Every space mission begins long before launch. Mine begins in Glasgow, with a suitcase, a flight to Tokyo and three months at Kyutech helping build a satellite. But before I can think about orbit, there is a more immediate design problem to solve: how do I make the journey and the life around it less wasteful?
ANOMALY 001: LAUNCH EMISSIONS
The first anomaly appears before I even reach Kyushu. According to myclimate, my return London to Tokyo flights alone could produce around 3.9 tonnes of CO₂e. I cannot eliminate that launch cost, but I can avoid adding unnecessary sectors: rail from Glasgow to London, one direct long-haul flight to Tokyo. For the emissions I cannot avoid, I plan to support Gold Standard-certified climate projects. For longer journeys, I will favour rail over domestic flights wherever practical; Central Japan Railway Company reports the Shinkansen at around one-twelfth of equivalent aircraft CO₂ emissions on its Tokyo to Osaka comparison, proof that the lowest-impact route is not always the shortest line on a map.
MITIGATION COMMAND
Once in Japan, my transport hierarchy will be simple: feet, bicycle, rail, then road. Japan Travel by NAVITIME will help me plan rail-first journeys before considering road or domestic flights. I am actively prioritising university accommodation only ten minutes’ walk from Kyutech, making sustainable travel part of my routine rather than an occasional gesture. These will be my small contribution towards SDG 11.2’s sustainable transport target and SDG 13: Climate Action-because the best mitigation command is the one executed daily.
POWER BUDGET
CubeSats survive because every Watt is accounted for. In Japan, I will apply the same power budget: washing only full loads and air-drying clothes wherever possible. These small efficiency gains support SDG 7 because wasted energy is wasted power, whether in orbit or on Earth.
ENERGY SUPPLY
Japan still generates millions of tonnes of food loss and waste. My mission rule will be simple: edible is not expendable. I will plan meals before shopping, avoid buying beyond a short three-month stay, and use TABETE to rescue surplus food where available. That puts SDG 12.3 on my checklist because unnecessary disposal is a systems failure too.
MATERIALS AND WASTE
In spacecraft engineering, mass that serves no purpose is a design failure. Disposable bottles and unnecessary packaging deserve the same review. In Japan, I will carry a reusable bottle and bag, refuse disposable cutlery where possible. The mymizu app will guide my reusable bottle to refill points, while Kitakyushu City’s waste sorting guide will stop me treating the wrong bin as “close enough”. SDG 12 begins with a simple design review: do I need this at all?
MISSION STATUS: GO
I am travelling to Japan to learn how to build something designed to orbit the Earth. It would be strangely contradictory to spend three months engineering for space while ignoring the planet, communities and lives beneath every orbit.
References:
https://www.sustain-cert.com/news/carbon-credits-101-what-is-the-gold-standard
https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/company/about_shinkansen/
https://globalgoals.org/goals/
https://www.env.go.jp/en/press/press_02272.html
https://www.city.kitakyushu.lg.jp/files/001051001.pdf
Resources:
https://co2.myclimate.org/en/portfolios?calculation_id=8693912&localized_currency=GBP
https://www.mymizu.co/home-en
https://japantravel.navitime.com/en/
https://tabete.me/
