The past decade has seen a rapid expansion of the commercial space sector. Competing nations are vying for prominent military and economic positions beyond Earth. Public and private entities are claiming to mine the Moon, and a growing halo of space debris is polluting low Earth orbit.

In 2023, a group of astronomers warned of a recurrence of “Colonial practices“Earthlings in outer space. But what's wrong with colonizing space if there's nothing to begin with?

I am a philosopher of science and religion who has been writing about the space sector for several years. As government agencies and private companies turn their eyes to the stars, I have noticed that many of the factors that drove European Christian imperialism between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries are resurfacing in high-speed, high-tech forms.

Some of these colonial practices may include enclosure of lands, exploitation of natural resources, and destruction of landscapes—in the name of ideals such as destiny, civilization, and the salvation of humanity.

Many space industry leaders, such as Mars Society president Robert Zubrin, argue that while European-style colonization may have had unpleasant consequences on Earth, it is the only way forward in outer space. In fact, he warns against any attempt to slow down or regulate the space sector. It will make the borders of Mars inaccessible to humanity.leaving us stranded on increasingly dull and decadent terrain.

Zubrin argued against Fears of space colonizationOuter space, unlike Earth, is allegedly empty. Why should anyone care about the rights to rocks and some hypothetical microbes? But as it turns out, not everyone agrees that outer space is empty. As the astronomers involved have argued, abandoning the colonial rules of the game would benefit both those working in the space sector and those outside it.

Is space really empty?

People of the Pawaka region of northern Australia He said to the space sector That their ancestors direct human life from their home in the galaxy. This relationship is increasingly threatened. By large groups of satellites in orbit.

Likewise, Inuit elders say their ancestors live on celestial bodiesNavajo leaders asked NASA not to leave human remains on the moon, and Kanaka elders insisted. No more telescopes were built. On Mauna Kea, which is considered sacred and holy by Native Hawaiians.

These original positions stand in stark contrast to the insistence of many in the industry that space is empty and inanimate.

The key to reconciling these very different positions is to seek agreement, not in terms of beliefs or worldviews, but in terms of behavior. Secular space enthusiasts do not need to agree that outer space is inhabited, mobile, or sacred in order to treat it with the care and respect that indigenous communities in this sector demand.

Handling outer space with care may involve: Preserving noteworthy natural formationsLimit mining, reduce satellite licensing and launches, and find a way to clean up junk in orbit.

Environmental concerns

Emerging field Space environment Checks Relationships between human artifacts and natural environments In the context of the orbits of the Earth, the Moon, and other planets. As this discipline seeks to demonstrate, planetary orbits and bodies are finely balanced systems.

Without consistent regulation, commercial space activity could render orbits unusable. Moon-like atmospheric waste.

In fact, light falling on space debris—decommissioned satellites, spacecraft parts, cell phones, nuts, bolts, pieces of metal and shards of glass—can prevent astronomers from seeing, photographing and observing. Sailing through the stars.

The Moon, Mars and asteroids help scientists understand how planets and the solar system formed, what conditions are necessary for life and what planets might look like in the future. If the space sector explodes and — at the suggestion of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — mines planetary bodies, scientists could lose access to this knowledge.

The commercial space sector has already caused significant environmental damage to Earth and its surrounding areas.

SpaceX's ongoing rocket tests and launches destroyed wetlands From Boca Chica, Texas. One SpaceX rocket explosion in April 2023 harmony region Estimated at 385 acres From land and waterways to turtles and birds, not to mention cars, homes and human lungs.

The increasing number of private and public launches in this sector leads to the deposition of kerosene, carbon and sulfur in the upper atmosphere, where these materials remain for a longer period than in the stratosphere.

Research has shown The accumulation of these materials could greatly increase climate change. According to one estimate, rocket emissions are heating the atmosphere. 500 times faster From aviation emissions.

Even if Musk never reaches Mars, SpaceX and competitors are working to increase the movement of satellites into low Earth orbit, which could threaten the lives of astronauts and risk making those orbits unusable.

Humanitarian consequences

Many space industry leaders celebrate space as a “new new world” or the final frontier. But early modern economies based on sugar, tobacco, and gold generated profits by building empires for Europe and the United States through slavery and servitude.

Space industry leaders will have to think about what their work arrangements will look like as they send people to work in their space hotels, build their bunkers, and mine asteroids. After all, space workers will depend on their employers not only for pay and health care, but also for food, water, air, and transportation back to Earth.

In 1967, a number of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, signed the agreement. Outer Space TreatyThis treaty declared, among other things, that no state may possess a planetary body or part thereof.

The treaty, negotiated and signed after two world wars, was a product of the conflicts in Europe in the 20th century. If colonization on Earth reached its peak in those two wars, the nations that signed it were effectively saying, “We will not fight each other over Earth and resources again. Let us occupy outer space in a different way.”

At this point, the treaty is outdated and practically unenforceable. But any future legislation would preserve the anti-colonial spirit of the original treaty.

So, from a political perspective, it doesn’t matter whether space is already inhabited or whether rocks have rights. Avoiding colonization in outer space doesn’t require the space sector to agree on these metaphysical questions.

Instead, it will require participants across the space sector and beyond to agree on a common set of standards for caring about planets and their orbits, regardless of whether their motivations are scientific, environmental, humanitarian, or religious.

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