Some Thoughts on Space

This will get periodic updates as new developments occur.

Last update: June, 2021 (G7 agrees to address the issue of space junk; China sends first astronauts to space)

In the 1960s, the United Nations created the Outer Space Treaty, which forms the basis of much subsequent discussion and legislation on the topic of the rights and privileges of humans in Space and on other planets.

Since then, both non-profits and for-profit corporations have declared their own interpretations of the principles under which we as a species should operate.

While the original treaty was clearly geared towards preventing nuclear war, I think it has some really valuable grounding principles. Outer Space should be approached as somewhere shared by all of humanity, where the rights, privileges, and opportunities are defined by as many representatives of as many walks of human life as possible.

We are more similar to each other than to any possible other Life out there.

What about a Mars Shot?

We face some truly daunting problems here on Earth, but that doesn’t mean that the solution is for us to move to Mars.

However, Mars presents an admirably distant–yet relatively achievable with current technology–destination for us to focus on as we articulate goals and purposes for humans in space. So with that in mind, why NOT say that our goal is to move to Mars, if only to help give us direction and purpose in our scientific endeavors?

What is worth noting about the evolution of “space programs” is how much more closely private enterprise is explicitly and implicitly woven into policies, programs, and approaches in the 21st century than they were in the 20th. These are policies, programs, and approaches that have a stated purpose of being focused on the good of humanity, but have some interesting nuances baked in.

On my birthday in 2020, the United States issued an outline for a space policy which states a goal “to explore and learn, and to support peace on Earth and in the stars.”

This is an admirable purpose, but the document also makes clear the methodology: “The United States will create an environment that energizes our industry to create innovative commercial approaches…”

It also makes explicit that the USA will work with “likeminded partners,” which is an interesting qualification.

The implementation for much of this policy lives within a program called Artemis which is prepping the USA for our (literal) next moonshot. Much of the detail about how this will be accomplished is available publicly, and a very central element of its operations include public-private partnerships.

Finally, there is, of course “Space Force,” an accurately but humorously named arm of the US military.

Taken all together, what we see is a coalescing approach that is US-centric, capitalism-centric, and where the interests of the United States and US-style free market capitalism will be enforced by the world’s richest military.

In the article linked above, Peter Martinez, the director of the Secure World Foundation, puts it perhaps more eloquently: “…space is already a domain dominated by civilian and commercial actors…so the new space race is really not so much a race among military rivals as it is a race among civilian commercial rivals to access an increasingly congested and contested domain, and we need to think about what this means for safety, security and stability in space, for all actors, both military and civilian.”

While we like to think of space as the final frontier, however, it’s important to remember it isn’t a completely blank slate–especially where capitalist enterprise is concerned.

Why Regulate Space? One Answer

Take the story of the “Chinese space debris,” from April 2021.

After days of wondering where some Chinese space debris would fall, with delightfully wild speculation and amazement from everyone (Twitter: who had this on their 2021 bingo card?), it finally landed in the Indian Ocean.

In an appearance on CNN, retired astronaut Mark Kelly explained that for many satellite operators (private companies, likely motivated by standard shareholder capitalism), it’s cheaper to shift defunct satellites to a slightly different orbit than to bring them back to earth. This makes room for new satellites in geosynchronous orbit, and minimizes the costs to the company and therefore the impact to the bottom line.

But get enough profit-motivated companies moving enough satellites to this orbital location, and you end up with an almost impenetrable wall of space junk.

To Kelly’s point, to get to Mars, we have to get through all the crap we’ve already put in space–and that is no easy (or cheap) navigational task.

For anyone familiar with the tragedy of the commons, this is a stark example. Space is, well, SPACE. At apogee, you can fit the entire solar system between the Earth and the Moon. Surely there’s enough room to just leave one more satellite? Because, I mean, we can’t go into our quarterly earnings call and explain that we spent millions to bring back a satellite when we DIDN’T HAVE TO–I mean, who will enforce consequences on not doing so, anyway? And we aren’t going to simply CLEAN UP out of the goodness of our hearts. (so I imagine the thought process of a COO deciding whether to sign off on satellite retrieval).

If we’re honest about environmental protections, it often doesn’t happen until after a disaster. And sometimes what happens is still not enough.

Why wait until another piece of space debris comes hurtling to earth?

Why not acknowledge that in this case, international cooperation to create rules of engagement in space helps everyone?

It keeps Earthlings safer, and it will allow our billionaires to live out their space cowboy dreams more cheaply.

Update from June, 2021: the G7 countries have finally agreed to terms to address space debris!

What does Space Diplomacy look like?

Chinese astronauts are banned from working on the International Space Station, so China has created their own space station and sent astronauts to it.

What does it mean for those of us here on Earth that we isolate a major global power in space?