Meet the Burnside Environmentalist Who Went On To Spearhead Space Sustainability
Omar Malik
25/04/24
(Image Credit: Andrew Wilson)
Growing up in the small town of Burnside in South Lanarkshire, Dr Andrew Wilson had no idea that his future would see him leading global climate neutral campaigns, working for the United Nations and championing space sustainability.
​
Blether had an exclusive chat with Andrew to discover his awe-inspiring professional journey, his insight into the complex field of space sustainability, as well as how he approached starting up a small yet international business.
When Persistence Pays Off:
Andrew’s Environmentalist Journey
At 31-years-old, Andrew has certainly achieved a lot, particularly in terms of his contributions to tackling the climate crisis. But let’s dial things back a notch, and learn first-hand just how the environmentalist got to where he’s at now.
​
“I’m a lecturer in Environmental Management here at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), and I actually studied that as my degree here, so it was where I started out. While I always had a passion for the environment, I didn’t know what it was I wanted to do at that stage,” Andrew told Blether.
​
Despite aspiring to be a town planner, Andrew had a sudden realisation during his final year at university: “Working on my dissertation topic, which was discovering whether space-based technology could be used to combat climate change, I found that the space sector was actually very lax in environmental regulation and generally couldn’t quantify the environmental impacts of any kind of space system.”
​
Andrew’s dissertation essentially catapulted his career path: “It got a lot of industry attention, as my research really opened Pandora’s box in a way - in the sense that I found a real, major gap in the space sector. After my degree, I went to work for the United Nations in Switzerland, where I essentially did their carbon footprint; so I was in charge of their climate neutral campaign for a year.”
(Image Credit: Andrew Wilson)
Upon returning to Scotland, the industry's attention towards Andrew’s space sustainability research culminated in him being offered a PhD at the University of Strathclyde in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering: “I worked there on advanced methods of life cycle assessments for space systems, before going back to my routes of environmental management in September 2023. That’s where I’m at in a nutshell.”
​
It’s quite a stark switch to go from the broadness of environmental management to the incredible niche sector of mechanical and aerospace engineering, so how did Andrew find this transition?
​
“I decided to fill the gap discovered during my undergraduate dissertation myself during my PhD research. Though halfway I wondered if I was specialising in something that nobody cares about, as I got to the end of my PhD, it suddenly became an issue that the industry thoroughly cared about,” Andrew explained.
​
“By conducting a lot of research on the topic and producing publications, I became one of the go-to’s in that field of sustainability. It’s now good to be a leading voice in that sector; influencing policy, driving technological and methodological changes, and essentially helping the space sector try and become more sustainable generally,” Andrew continued.
If you’re not too sure about what space sustainability entails, Andrew is here to clarify what it’s all about.
How Andrew Is Making Space More Sustainable
Space sustainability is multifaceted regarding who it benefits, says Andrew: “It focuses on both Earth-based and orbital perspectives. Space data is the most useful method used to work upon the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We use space data to influence policy on the ground, advancing the SDGs by focusing on humanity and society.”
​
While at Strathclyde, Andrew created a technological tool called the Strathclyde Space Systems Database (SSSD) to analyse the detrimental impact of space exploration - as well as how the industry can be made more sustainable. The tool first became available in late 2019, being developed by Andrew’s own company, Metasat UK.
(Image Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock)
“The SSSD’s purpose was to quantify the environmental impacts of a space system over its life cycle - whether that be a satellite, a launch system or even ground-based infrastructure. That’s everything from raw material extraction and design work, through the production, testing, launch and use. As even when it’s in space you’ve still got ground stations in operation, and ultimately there’s the end of life,” Andrew told Blether.
​
“The idea was that it could be used in a mission design scenario - as well as just calculating your footprint, you could actually then take an active approach to mitigate it before those impacts actually occur. Because the further into the design process you go, the more locked the design is - and the harder it is to reduce those impacts. So the earlier we can identify and reduce them, the better the mitigation,” Andrew continued.
​
Metasat UK additionally distributes the SSSD to interested stakeholders, with the purpose being to make the space sector more sustainable on a global scale.
​
Space-based solar power constitutes another of Andrew’s projects: “It’s a form of renewable baseload power - it’s not affected by cloud coverage or the day-and-night cycle. You have more solar irritants in space than you do on the ground, so we’ve designed our own system for that. We’re helping those with their own systems to quantify their environmental footprint and reduce it.”
Collaboration Is Key
When it comes to climate pledges, especially 2030 climate targets, Andrew believes in an international rather than localised approach: “These are global goals - unless we look at what we’re doing collectively, more openly and internationally collaboratively, we’re not going to achieve them. Scotland could do everything to achieve these goals, but if nobody else is going to do it, then what’s the point?”
​
“It’s about international dialogue, and that’s what I like about what I do. A lot of these collaborations aren’t just UK-based, they’re international. From Europe and America to New Zealand and Australia; while Metasat UK’s employers are mostly Canadian. I honestly think collaboration is key. If you can’t get on with others and work together, then we have no chance,” Andrew continued.
(Image Credit: Anton Jankovoy/Shutterstock)
The environmentalist additionally finds consulting with external parties - both academically through his role as a lecturer, and professionally through Metasat UK - to be rewarding: “No matter how much of an expert you are, you’re always going to learn something new - and you can always bring that back into your teaching by letting you students know what our current methods are for calculating environmental footprints, working on policies and collaborating with organisations.”
​
“That then enables them to go out more practically, apply themselves, and hopefully get inspired. I like to show them the more practical side of things - it’s good in the teaching sense, but also for my own research by allowing me to think more outside the box by being exposed to a wide variety of different projects. What drives me is being able to feel like I’ve done my best to make the world a better place,” Andrew told Blether.
The Clash Between Space Exploration And Earth’s Sustainability
As we continued our chat with Andrew, he explained the complex relationship between space exploration and sustainability efforts: “Traditionally speaking, the space sector has been exempt from a lot of key environmental legislation. For many years they’ve essentially been allowed to do what they want.”
​
The vastness of space launches additionally worries Andrew: “In the last 20 years or so, the number of launches has started to increase to the point that we’re now at the highest annual launch rate that’s ever been recorded. There have been many reasons for that - one is that the spacecraft is generally getting smaller, allowing more people into space.”
​
“Another is through the private companies going into space. With SpaceX lowering the cost so much, the space sector operation is expanding. That in itself is problematic, as that then increases the environmental footprint of space operations, and it’s a highly unregulated area. Space does have laws, but none of them have sustainability written into them because they all came before the time that sustainability was a concept,” Andrew continued.
(Image Credit: Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock)
The recklessness of modern space exploration is ever-growing, Andrew points out: “Looking at plans such as creating a lunar outpost and colonising Mars, we’re seeing space tourism. Elon Musk also proposed point-to-point travel - so getting anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes. You just go on a rocket that goes suborbital then go back down - it’s very concerning. That’s why this life cycle assessment tool is very important, as we need to mitigate this now, before it actually happens.”
​
Yet there is a viable counterargument to the space sector boom criticism which could improve Earth’s sustainability, Andrew explains: “We could mine asteroids in space - there’s an asteroid called 16 Psyche which has got so many abundant resources on it that if you sold them all and split the wealth equally among every person on Earth, they’d all be millionaires. Essentially it’d crash the world’s economy. So if we could scale that up then that could lessen our demands on Earth’s resources.”
Accolades And Advice
Andrew’s dedication to space sustainability and environmental management have certainly not gone unnoticed - with the lecturer and business owner earning some impressive accolades for his scientific and technological contributions.
​
From being awarded the 2018 Young Scot Environment Award and being chosen as one of Junior Chamber International’s 10 Outstanding Young Persons of Scotland 2019, to winning the ESA-EISC Space for Sustainability Award in 2021 and being declared GCU Alumni of the Year 2022, Andrew is evidently a highly respected environmentalist.
​
But as a GCU graduate, being awarded the Alumni of the Year was a particular standout for Andrew: “I feel very honoured to have won that, as it’s a really nice recognition and appreciation of what I’ve been doing. But the reason I do what I do isn’t for awards, it’s because I do want to make a difference. When I go to the prize-giving, however, a really nice thing is meeting all these other people who have been awarded and hearing what they’re doing - they’re often really inspiring.”
(Image Credit: Yuliya Yesina/Shutterstock)
“I’ve even kept in touch with some other finalists and category winners in terms of what they’re doing. Winning is nice validation, but it’s important not to get sidetracked or too caught up in it, because ultimately we’re a long way off from achieving sustainability at this point. We just need to keep pushing that, and realising what we’re fighting for,” Andrew continued.
​
Kickstarting his environmentalist career at a young age, Andrew commends today’s budding climate activists across Scotland - such as Less Waste Laura and Holly Gillibrand - for inspiring other youngsters: “It’s funny you mention Laura as she was actually at my school, and was in my little sister’s year. In terms of what advice I would give - if you can find something you’re passionate about and that doesn’t feel like work, you’re going to do more with that.”
​
“Ultimately you can take many different avenues - you can go into industry, you can go into academia, you can start your own business. Prior to me going into the space sector, I thought it was only open to people who were whizzes at physics and maths - yet I got in through environmental management. So keep pushing and apply for things, you really don’t know where it’ll lead,” Andrew continued.
​
We thank Andrew for taking the time out of his especially busy schedule to have a blether with us, offer his insight into space sustainability - as well as open up about his fascinating career path!