extra-pages

For us, the essence of sustainability is doing business without negatively impacting the environment, the community, and society.

In the space industry, sustainability is not only about having a better future: it is about having a future at all. While orbital space is vast, it is still a finite resource that needs to be managed according to principles of sustainability to preserve it for the years ahead.

We are a Benefit Corporation

Sustainability has been in our DNA since the very beginning when we decided to tackle the problem of space debris by developing solutions that streamline end-of-life decommissioning. We believe so strongly in this principle that we have clearly stated it as part of our corporate vision.

In-space servicing and transportation to enable profitable business and human expansion in a sustainable space.

We have always placed equal emphasis on three pillars: profit, benefit, and global impact. We are the first aerospace company worldwide to receive the B-Corp* certification, a third-party validation of the company’s positive impact on the stated goals.

A B-Corp is a model of private enterprise that commits to producing public benefit to all the stakeholders: customers, society, workers, suppliers, the community, and the environment while pursuing profitable goals. According to the Benefit Corporation legislation, law nr. 208, approved by the Italian parliament on December 28th, 2015, B-Corps: 

• Have a corporate purpose to create a measurable positive impact on society and the environment. 
• Consider the interest of workers, the community, and the environment when assessing the impact of their decisions, and not just the interest of the shareholders.
• Publish an annual Impact Report to assess their overall social and environmental performance against a third-party standard. 

We believe in a Space Circular Economy

Space circular economy means creating a sustainable economy in space by reducing waste, reusing resources, and recycling materials. This involves designing space missions, spacecraft, and space habitats with the goal of achieving a closed-loop system where waste products are repurposed or recycled to create new products. This can help address the challenges of sustainable resource use in space; as human activity in space expands, the amount of waste generated and resources consumed will also increase, which could lead to environmental degradation and the depletion of finite resources.

In the future satellites will be built and manufactured in space, raw material will come from asteroids mining and from recycling of existing assets in space; when we will reach that point, we will be very close to a space circular economy.

By adopting circular economy principles in space, we can create a sustainable system that can support long-term human habitation and exploration, which is an integral part of our Vision. 

Impact Report

The Impact Report is an important part of our business identity. It is a relatively short document, around 20 pages, meant to give a better idea of how we strive to improve our sustainability performance and to provide a metric of accountability.

Code of Ethics

Another foundational document is our Code of Ethics, which defines a set of principles and guidelines that guide the behavior of D-Orbit, all its employees and collaborators, and all the companies and organizations we work with.

The principles and provisions contained in the Code of Ethics are part of our intangible assets and they are an integral part of D-Orbit’s corporate identity and purpose. We consider compliance with the Code of Ethics as an integral and essential part of the contractual obligations of the employees, and, for this reason, we require our contractors to comply with its provisions. The Code of Ethics also defines a supervisory body, which oversees the implementation of the Code of Ethics, ensures that our activities are compliant with our standards, and defines disciplinary measures in case of violation.