![Test Ban Treaty (1963) - first page](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Test_Ban_Treaty_%281963%29_-_first_page.jpg)
The politics of outer space includes space treaties,
law in space, international cooperation and conflict in
space exploration
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by robotic spacec ...
,
international economics
International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. It seeks to explain the patterns and ...
and the hypothetical political impact of any contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.
Astropolitics, also known as astropolitik, has its foundations in
geopolitics
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
and is a theory that is used for
space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
in its broadest sense.
An important aspect of the
geopolitics
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
of space is the prevention of a military threat to Earth from outer space.
International cooperation on space projects has resulted in the creation of new national space agencies. By 2005 there were 35 national civilian space agencies.
Treaties and policies related to outer space
Outer Space Treaty
Moon Treaty
Artemis Accords
The Artemis Accords builds on a number of treaties that affect the conduct of States and their commercial industries in the exploration and use of space, including the 1967
Outer Space Treaty
russian: link=yes, Договор о космосе es, link=yes, Tratado sobre el espacio ultraterrestre
, long_name = Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moo ...
, the 1972
Liability Convention
The Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, also known as the Space Liability Convention, is a treaty from 1972 that expands on the liability rules created in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. In 1978, the crash o ...
and the 1975
Registration Convention
The Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (commonly known as the Registration Convention) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1974 and went into force in 1976. As of February 2022, it has been ratified ...
.
NASA has stated that in leading the Artemis program, international partnerships will prepare for a historic human mission to Mars while playing a key role in achieving a sustainable and robust presence on the Moon. The core of the Artemis agreement requires that all activities be conducted for peaceful purposes, consistent with the principles of the
Outer Space Treaty
russian: link=yes, Договор о космосе es, link=yes, Tratado sobre el espacio ultraterrestre
, long_name = Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moo ...
. International cooperation under the Artemis Agreement aims not only to promote
space exploration
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by robotic spacec ...
, but also to strengthen peaceful relations between nations.
Post-detection policy
Politics of the ISS
Colonialism and imperialism
Neoliberal advocacy
The trend towards the economicisation of outer space under
neoliberalism
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
is having a profound impact on the
political ecology of outer space.
Outer space is becoming a space for capitalism. A new era of
space commercialisation aims to profit from satellite launches, space tourism,
asteroid mining
Asteroid mining is the hypothetical exploitation of materials from asteroids and other minor planets, including near-Earth objects.
Notable asteroid mining challenges include the high cost of spaceflight, unreliable identification of asteroids ...
and related ventures. This era, driven by private companies such as Elon Musk's
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, has been dubbed "the new space" by industry insiders." Spatial justice in outer space increasingly means the 'justice' of capital, with capitalism replacing humanity."
Since the mid-20th century, space expansionism has become a popular ideology and, thanks to science, the emergence of technological civilization, and the spread of
neoliberalism
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
, it has become possible for a wide range of actors, such as national armies and government agencies, scientists and private companies, to carry out a variety of space activities, such as the regulation of outer space through international law, the deployment of missile and
anti-satellite weapons, the establishment of exploration, communication and
navigation satellites
A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...
, and space travel for tourism and habitat expansion. Since the mid-twentieth century, spatial expansionism has gone hand in hand with the concept of the world as a 'planetary earth' - going beyond the concept of a 'global earth' associated with the industrial revolution.
There are always costs and benefits in environmental change and these are unevenly distributed along lines of class, race, ethnicity, gender, and geography (among other axes of difference). The environmental
geopolitics
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
of outer space is similarly multi-scale, manifesting itself in contemporary debates on pollution issues such as
orbital debris
Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, or space garbage) are defunct human-made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecr ...
and
planetary protection
Planetary protection is a guiding principle in the design of an interplanetary mission, aiming to prevent biological contamination of both the target celestial body and the Earth in the case of sample-return missions. Planetary protection refle ...
agreements. The cultural, legal, budgetary, and infrastructural footprints experienced in the contemporary space race have measurable environmental footprints on Earth and in outer space. The question of where these footprints fall is arbitrated by larger issues of geopolitical power and
vulnerability
Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally."
A window of vulnerability (WOV) is a time frame within which defensive measures are diminished, com ...
, which means that human participation in outer space is also a matter of
environmental justice
Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...
.
See also
*
Astrosociology
Astrosociology, sociology of outer space, or sociology of the universe is the study of the relationship between outer space, extraterrestrial places, and the wider universe and society. It is an interdisciplinary study between space-related sc ...
*
Extraterrestrial Real Estate
Extraterrestrial real estate refers to claims of land ownership on other planets, natural satellites, or parts of space by certain organizations or individuals. Previous claims are not recognized by any authority, and have no legal standing. Never ...
*
Human Presence in Space
Human presence in space is about humanity in space, particularly about all anthropogenic presence in space and human activity in space, that is in outer space and in a broader sense also on any extraterrestrial astronomical body.
Humans have ...
*
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
*
Politics of the International Space Station
Politics of the International Space Station have been affected by superpower rivalries, international treaties and funding arrangements. The Cold War was an early factor, overtaken in recent years by the United States' distrust of China. The s ...
*
Space Advocacy
Space advocacy is supporting or advocating for a human use of outer space. Purposes advocated can reach from space exploration, or commercial use of space to even space settlement. There are many different individuals and organizations dedicat ...
*
Space Colonialism
*
Space Policy
Space policy is the political decision-making process for, and application of, public policy of a state (or association of states) regarding spaceflight and uses of outer space, both for civilian (scientific and commercial) and military purposes. I ...
*
Space Race
The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...
*
Space Warfare
Space warfare is hypothetical combat in which one or more belligerents are situated in outer space. The scope of space warfare therefore includes ''ground-to-space warfare'', such as attacking satellites from the Earth; ''space-to-space warfa ...
*
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is an office of the U.N. Secretariat that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space. It works to establish or strengthen the legal and regulatory framew ...
*
Whitey on the Moon
"Whitey on the Moon" is a 1970 spoken word poem by Gil Scott-Heron. It was released as the ninth track on Scott-Heron's debut album ''Small Talk at 125th and Lenox''. Recorded over a simple drum accompaniment, it tells of medical debt, high taxes ...
References
* D. Deudney and M. Glassner; Political Geography
Further reading
*Dolman, Everett C. Ed. Colin S. Gray and Geoffrey Sloan. "Geostrategy in the Space Age." ''Geopolitics, Geography and Strategy.'' Frank Cass: Portland, Oregon, 2003. pp. 83–106.
*^ Eric Cardiff of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, as quoted at http://www.physorg.com/news66314743.html
External links
Astropolitics.The International Journal of Space Politics & Policy
{{Politics of outer space
Outer space
space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
Geopolitics