Introduction
For decades, the scientific know-how and space technology were considered a political capital and manifestations of superiority of two world powers, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (USA), competing in a 20th-century Space Race. However, this monopolistic competition has come to an end and the two rivals agreed to pursue a joint space venture: the International Space Station (Collins Reference Collins1999) and later, the new space agencies formed and commercial ventures sprung to become signposts of a New Space Age. Throughout this paper, one of possible definitions is used to depict the New Space Age as primarily the era of internationalization and commercial availability of space technologies.
A growing body of literature deals with the emergence of new actors in the space industry as well as discusses key challenges of the changing geopolitics of space activities (Peter Reference Peter2006). This is certainly a challenging moment for policy makers, space lawyers and space scientists alike. To date, the outer space activities are regulated by international agreements such as Outer Space Treaty (UN 1966) and the Moon Treaty (UN 1979). But do those treaties that govern the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space also govern space commerce? It is no surprise that the issues of international space law, legal protection in space, space industrialization, regulation of commercial space activities in general (Tatsuzawa Reference Tatsuzawa1988) and the need to restructure the space law (Hulsroj Reference Hulsroj2002), became widely discussed topics.
Hearsey (Reference Hearsey2008), for example, offers a review of challenges to corporate expansion into outer space. The legal challenges of human space travel including space tourism, orbital and suborbital space flight were discussed by Masson Zwaan (Reference Masson-Zwaan2010). The commercial exploration and exploitation of outer space and celestial bodies became a matter of academic research (De Man Reference De Man2011) and public concern alike. The innovations in space technology gave rise to asteroid ‘off-planet’ mining industry development (Olson Reference Olson2012) and a seemingly more realistic vision of space colonization. In short, the space commerce unlocked the economic potential of outer space and its resources and we witness unprecedented continuous growth of a multimillion-pound space industry.
All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that the New Space Age is primarily an economically driven one; that is to say an effort to gain control over space resources and pursuit of business. The upcoming of this era is also ushered in changes in human relations to outer space; that is from something to be explored to something that could be exploited. Based on ethnographic material collected during doctoral research in social studies of science and technology (Capova Reference Capova2013), a case-study approach to interpreting dataset was used to enable a deeper, qualitative insight into the state of affairs in space commerce. Three conceptually diverse cases of outer space economy that already captured attention of social scientist are asteroid mining (Olson Reference Olson2012), memorial spaceflights (Cutting Reference Cutting2009) and extraterrestrial marketing (Capova Reference Capova2013) are introduced below in order to present the dynamics and recent developments in actual socioeconomic context and to engage outer space as a site of social production.
Exo-mining: recovery of asteroid resources
The commercial recovery of space resources, also referred to as in situ resource utilization (ISRU), is the capability to harvest and utilize space resources that became of great commercial interest and private investments. In 2012, both USA Today and The Guardian shared online media stories reporting that investors and advisers to asteroid mining company Planetary Resources included Google CEO Larry Page and filmmaker James Cameron. Planetary Resources aim to reach their asteroid prospecting milestone and later to unlock the Solar System's economy (Planetary Resources 2015). Eric Anderson, co-founder of the company, was clear about company's motivations and intentions: ‘We're in this for decades. But it's not a charity. And we'll make money from the beginning.’ (The Guardian 2012).
The promising financial potential hidden in near earth asteroids and their expected economic use seems to have justified the exploitation of celestial objects to company's advantage. In this line of reasoning, Olson in ‘asteroid activism’ in 2012 discussed the topic in context with astronautics practices and policies regarding astronomical objects and showed that ‘environmental objects are considered to be threats as well as exploitable natural resources’ (Olson Reference Olson2012, p. 1027).
Similar view on utilization of natural resources and environment is reflected in the text of a recent Space Act (2015), a law enabling commercial exploration and use of space resources. The Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act had been signed by President Obama and became law in December 2015 (H.R.2262 U.S. 2015). The law says that any asteroid resources obtained in outer space are the property of the entity that obtained them and the role of US Office of Space Commerce is to ‘foster the conditions for the economic growth and technological advancement of the US space commerce industry.’
Exo-burials: post-cremation memorial spaceflight
Houston-based company Celestis provides funeral services of a New Space Age by making it possible to place a symbolic portion of cremated remains into orbit, onto the lunar surface, or be sent into deep space. The first private, post-cremation memorial spaceflight service was launched already in 1997 and the first lunar burial took place in 1999. The Celestis website lists a variety of services and products. The Gemini Module Option, for example, includes two ‘participants’ at 7 g each (Celestis 2015).
Cutting (Reference Cutting2009) described this phenomenon as ‘American way of death’ and analysed the role of Celestis and similar business ventures as a new arena of commercial enterprise and consumer spirituality. Interpreting ‘posthumous tourism’ the within the tradition of ash-scattering. Cutting concluded that the space memorial services remain a religious act although ‘reveal fundamental tensions in the cultural imaginary of technoscience’ (p. 367).
Ultimately, this seemingly rather secular mortuary practice of the New Space Age introduces grief rituals in new cultural context (Palgi & Abramowitch Reference Palgi and Abramovitch1984). Moreover, the formation of such businesses alone points out to that socioeconomic settings and moral norms that made this undertaking legally possible and ethically acceptable. The Celestis case study shows how the works of space commerce resulted in formation of an exo-burial practice and by doing so it shifted consumer spirituality beyond Earth's orbit.
Exo-marketing: world's first extraterrestrial advert
Another example of laissez-faire policy in use of outer space occurred in 2008, and has brought a new level of controversy to already heavily debated scientific practice of sending messages to otherworldly civilizations. This curious case of exo-marketing shows how the extraterrestrial domain appeals to marketers as a modern commercial advertising medium to promote or sell a terrestrial product.
While the scientific community worldwide and other professionals have been discussing the pros and cons of sending messages to potential extraterrestrial intelligence (known as METI, Messaging the Extraterrestrial Intelligence), a brand of seasoned tortilla chips were making marketing history and establishing a new discipline: exo-marketing (Capova Reference Capova2013). The Doritos commercial was broadcast using the radars at the European space station in the Arctic Circle (EISCAT) and officially became the first advertisement ever transmitted to the Universe, making One small step for man, one giant leap for advertising (Pepsico UK & Ireland 2012).
Of course, the target audiences were hardly starved extraterrestrials but rather consumers and earth's mass media hungry for a sensation. It comes as no surprise that the advertisement caused an impact in terrestrial commercial circles and made it onto the pages of the Guinness Book of Records. While pushing the boundaries of marketing across the distance of 42 light years, the boundaries of terrestrial efforts to find life beyond Earth have been pushed beyond science. The reaction of the professional community on the other hand, was rather ambivalent. The online press announced: First space ad targets hungry aliens (Barras Reference Barras2008) and How to make a bad first impression (McGovern Reference McGovern2008). Despite its controversial status, the Doritos Broadcast Project is now listed as one of the messages sent to the universe, although it had been classified as ‘pseudo-METI’ (Zaitsev Reference Zaitsev2012).
Neo-colonialism: a lesson of history
The space exploration seems to continue in the tradition inherited from the era referred to as the age of discovery and acquisition of other territories, whereas those territories were claimed by those who arrived first, in many cases irrespectively of claims of the native inhabitants. White (Reference White1998) for example, discussed the territorial claims in context with the real property rights in outer space. Race (Reference Race, Berkman, Lang, Walton and Young2011) considered comparison of the Antarctic and outer space treaties in context with policies for scientific exploration and environmental protection, and Kerrest (Reference Kerrest2011) provided comparison of Antarctica and outer space as international spaces.
Embedded within a larger course of action within commercial space exploration to date is the unspoken rule. A general prior-appropriation rule, that also the outer space and celestial objects are available on the first come first served basis (Hulsroj Reference Hulsroj2002), or available to anyone who is ‘first in time, first in right’ (Buxton Reference Buxton2004). It was Nelson (Reference Nelson2015) who asked the right question about legal status of asteroids and mining in the outer space: are asteroids something that can be owned? With this in mind, one can paraphrase what anthropologist Harding (Reference Harding1992) termed ‘European expansionism’ when referring to science and describe current developments as commercial expansionism that in fact mimics particular motives of European terrestrial exploration: colonialism. The continuous geographical exploration, such as search for sea routes and passages, served not only to satisfaction of curiosity, that is science, but to pursuit of trade and desire for political power, and perhaps to make money from the beginning.
History seems to provide a useful analogy for understanding the present. Cosgrove (Reference Cosgrove1994) described the imperial colonial implications of exploration and noted that it ‘signifies the expansion of a specific socioeconomic order across space.’ In other words, the outer space had become a new supply of assets and a source of economic power, both of which are the driving forces of recent developments, of neo-colonialisms. For this reason it became quintessential to acknowledge that man has entered the New Space Age and has now the ability utilize celestial objects and thereafter inevitably to alter our Solar System. Not only changes in geopolitics and ownership of space technologies; but also plans for their commercial application, space businesses formation and recurrence of the themes such as colonialism and expansionism are all manifestations of this era.
The new space race
At first glance outer space may appear to be a remote place of intact nature and somewhat culturally sterile vacuum. However, the originally eerie sphere and final frontier is a target for our aspiring spirit of exploration, science, commerce, economy; and also a cultural space where the new meanings are reproduced – if not utilized – in situ.
But what are the immediate implications of recent developments in space commerce to academia and research institutions? Our current challenge is identifying those developments, growth in the space industry, and finding out how they relate to science and research in order to offer a policy for addressing these issues. The obvious example of such development could be the potential clash of interest, whereas the resource utilization may interfere with scientific endeavours and pursuit of knowledge.
The above described cases inspire a number of other topics to be considered. Topics that may resemble those of a science-fiction novels, but in fact are no longer fiction, yet also no longer science. For example, in case of posthumous space tourism, if the encapsulated people's ashes were delivered to the surface of the Moon, is the locality regarded and managed as lunar graveyard? Will this new cultural practice be regarded as funeral ceremony and respected by the scientists as a ceremonial site? What if a private investors decide to build a settlement near this burial site or an amusement park at Apollo 11 landing site. Or what if a multinational company devises a plan to take advertising another step further and place a large advertisement on the lunar surface?
These questions are more salient when we consider the emerging role of space commerce in spaceflight in relation to pursuit of science. In the end, the New Space Race may prove to be a space exploration competition between science and commerce. To prevent this, we need to elevate policy debate within the discipline especially related to collaboration and ongoing communication between research-based institutions, economists, industry representatives and space policy makers.
Second, we need to discuss the status of celestial objects and ask a question of who controls properties located beyond lower orbit, especially when we consider the role of space commerce in context with the Private Aerospace and Entrepreneurship Act (H.R.2262 U.S. 2015). Given the seemingly established ‘first come, first served’ basis in acquisition of extraterrestrial properties, perhaps it is the time to propose the international protection of celestial sites of special cultural, natural or physical significance, and consider those object as common heritage of mankind sites (exo-UNESCO) or sites of scientific interest.
Finally, we need to recognize the role of scholarly outreach activities in educating the public on recent industry developments and in assisting the new space ventures and decision makers to develop best practices for the new era of space exploration. Social sciences and humanities, namely interdisciplinary fields of scholarship such as history and philosophy of science, environmental and international studies, and political economy, offer precisely the kinds of contextual insights needed to advance science- and society-conscious policies for sustainable development of outer space exploration and off-planet activities.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to acknowledge the support of Life-ORIGINS COST Action (TD1308) Project.
