Designing an Equitable Future in Lower Earth Orbit

"Every space mission is a mission for humanity; the challenge is making people feel it."

NASA x Parsons

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Overview

Scope of the project

Client

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Domain

Strategic Design, Systems Thinking, Public Interest Design

Duration

15 weeks Conceptualisation to Delivery

Institution

Parsons School of Design, The New Schoolds.

Format

Speculative Strategy + Tangible Prototypes

My Role

Design Strategist: Research, Synthesis, Frameworks, Prototyping

MISSION BRIEF

The ISS Is Ending.
The Story Is Just Beginning.

The International Space Station will be decommissioned in 2030.

After 25 years of continuous human presence in space, the orbital laboratory that quietly improved life on Earth — cancer detection, weather forecasting, food preservation — is being retired. NASA approached Parsons because their challenge wasn't scientific. It was strategic:

How do you build public investment in something most people don't realise they already depend on?

THE PROBLEM SPACE

Most people don’t realize how deeply space research impacts life on Earth.

Our analysis revealed a key insight: The benefits of space research are widely distributed, but the narrative about space is narrowly communicated. The conversation about space largely happens within scientific and policy communities, leaving the public disconnected from the impact.

Hidden Achievements

Space innovation is happening, but remains hidden unless actively searched.

Audience Gap

Space benefits are communicated mainly to scientists, missing other potential stakeholders.

Funding Imbalance

There remains a big gap in communicating that the space industry is not just for the big players but is accessible to all.

NASA excels at engineering and research, but translating complex science into compelling narratives that inspire public engagement remains a challenge. This created a critical question:

How might we ensure the next era of LEO is equitable, participatory, and supported by the public?

FUTURE OF SPACE WE ENVISION

We structured the opportunity space into six strategic domains, to make the problem actionable.

Public Engagement
Commercial Activity
Governance
Scientific Research
Financing
Space sustainability

CONSTELLATION MAPPING

We want to ensure a thriving and just space future. But for who?

Who are we building this future for? The constellation mapping visualises the ecosystem of groups who shape, experience and are impacted by space exploration.

Space Industry
Anobody involved in space research and development; extenting to individuals interesed in space for entertainment.
Educational Institutions
Formal and informal learning environments that incorporate space related topics into learning to shape the future.
Students
Curious learners across multiple age groups who could engage with space through educational activities.
Creative Professionals
Those who use storytelling and creativity to shape public imagination, attitudes and narratives.
Impact Driven Institutions
Those forefront of shaping the future of space through research, policy, advocacy, investments and social impact.
Underrepresented Communities
Those who have historically faced systemic barriers to access, representation and participation in science, technology and space.

Space Industry
Anobody involved in space research and development; extenting to individuals interesed in space for entertainment.
Educational Institutions
Formal and informal learning environments that incorporate space related topics into learning to shape the future.
Students
Curious learners across multiple age groups who could engage with space through educational activities.
Creative Professionals
Those who use storytelling and creativity to shape public imagination, attitudes and narratives.
Impact Driven Institutions
Those forefront of shaping the future of space through research, policy, advocacy, investments and social impact.
Underrepresented Communities
Those who have historically faced systemic barriers to access, representation and participation in science, technology and space.

Space Industry
Anobody involved in space research and development; extenting to individuals interesed in space for entertainment.
Educational Institutions
Formal and informal learning environments that incorporate space related topics into learning to shape the future.
Students
Curious learners across multiple age groups who could engage with space through educational activities.
Creative Professionals
Those who use storytelling and creativity to shape public imagination, attitudes and narratives.
Impact Driven Institutions
Those forefront of shaping the future of space through research, policy, advocacy, investments and social impact.
Underrepresented Communities
Those who have historically faced systemic barriers to access, representation and participation in science, technology and space.

Three-Stage Roadmap

Dream with actionable steps: what strategists do.

PREPARE TO LAUNCH (Short-Term)

Build the awareness infrastructure. Establish storytelling pipelines that connect ISS research to everyday life. Secure early diverse funding partnerships. Plant the seeds of public narrative before the 2030 window narrows.

LIFT OFF (Mid-Range)

Activate high-reach engagement formats. Scale prototype initiatives. Deepen public participation, particularly in communities historically excluded from science investment and policy conversations.

IN ORBIT (Future Scope)

Codify an equitable governance model for LEO. Sustain community investment. Institutionalize the practices that keep space science accountable to humanity — not just to funding bodies.

PREPARE TO LAUNCH (Short-Term)

LIFT OFF (Mid-Range)

Activate high-reach engagement formats. Scale prototype initiatives. Deepen public participation, particularly in communities historically excluded from science investment and policy conversations.

IN ORBIT (Future Scope)

Codify an equitable governance model for LEO. Sustain community investment. Institutionalize the practices that keep space science accountable to humanity — not just to funding bodies.

PREPARE TO LAUNCH (Short-Term)

LIFT OFF (Mid-Range)

Activate high-reach engagement formats. Scale prototype initiatives. Deepen public participation, particularly in communities historically excluded from science investment and policy conversations.

IN ORBIT (Future Scope)

Codify an equitable governance model for LEO. Sustain community investment. Institutionalize the practices that keep space science accountable to humanity — not just to funding bodies.

Prototypes

Different paths to explore all guided by one silent companion.

Content Creation
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Coding Help
Solve bugs, generate snippets, and navigate code with unseen precision.
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Research & Insights
Condense knowledge into clarity, summaries, analysis, and hidden connections revealed.
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Focus & Productivity
Bring stories, posts, and ideas to life with words that flow naturally.
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A Day in Life Without NASA

Get Ready With Me

Community Platforms

CoLab Marketplace

A Day in Life Without NASA

A counterfactual experience timed to NASA's 25th anniversary of continuous human presence in space. It shows what your day would look like if ISS research had never happened: the cancer screening, the weather alert, the food safety standard — gone. The strategic function is emotional shock of recognition. Loss is more mobilizing than data.

A Day in Life Without NASA

Get Ready With Me

Community Platforms

CoLab Marketplace

A Day in Life Without NASA

The final deliverable was a direction.

We synthesized all frameworks, prototypes, and metrics into a coherent strategic presentation, not as a finished product, but as a proof of architecture. We demonstrated that equitable LEO is not one intervention but a system of coordinated, mutually reinforcing actions across multiple time horizons and stakeholder groups.

MEASURED IMPACT

Accountability is part of the design.

Visibility & Awareness

Increased media coverage; public attribution of everyday tech to ISS research; growth in search interest and engagement

Visibility & Awareness

Increased media coverage; public attribution of everyday tech to ISS research; growth in search interest and engagement

Funding Diversification

Expansion beyond federal funding; growth in civic and philanthropic co-investment; reduced budget-cut vulnerability

Public Participation

Increased engagement in NASA consultations; growth in community science; demographic range of participants

Emotional & Cultural Resonance

Documented shifts in public sentiment; growth in cultural representations; increased identification with space science in underrepresented communities

Talent Pipeline

Diversity in space-adjacent workforce; growth in educational partnerships; formation of sustained cross-sector networks

Second-Degree Impact

Policy shifts toward equitable LEO governance; sustained political support across funding cycles; increased international collaboration

LEARNING REFLECTIONS

4 Things This Project Taught Me About Strategic Design.

Complexity is not the enemy of clarity.
1/4
Staying with ambiguity long enough to find its architecture is a skill — not inefficiency. The six frameworks are simple to communicate precisely because we didn't simplify too early.
Storytelling is structural, not decorative.
2/4
At this scale, storytelling means designing the narrative architecture that connects research to human experience: what formats, what logic, what emotional pathway. These are design problems requiring design methods.
Strategic design is translation.
3/4
We translated scientific research into human stories. Systemic problems into staged interventions. A speculative future into something worth building toward. Translation is not simplification; it is making one world legible to another.
Speculation demands rigor.
4/4
Speculative work without structural accountability is daydreaming. Every concept we built was tested against: How would this actually happen? Who does it? What does it change? That discipline is what makes strategy, not just vision.

Complexity is not the enemy of clarity.
1/4
Staying with ambiguity long enough to find its architecture is a skill — not inefficiency. The six frameworks are simple to communicate precisely because we didn't simplify too early.
Storytelling is structural, not decorative.
2/4
At this scale, storytelling means designing the narrative architecture that connects research to human experience: what formats, what logic, what emotional pathway. These are design problems requiring design methods.
Strategic design is translation.
3/4
We translated scientific research into human stories. Systemic problems into staged interventions. A speculative future into something worth building toward. Translation is not simplification; it is making one world legible to another.
Speculation demands rigor.
4/4
Speculative work without structural accountability is daydreaming. Every concept we built was tested against: How would this actually happen? Who does it? What does it change? That discipline is what makes strategy, not just vision.

Complexity is not the enemy of clarity.
1/4
Staying with ambiguity long enough to find its architecture is a skill — not inefficiency. The six frameworks are simple to communicate precisely because we didn't simplify too early.
Storytelling is structural, not decorative.
2/4
At this scale, storytelling means designing the narrative architecture that connects research to human experience: what formats, what logic, what emotional pathway. These are design problems requiring design methods.
Strategic design is translation.
3/4
We translated scientific research into human stories. Systemic problems into staged interventions. A speculative future into something worth building toward. Translation is not simplification; it is making one world legible to another.
Speculation demands rigor.
4/4
Speculative work without structural accountability is daydreaming. Every concept we built was tested against: How would this actually happen? Who does it? What does it change? That discipline is what makes strategy, not just vision.

FINAL ORBIT

This project reflects how I approach complex challenges, not by designing isolated solutions, but by building systems that drive businesses at scale.

Thanks to my mentors and teammates without whom this project would not have been possible.

Contributions to this initiative have been made by Swasti, Anisha, Ren, Michelle, Abhishek, Khush, Saniya, Meha, Shoro, Dhruvi, Shruti, Henry, Nana, Hussein, Prerana, and Yasmeen. The project has been guided and facilitated at every stage by our professor, Mark Kroeckel and Christie Cox and Lynn Harper, NASA, ISS.