Cycle of life

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is seen as the most appropriate yardstick to evaluate the environmental impact of industrial activities. An LCA quantifies and assesses the emissions, resources consumed and pressures on human health and the environment that can be attributed to different goods and services throughout their life cycle, sometimes termed the ‘cradle to grave’ method. LCAs are usually carried out on smaller-scale industrial items, however. For Clean Space, the challenge is to perform LCAs for such massively complex products as launchers or satellites, their elements sourced from all across Europe and beyond.