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

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

. International cooperation under the Artemis Agreement aims not only to promote

, 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

, 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

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 ...

References

* D. Deudney and M. Glassner; Political Geography

External links

Astropolitics.The International Journal of Space Politics & Policy
{{Politics of outer space Outer space

Geopolitics