The JustSpace Alliance June 2024 Newsletter
Hello JustSpace subscribers and followers, and welcome to our June 2024 newsletter, where we’ll talk space sustainability, follow up on last edition’s discussion of human remains on the Moon, and recap more of the latest news and writing on space, ethics, and human rights.
Space Sustainability
As human activity in space increases, there has been growing concern in government and the space industry about a subject that researchers have been warning about for decades: the challenges of space sustainability. One of the more urgent areas where we risk over-exploiting space to the point where future generations may be unable to use the same space technologies that we enjoy is low Earth orbit. This region of space, right in our planet’s backyard, is an excellent place for the deployment of satellites for use in communications, surveillance, Earth science, and more. But we’ve also been filling low Earth orbit with fast-moving debris that poses a threat to any satellites, spacecraft, or astronauts trying to move through this space.
Farther out in the Solar System, it’s not hard to image the potential harms we might someday inflict on more distance space environments as we continue to expand outwards, extracting resources and building infrastructure. After all, we are already living with the environmental consequences of the desire for constant expansion and resource overexploitation here on Earth.
Most definitions of “space sustainability” focus on ensuring that future generations have the same options for their use of the space environment that we do— that we don’t use up finite resources, or contaminate space environments like low Earth orbit to the point where they’re unusable. The Secure World Foundation, who is hosting their upcoming 6th Summit for Space Sustainability, succinctly defines space sustainability as “Ensuring that all humanity can continue to use outer space for peaceful purposes and socioeconomic benefit now and in the long term.”
NASA recently released Volume 1 of their new Space Sustainability Strategy, which is focused primarily on low Earth orbit but also notes that the increasing number of missions to the Moon and Mars “will make sustainable operations around these bodies more challenging.” They also posted a job opening (now closed) for a Director of Space Sustainability and called for grant proposals focused on orbital space and lunar surface sustainability .
This is heartening progress for people concerned about our use— or overuse— of the space environment. But it will also be important to pay attention to how the conversation and policy development around space sustainability evolves. Intergenerational justice should be one of our primary values in our plans for space, but will we continue to prioritize equitable access to and use of space as we look towards the future, or will space companies dominate the conversation and redirect our efforts towards merely maintaining their ability to continue extracting profit from the space environment? How can we ensure that we are including diverse perspectives on what the sustainable use of space looks like, informed by cultures and economic systems that have already demonstrated the ability to sustainably exist with their environments on Earth? As we ask how to ensure sustainable development in space, will we include “less development” or “no development” as a serious option in our conversations? And will we consider the right of these environments to be protected and preserved for their own sake, not just for their utility for current and future generations of humans?
To Read
Speaking of diverse knowledge systems, Robin Wall Kimmerer and Kyle A. Artelle argued in Science that it is Time to support Indigenous science, arguing for a path forward “in which Indigenous peoples do not merely have a seat at Western science’s table but are setting research agendas that reflect their priorities and protocols.”
More specifically, a group of excellent space researchers published A call for Indigenous partnership in the return to the Moon in Nature, referencing in particular the concerns of the Navajo Nation about recent efforts to send human remains to the Moon.
Christopher Cokinos also argued in SpaceNews that Putting cremains on the moon is disrespectful— and bad policy.
Upcoming Events
The JustSpace Alliance is hosting an Environmental Justice in Space (EJiS) Workshop this week(!) on June 20-21, 2024. The EJiS Workshop will bring space experts together with environmental justice activists and researchers to discuss areas of concern in the space environment, lessons learned from the history of environmental justice movements on Earth, and ideas for ensuring an equitable and sustainable future for humanity in space. Registration for this free virtual workshop is now open.
The third Space Science in Context conference, “a free, experimental, virtual conference bringing together people interested in and who study outer space and/or its social contexts”, will take place on October 17-18, 2024. This year’s theme is Justice in Action. The deadline for submitting poster abstracts is August 12.
Take Action
Astrobites, the graduate student-run reader’s digest for astronomy journal articles, released a detailed statement on the effects of the ongoing war and genocide in Gaza on Palestinian students and astronomers. The statement includes a list of further resources and possible actions to take at the bottom.
If you’d like to learn more about how the work of space scientists and engineers is tied to military actions around the world, the Palestinian Space Institute provides a number of resources and data in Space and the Military-Industrial Complex: A PSI Database.
Scientists for Palestine’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza is still accepting signatures, as is the statement from Particles for Palestine, who are also asking for signatures (even from non-particle-physicists) on their call for a ceasefire and long-term humanitarian aid. On December 9, hundreds of scientists attended the International Convention Against War and Destructive Use of Science: Scientists Against Israeli Apartheid and Genocide in Gaza (which can be watched on YouTube), producing a “Declaration Against Genocide and in Support of Palestine”. The Declaration can be read and endorsed on their website.
We also invite you to apply to join the JustSpace Alliance at bit.ly/JustSpaceApply! Members have access to our virtual community spaces, and in the future, we’ll be able to offer in-person gatherings, more podcast and video content, writing, and more. Supporting JustSpace will help us reach our mission goals by allowing us to compensate people for their time and labor for our future projects, as well as help us cover basic costs like maintaining our website, etc. You can find more information atbit.ly/JustSpaceMemberFAQ.