Planetary Protection for Safe and Sustainable Space Exploration

Abstract In April 2024, the Inaugural International COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Planetary Protection Week (ICPPW) was held at the Royal Society in London, marking a significant milestone in advancing international collaboration in planetary protection. The event was hosted by AstrobiologyOU (The Open University), funded by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and co-sponsored by COSPAR, the European Space Agency (ESA), Cornell University, and the UK Natural History Museum (NHM). The event aimed to foster cooperation among various stakeholders, including space agencies, the scientific community, policymakers and industry. It served as a platform for experts to share their expertise, address pressing challenges and identify key knowledge gaps in our understanding of planetary protection measures for space exploration. Furthermore, it highlighted the need for collaborative efforts to address key scientific knowledge gaps to establish protocols to guide future exploration, such as crewed missions and sample return. This paper provides a comprehensive background and rationale for the event, detailing the historical context and recent advancements in planetary protection that informed the discussions and set the scene for the more focused papers in this thematic issue. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Planetary Protection for sustainable space exploration’.