Jones, Craig and Jyoti, Divya (2024) ‘It is an ethical question!’ : Reflections on ‘Wicked problems’ of the futural explorations in and of outer space. In: RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, 2024-08-27 - 2024-08-30.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The future lies in Outer Space! This sentiment has captured the interest of policy makers and academics alike. The recent decade has seen a significant growth of private company led ‘exploration’ of Outer Space. From crewed missions, launch technologies, and satellite manufacturing and operations to speculative endeavours surrounding asteroid mining, lunar mining, and Martian habitation, the private is associated with a range of activities within the Space sector. Taken collectively, these established and nascent industries comprise the NewSpace Economy (NSE): a growing area of investment and speculation. This growing sector is, necessarily, future-oriented and an array of futures are consequently (re)created to justify their activities and investments. Despite the growing traction of these various endeavours, the multifaceted nature of the ethical implications ingrained within the current and proposed NSE activities remains underexplored. Whilst there has been a growing interest in the geographies of Outer Space – particularly through a geopolitical lens – the scalar politics of responsibility and the modes of governance these entail have yet to be seriously and deliberately interrogated. In this lightening talk, we will outline some of the ethical deliberations that need to happen regarding both the terrestrial and extraterrestrial ethics of Outer Space governance and the attendant futures these entail.