The COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection and the COSPAR Policy on Planetary Protection: an overview of governance and activities
The search for both extant and extinct life within our Solar System and beyond has been a primary motivation for space exploration since its inception. Mars has long been a focal point for exploration, and it continues to be, while the moons of the gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, are increasingly seen as possible habitats. To ensure safe and sustainable scientific exploration of these bodies, the COSPAR Policy on Planetary Protection aims at ensuring adherence to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Although not legally binding, the guidelines set forth by the Policy are globally supported, with implementation instructions provided. The primary goal of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Panel on Planetary Protection is to safeguard against the harmful effects of both forward and backward contamination. It focuses on the biological exchange that may occur during Solar System exploration, which could negatively affect the study of chemical evolution as well as the origin of life. The Policy is regularly reviewed and revised to incorporate the latest scientific discoveries, alongside the rapidly advancing requirements of space exploration. The Panel's work addresses the specific needs of each space mission, while ensuring the application of relevant expertise to promote the sustainable exploration of the Solar System. This article is part of the theme issue 'Planetary Protection for sustainable space exploration'.
Authors
- Jean-Claude Worms (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0851-7341)
- Masaki Fujimoto
- Mark A. Sephton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2190-5402)
- Niklas Hedman
- Jing Peng
- Kanyan Xu
- A. Hayes
- Lyle G. Whyte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3443-3299)
- O. Grasset
- Y. Suzuki
- V. K. Ilyin
- Kumar K. Praveen
- Omar Al Shehhi
- François Raulin
- Elaine Seasly
- М. А. Зайцев
- Peter T. Doran
- Petra Rettberg
- Jeremy Teo
- Christian Mustin
- Karen Olsson-Francis
- Olga Prieto-Ballesteros
- Eleonora Ammannito
- Timothy Haltigen
- Silvio Sinibaldi
- Athena Coustenis
Institutions
- Louisiana State University System (US)
- New York University Abu Dhabi (AE)
- Louisiana State University (US)
- Indian Space Research Organisation (IN)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- China Academy of Space Technology (CN)
- Université Paris-Est Créteil (FR)
- The Open University of Japan (JP)
- Cornell University (US)
- Centre National d'Études Spatiales (FR)
- Observatoire de Paris (FR)
- Canadian Space Agency (CA)
- Paris-Est Sup (FR)
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (IT)
- NASA Research Park (US)
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JP)
- Space Research Institute (RU)
- European Space Agency (FR)
- College of the Siskiyous (US)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE)
- United Kingdom Space Agency (GB)
- Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization (CN)
- China National Space Administration (CN)
- Sorbonne Paris Cité (FR)
- Institute of Biomedical Problems (RU)
- University of Tokyo Hospital (JP)
- NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- National Space Science Center (CN)
- Centro de Astrobiología (ES)
- National Space Agency (MY)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- McGill University (CA)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Nantes Université (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences
- Published
- 2026-02-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2024.0429
- Primary Topic
- Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00