What Planetary Sunshade Foundation does

The Planetary Sunshade Institute (formerly the Planetary Sunshade Foundation, renamed in 2026) is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization headquartered in Los Angeles that conducts and coordinates research on space-based sunlight reflection as a potential complement to emissions reduction and carbon dioxide removal for climate stabilization. Its core technical concept is a constellation of thousands of reflective spacecraft positioned near the Sun-Earth Lagrange 1 point (~2 million km from Earth), using solar radiation pressure for station-keeping and totaling 50-100 million metric tons with roughly 3 million km² of shade area. The Institute does not sell commercial products; instead it operates a research program that organizes world experts, designs optimal technical pathways, engages in governance development, and develops research funding, with all outputs published open-source for public benefit.

The Institute's primary funded activity is the Space Reflector Baseline Survey, a £400k+ project over 15 months funded by the UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) under its 'Exploring Climate Cooling' program, conducted in partnership with Ethos Space, Cornell University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Nottingham, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It also co-hosted the first global sunshade convening with the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the University of Nottingham in May 2026, bringing together 90 researchers from 13 countries, and maintains a global sunshade research network. The organization is staffed by an Executive Director (Morgan Goodwin), Operations Director (Daria Marinelli), and Research Engineer (Dean Zweiman), with governance by a Board of Directors (Ross Centers, Dylan Hixon, Morgan Goodwin) and a 10-member Advisory Council spanning aerospace engineering, climate science, and policy.

Go-to-market is community-led: the Institute grows and maintains a network of sunshade researchers, organizes domain experts, and engages with forums developing climate and space policy. Revenue mechanics are grant-based, anchored to the ARIA award, with explicit positioning that only governments should authorize and fund any eventual geoengineering deployment. As a public-interest research entity, its competitive advantages are framed as a community ecosystem and a talent moat rather than commercial defensibility.

Name

Planetary Sunshade Foundation

Legal name

Planetary Sunshade Institute

Website

https://planetarysunshade.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Planetary Sunshade Institute is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization that coordinates global experts and publishes open-source research on space-based sunlight reflection systems for planetary climate stabilization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Geoengineering Research

NAICS

Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support (BPADALAA)

Keywords

• Climate geoengineering research
• Space-based climate research
• Solar radiation management
• Planetary sunshade systems
• Climate stabilization research

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Funding and Grants: The organization is funded by the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) through their 'Exploring Climate Cooling' program. All results from research work are published and open-source for global public benefit. This is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Planetary Sunshade Institute conducts and coordinates public-interest research on space-based sunlight reflection as a complement to emissions reduction and carbon dioxide removal for global climate stabilization. The organization organizes world experts across aerospace engineering, climate science, and governance; designs and refines optimal sunshade system architectures; engages in climate and space governance development; and develops research funding with donors. All research outputs are published open-source for the global public benefit.

Product overview

The Planetary Sunshade Institute (formerly Foundation) is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization that advances understanding of space-based sunlight reflection for global climate stabilization. The organization's offering is a research program combining expert organization, sunshade system design, governance development, and research funding coordination. Key activities include the Space Reflector Baseline Survey (a climate modeling project with multiple institutional partners), the annual IAA Sunshade Workshop convening global researchers, open-source publications, and maintaining a research network. The organization does not offer commercial products but rather conducts and coordinates public-interest research in planetary sunshade technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Space Reflector Baseline Survey A multi-institutional research project funded by ARIA that models six different conceptual sunshade designs and evaluates their climate impacts using climate simulations. It is conducted in collaboration with Ethos Space, Cornell University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Nottingham, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The project serves the climate research community and policy makers evaluating space-based geoengineering feasibility.
• Publications and Reports Open-source research publications on space-based geoengineering concepts, including reports such as 'Going to Space to Save Earth' and academic and conference papers presented at international forums including the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), AIAA ASCEND, and the Degrees Global Forum. The publications serve researchers, policy makers, and the general public interested in planetary sunshade science.
• IAA Sunshade Workshop The first global convening of sunshade researchers, co-hosted with the International Academy of Astronautics and the University of Nottingham. The workshop brings together aerospace engineers, climate scientists, and governance experts working on planetary sunshade research and serves as the field's primary in-person research coordination event.
• Global Sunshade Research Network A growing network of sunshade researchers maintained by the organization to foster collaboration across aerospace engineering, climate science, and governance. The network connects researchers, supports collaboration on planetary sunshade studies, and feeds into the Institute's convening and publication activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reflecting 1% of sunlight would cool Earth by approximately 1°C

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered primary, core and minor.

• International Academy of Astronautics (IAA)primaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Co-hosted the first global sunshade convening with IAA and University of Nottingham in May 2026. The workshop brought together 90 researchers from 13 countries.
• University of NottinghamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in Space Reflector Baseline Survey project and co-host of IAA Sunshade Workshop. The Nottingham organizing team includes Matteo Ceriotti's working group contributions.
• Ethos SpacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Space Reflector Baseline Survey project for modeling six different conceptual sunshade designs.
• Cornell UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in Space Reflector Baseline Survey project contributing climate modeling expertise.
• National Center for Atmospheric ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in Space Reflector Baseline Survey project contributing climate simulation capabilities.
• NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in Space Reflector Baseline Survey project. Pedro Neves from JPL presented work on dust cloud feasibility.
• University of GlasgowminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributed working group at the IAA Sunshade Workshop, collaborating with TU Delft and University of Pisa on sunshade research.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SilverLining: A nonprofit focused on climate intervention research including solar radiation management; shares PSI's public-benefit governance orientation and convening role for SRM-related science and policy.
• Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G): Specializes in governance of emerging climate-altering technologies including SRM; highly comparable given PSI's explicit focus on governance development for space-based climate intervention.
• The Degrees Initiative: Global NGO advancing responsible research into solar geoengineering and its governance; comparable as a mission-aligned research coordination body in the same SRM field.
• Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program: Academic research program studying stratospheric and surface-based solar geoengineering; comparable in producing peer-reviewed SRM research, though more focused on stratospheric aerosol injection than space-based reflection.

Emerging players

• Make Sunsets: Startup deploying weather balloons for stratospheric sulfate release as a commercial SRM demonstration; comparable as a small, mission-driven actor pushing the boundaries of solar geoengineering practice and triggering the governance debate PSI engages in.
• Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge: Academic research centre exploring active climate repair methods including SRM; overlaps with PSI in researching climate intervention feasibility, though with broader methodological scope.
• Ethos Space: Space systems company collaborating with PSI on the Space Reflector Baseline Survey; comparable as a complementary space-engineering counterpart translating sunshade research into mission concepts.

Others

• Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD): Policy organization focused on near-term climate protection and SRM governance; thematically adjacent given shared interest in governance frameworks for climate-altering technologies.
• International Academy of Astronautics (IAA): International academy of space experts; co-host of PSI's inaugural Sunshade Workshop and a key convening forum for the planetary sunshade research community.

Broad incumbents

• NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research): U.S. climate simulation powerhouse and PSI research partner on the Space Reflector Baseline Survey; comparable as a provider of climate modeling capability underpinning sunshade feasibility studies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/spacesrm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/planetarysunshade

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Planetary Sunshade Foundation