
The Earth & Space Sustainability Initiative (ESSI) has appointed its Advisory Board. The purpose of the Advisory Board is to review and advise on the ongoing Space Sustainability Standards Project, which is run by ESSI and has been established with His Majesty’s Government (HMG) support through the UK Space Agency.
The ESSI Space Sustainability Standards Project brings together industry, academia, governments and international organisations, with the finance and insurance communities to ensure that space continues to support the environmental, economic and scientific interests of current and future generations. It will develop a set of Space Sustainability Principles to facilitate the establishment of the Space Sustainability Standards.
The members of the Advisory Board have been carefully selected from those people who have expressed an interest in supporting ESSI and who have the diverse expertise and experience required to advise on the development of the Space Sustainability Standards.
“The importance of the ESSI Space Sustainability Standards Project work is fully reflected in the calibre of the people on our Advisory Board. It has taken time to achieve the right balance, although we imagine that the membership will naturally evolve across the duration of the project. The goodwill shown by industry, academia and the finance and insurance industries has been excellent and ESSI looks forward to constructive engagement with the Advisory Board as we develop the Space Sustainability Principles,” says Joanne Wheeler, ESSI Director.
The Advisory Board is chaired by Bruce Carnegie-Brown, chair of Lloyd’s of London. The inaugural meeting was held on 14 March 2024.
“It’s a privilege to be chairing the ESSI Advisory Board to guide conversations around responsible space exploration. Lloyd’s was the home of the first satellite insurance back in 1965, and we’re pleased to be continuing that innovation today as we support the growth and protection of this final frontier. We’re excited to work with policymakers, businesses and innovators to support a more resilient space insurance market which can continue to push the boundaries of sustainable exploration and technology,” says Bruce Carnegie-Brown.
The development of Space Sustainability Standards is a priority for HMG, and internationally, to continue demonstrating leadership on tackling the important issue of space sustainability for the benefit of people on Earth.
Ray Fielding, Head of Sustainability at the UK Space Agency, says, “By prioritising space sustainability, we are focused on delivery of measures to prevent irresponsible behaviours, protect the space environment, and promote UK leadership through a variety of targeted activities. The Space Sustainability Standards Project plays an important role in our portfolio, so we are pleased that the expert Advisory Board has been appointed and reflects support from organisations across the space, finance and insurance sectors.”
The ESSI Advisory Board members are:
Chair:
Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Chairman, Lloyd’s of London
Government:
Julie Black, Director, UK Space Agency
Tania Celani & Miriam Grigg (jobshare), Deputy Director, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Paul Cremin, Head of Spaceflight, Department for Transport
Sharon Pryde, Senior Executive, Scottish Enterprise
Industry, insurance and finance:
Lorenzo Arona, Head of Space Projects, Avanti
Anthony Baker, Founder & CEO, SatVu
Andy Bradford, CEO, UKLSL
Chris Brunskill, Director, Growbotics
Geoff Busswell, Head of Marketing & Sales, Telespazio UK
Himesh Chavda, Associate General Counsel, ICEYE
Michael Cheng, Chief Product Officer, Aalyria
Patricia Cooper, President & Founder, Constellation Advisory, LLC.
Tim Davies, CEO & Founder, HiiROC
Rob Desborough, General Partner, Seraphim
Lucy Edge, Deputy CEO and Chief of Missions, Satellite Applications Catapult
Stuart Eves, Director, SJE Space
Alex Fielding, CEO & Chairman, Privateer Space
Andrew Fournet, CGI, Co-Chair Environment Task Force
Nadeem Ghafoor, CEO Avalon Space
Akiko Hama, Client Executive – Space and Aerospace, Global Aerospace
Rory Holmes, UK Managing Director, ClearSpace
Victoria Irwin, Head of Business Development and Sales, MDA Space
Mark Dankberg, CEO, Viasat*
John Janka, Chief Officer – Global Government Affairs & Regulatory, Viasat*
Sue Kee, VP Commercial Management, AAC Clyde Space
Lizzie Kerr, Director, UKspace**
John Hanley, Chair, UKspace**
Colin Baldwin, Head of Policy, UKspace**
Brooke Latham, Head of Sustainability, NATO Innovation Fund
Jennifer Manner, Senior VP – Regulatory Affairs, EchoStar
James Pearson, Counsel, BAE Systems
Melissa Quinn, Managing Director, Slingshot Aerospace
Nick Shave, Managing Director, Astroscale
Andrew Stanniland, CEO Thales Alenia Space, UK
Neil Stevens, Head of Space, Price Forbes
Maurizio Vanotti, VP Commercial Strategy and Innovation, Eutelsat OneWeb
* These representatives will share the role for ViaSat
** These representatives will share the role for UKspace
For more information, please contact ESSI through contact@essi.org.
