Our Work
The Planetary Sunshade Institute advances the world’s understanding of space based sunlight reflection by working to answer the question, ‘how can the world build a planetary sunshade?’
To do this, we:
- Organize world experts, including aerospace engineers, climate scientists, and governance leaders.
- Participate in governance development by engaging with the forums developing climate and space policy.
- Develop research funding, working with donors to advance priority areas.
- Design a sunshade system, constantly improving our understanding of the likely technical pathway.
Space Reflector Baseline Survey
The Planetary Sunshade Institute is funded by ARIA’s “Exploring Climate Cooling” program.
Our team was awarded over £400k over 15 months to work with Ethos Space, Cornell University, National Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Nottingham, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
This project is a collaboration between leading space engineering teams and world-class climate modelers to address a critical knowledge gap. We are modeling six different conceptual designs for sunshades and using climate simulations to study their climate various impacts. Our goal is to provide an initial assessment of which concepts might warrant further study based on their modeled efficiency, scalability, and potential side effects, fostering collaboration between the space engineering and climate modeling communities.
IAA Sunshade Workshop
In May of 2026, we co-hosted the first global convening of sunshade researchers with the International Academy of Astronautics, and the University of Nottingham.
Research Network
We grow and maintain a network of sunshade researchers
