COSPAR 2026 in Florence Flags Space‑Tech and Satellite Pollution Issues

The second day of the 46th scientific assembly of COSPAR was held at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, bringing together senior officials from the world’s leading space agencies – NASA, ESA, ASI, JAXA and ISRO – to shape global cooperation on the emerging challenges of the new space race.

Key topics included protecting ground‑based astronomical observations from optical and radio interference caused by low‑Earth‑orbit megaconstellations, and developing next‑generation observatories such as NASA’s conceptual Habitable Worlds Observatory slated for launch after 2040. The conference also highlighted environmental concerns, reporting that satellite re‑entries are depositing measurable amounts of aluminium, titanium and copper into the stratosphere, potentially affecting ozone and climate models. Technological advances were presented, notably a quartz‑crystal micro‑balance sensor from the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica for detecting nanogram‑level contaminants on optical components, and the use of deep‑learning, quantum algorithms and physics‑based AI to process massive gravitational‑wave data streams with significantly lower energy consumption.