The Global Space Awards has announced a partnership with the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Astra Carta, which will sponsor the Sustainability for Earth Award at the December 2026 Global Space Awards. The award will recognise organisations using space science, technology and innovation to deliver tangible sustainability benefits on Earth. Its scope includes environmental monitoring, Earth observation, communications and resource management. The partnership places practical uses of space technology at the centre of the awards programme. Astra Carta is presented as a global framework for sustainable space activity.
A New Award Partnership
The new partnership brings Astra Carta into the 2026 Global Space Awards as sponsor of the Sustainability for Earth Award. The award is intended to recognise organisations whose work applies space science, technology and innovation to sustainability outcomes on Earth.
Space activity increasingly supports work beyond the sector itself, particularly where information, communications and observation can inform decisions on the ground. The Sustainability for Earth Award will focus on organisations applying those capabilities in ways that deliver tangible benefits.
The Global Space Awards will take place in December 2026. Through the sponsorship, Astra Carta’s focus on sustainable space activity will be represented within an award category centred on practical environmental and resource-related applications.
Benefits On Earth
The award category covers a broad range of space-enabled activity. Environmental monitoring and Earth observation are explicitly included, alongside communications, resource management and other practical applications.
Environmental monitoring can provide information about conditions on Earth, while Earth observation can support the collection of data from space. Communications technologies can connect people and services, and resource management can support decisions about the use of resources. The award will recognise organisations working across these areas where their activity delivers tangible sustainability benefits on Earth.
By placing these applications within a sustainability award, the Global Space Awards will draw attention to work that connects space science with outcomes beyond the space sector. The category’s remit is based on use, rather than a single technology or application, allowing organisations working across science, technology and innovation to be considered.
Astra Carta’s Role
Astra Carta is described as the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s global framework for sustainable space activity. Its sponsorship of the Sustainability for Earth Award links that framework to a category recognising organisations using space capabilities for benefits on Earth.
The partnership gives the award a clear sustainability focus while retaining the breadth of the Global Space Awards’ space-related remit. Organisations using space science, technology and innovation for environmental monitoring, Earth observation, communications or resource management may be relevant to the category where their work has practical sustainability benefits.
The announcement also identifies other practical applications as part of the award’s scope. This provides space for entries that do not sit neatly within the named areas, provided they demonstrate tangible sustainability benefits on Earth.
Recognition For Practical Applications
The Sustainability for Earth Award is built around recognition for organisations applying space-related capability to real uses on Earth. The category is not limited to a single type of organisation, technology or sustainability application.
Its focus on tangible benefits sets a clear standard for the work it will recognise. Environmental monitoring, Earth observation, communications and resource management are all named as examples of areas where space science, technology and innovation can support sustainability outcomes.
For the 2026 Global Space Awards, the partnership gives a distinct place to organisations connecting sustainable space activity with practical work on Earth. The December awards will include a category dedicated to that connection, sponsored by Astra Carta.
December 2026 Awards
The Global Space Awards’ partnership with Astra Carta establishes the Sustainability for Earth Award as part of the December 2026 programme. The category will recognise organisations using space science, technology and innovation to deliver tangible sustainability benefits on Earth.
Its stated areas of interest, from environmental monitoring and Earth observation to communications and resource management, show the range of applications the award is designed to cover. The sponsorship also reflects Astra Carta’s role as a global framework for sustainable space activity.
As the awards approach, the Sustainability for Earth Award will provide recognition for organisations demonstrating how space-related work can support practical sustainability benefits on Earth.
