I spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on what I can contribute as my first post on The Astro Bulletin – for context, I’m a philosophy graduate who’s passionate about the environmental sciences, along with the earths place in our broader cosmos. In recent years whilst conducting my research (writing about both literary and data sources) I’ve found the growing concern (and prominence) surrounding the privatization of both space research and travel a fascinating topic. We’re bombarded now with the throwing’s of political instability which not only affects our personal and professional lives, but also the policies that guide the greater “Space Industries” direction. In the wider context, we live in capitalist global societies now so this is to be expected, yet nonetheless the discussion is important. There has always been a tie between money and research since academic institutions first required funding hundreds of years ago, but do the circumstances now pose some level of threat to our efficacy that was not an issue before?

So the discussion I’d like to provoke, perhaps to make my stake here as coming from a discernibly different origin than most journalists that cover astronomy and astrophysics. How do we reconcile with the consequences of vast privatisation? And how will this affect space travel and research going forward?

From what I understand, there are two forces at play.

We can see there are great strides being made in aerospace industry, that no doubt, are driven by high investment in private companies: aiming towards future promises of high returns. This progress appears (at least) to be far more ambitious than NASA and ESA’s development throughout the 90’s and into the early 2000’s.

But is this efficiency worth it? 

If we cast our minds back to the development of the ISS, we are reminded of the great global effort to establish a permanent presence in space. Excluding the influence of American idealism and perhaps the political undertones that leeched in from the earlier space race – it is easy to conclude that the ISS served both symbolically and in practice: as a project intended for the greater good of humanity and it’s science.

However, I think it would be difficult now, to assert that the current projects carry the same weight or promises – billionaires do not do things out of the goodness of their hearts. And it would be naïve to believe that they would. So are these advancements and licensed contracts going somewhere useful? Or is the space industry on an inevitable track towards corporate dominance.

Let me know your thoughts below.