Imagining Humanity’s Future Among the Stars: A Space Ethicist’s Perspective
In October, at a tech conference in Italy, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, predicted that millions of people will be living in space within the next couple of decades. He envisioned this would largely be motivated by people’s desire to explore, and he noted that robots would likely be more cost-effective than humans for performing tasks in this environment.
However, at a subsequent TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco, space manufacturing entrepreneur Will Bruey provided a contrasting view. He suggested that in just 15 to 20 years, it will be cheaper to send a “working-class human” into orbit for a month than it would be to develop superior machinery to perform the same tasks.
Surprisingly, Bruey’s provocative statement elicited little surprise from the tech-savvy audience. This raises some pressing questions: Who will labor in the cosmos, and under what conditions will they toil?
The Ethics of Space Labor
To delve deeper into these concerns, I spoke with Mary-Jane Rubenstein, the Dean of Social Sciences at Wesleyan University and an expert in science and technology studies. Rubenstein is also the author of “Worlds Without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse” and has been investigating the ethical implications of humanity’s expansion into space.
Rubenstein emphasized a critical point regarding power dynamics in space: “Workers already have a hard enough time on Earth paying their bills and keeping themselves safe… This dependence on our employers increases dramatically when one’s livelihood is tied not just to paychecks but also to basic necessities such as food, water, and air.”
Her insights paint a stark picture of the cosmic workplace. While some might romanticize space as a new frontier filled with beauty and adventure, Rubenstein is clear: “It’s not nice up there. It is not nice at all.”
The Legal Landscape of Space Exploitation
Rubenstein’s focus extends beyond worker rights to the pressing issue of ownership and governance of space resources. In 1967, the Outer Space Treaty established that no nation could claim sovereignty over celestial bodies. This treaty posited that the Moon, Mars, and asteroids belong to all humanity. Yet, the U.S. enacted the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act in 2015, which allows companies to claim ownership of resources they extract from these bodies, signaling a shift towards commercial exploitation.
Rubenstein offers a striking analogy for this situation: “It’s like saying you can’t own a house, but you can own everything inside it.” In reality, she argues, “It’s worse than that. It’s more like saying you can’t own the house, but you can have the floorboards and the beams.” The distinction between celestial bodies and their resources becomes blurred, raising ethical and legal complications as commercial interests escalate.
Competition and Cooperation
Companies like AstroForge and Interlune are already positioning themselves to tap into this emerging space economy, with plans to mine asteroids and extract Helium-3 from the Moon. However, these resources are finite. Rubenstein notes, “Once the U.S. takes [the Helium-3], China can’t get it. Once China takes it, the U.S. can’t get it.” This zero-sum game raises international tensions and concerns about future conflicts in space.
Following the U.S. legislative changes, reactions have been swift. During a 2016 UN Committee meeting, Russia described the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act as a unilateral violation of international law, with Belgium warning of potential global economic imbalances.
In 2020, the U.S. introduced the Artemis Accords, intending to formalize its interpretation of space law, particularly regarding resource extraction. While this has attracted over 60 signatories, notable absentees like Russia and China highlight the divisive nature of contemporary space governance. Rubenstein points out, “This is one of those instances of the U.S. setting rules and then asking other people to join in or be left out.”
The Dystopian Reality of Space Expansion
Rubenstein’s broader concern focuses on humanity’s current trajectory in space. She identifies a prevailing narrative where space is viewed as a realm for outsourcing labor and resource exploitation, likening this mindset to historical patterns of colonialism on Earth. “Some tech companies seem to sort of miss the joke in this dystopian genre and just sort of actualize whatever the warning was,” she reflects.
Despite the sense of inevitability surrounding these developments, Rubenstein remains hopeful. She suggests tightening environmental regulations for space enterprises, urging immediate attention to the long-term consequences of rocket emissions and debris on Earth’s atmosphere.
Preventing a Cosmic Catastrophe
Another pressing concern is the burgeoning issue of space debris. With over 40,000 trackable objects currently in orbit, the risk of a “Kessler effect,” where collisions create more debris and render low Earth orbit unusable, looms large. Rubenstein notes, “Nobody wants that. The U.S. government doesn’t want that. China doesn’t want it. The industry doesn’t want it.” This unique consensus presents an opportunity for collective action in addressing the crisis.
Rubenstein envisions an annual conference bringing together academics, industry experts, and government representatives to discuss ethical and collaborative approaches to space exploration. However, the current legislative environment does not seem conducive to such partnerships, as evidenced by recent attempts to make the Wolf Amendment permanent, potentially stifling collaborative efforts with China.
Conclusion
As startup founders project rapid changes in space industry dynamics and Bruey’s prediction of blue-collar workers in orbit continues to linger, the need for ethical considerations in our cosmic future becomes increasingly urgent. Rubenstein’s insights challenge us to think critically about who will inherit the stars and under what conditions they will thrive. Will the exploration of space enhance the well-being of humanity, or will it simply replicate the inequities and power imbalances that have plagued Earth? The answers remain to be seen.
For further reading on this urgent and complex topic, you can find the full discussion Here.
Image Credit: techcrunch.com
