Space utilisation plays a crucial role in understanding climate change, but due to a drastic increase in launch rates, there is an urgent need to understand and mitigate potential environmental impacts of space activities themselves, particularly of launchers. However, large knowledge gaps persist for their operational phase from lift-off to landing/reentry. Here, the largest Global Warming Potential and Ozone Layer Depletion Potential are expected. Especially in the higher atmospheric layers, which are only accessed by launchers, potential impacts of emitted pollutants are amplified by very long retention periods and substance accumulation effects. To investigate the Space Launch Impact on Climate and Environment, SLICE therefore develops a research and training programme that bridges the current divide between space engineering and climate science to close the gaps that exist in the Life-Cycle Analysis of space launch systems. Thus, SLICE contributes to advance the science of climate change by investigating the three most pressing research areas of this field: Launch Vehicle Emissions, Atmospheric Interaction & Climate Impact and System Analysis & Design. This generates actionable insights, on which SLICE develops solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, accelerates the delivery of the Green Deal and establishes an environmentally sustainable access to space. This not only generates desperately needed novel results, which enable cutting-edge innovations. It also satisfies the pressing demand for a new generation of highly skilled and resilient researchers, trained to create and realise these necessary innovations and to develop a natural ecodesign thinking. SLICE is also highly needed to support current policy efforts, including the European Green Deal, ESA’s Agenda 2025, the EU Space Law and Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) regulations at European level, including the development of PEF Category Rules (PEFCR) for space.

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