By John Barentine
Outer space is changing rapidly, especially the space near
Earth. Private actors now dominate the human technological presence in space
due to reusable space launch technologies. These technologies forced down the
cost of launch, which in turn facilitated a rapid increase in the number of
satellites in orbit.
This new era began in the past decade, and these commercial
activities, currently driven primarily by thousands of satellites serving
broadband internet to customers on the ground, are growing by leaps and bounds.
The Space Foundation estimates that the value of the global space
economy could exceed one trillion U.S. dollars by 2032.
The Center for Space Environmentalism is a group of scientists
and advocates who hold that outer space has become a distinctly human environment, and that alongside
the terrestrial environment, it is worthy of our respect, consideration, and
long-term stewardship. We established this new organisation in 2025 to inspire,
inform, and guide the preservation and protection of the space environment. We
envision a future in which humanity's interaction with the natural world beyond
the Earth’s atmosphere is minimally intrusive and informed by rigorous
assessment and research, preserving the pristine nature of space not only for
enjoyment, science, and inspiration for current and future generations, but
also for its own sake and sovereignty.
The “New Space Race” brings the prospect of significant and
potentially irreversible changes to the space environment. Space warfare
represents one of the most worrisome threats. Various world powers have already
announced plans to ramp up spending on military activities in space they insist
are either defensive in nature or “passive”, such as orbital surveillance of
rivals’ space assets. The proposed U.S. Golden Dome missile defence program echoes
Cold War initiatives such as the Strategic Defence Initiative, known in the
1980s by its popular moniker ‘Star Wars’. That built on an earlier Cold War
history that saw, among other actions, the testing of nuclear weapons in space.
Although the signing of the Outer Space Treaty (OST) in 1967 somewhat
dampened aggressive posturing in space, it did not prohibit the militarisation
of space outright. The OST states that “the establishment of military bases,
installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the
conduct of military manoeuvrers on celestial bodies shall be forbidden.” But it
goes on to say that “the use of military personnel for scientific research or
for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited.”
In 2019, the U.S. Space Force was introduced as a new branch
of the U.S. military with plans to build bases and deploy troops in space. It
appears that so long as weapons testing and base building do not happen “on
celestial bodies,” and a military presence there exists for “peaceful
purposes,” space militarisation — at least in orbit and on transiting
spacecraft — is permitted.
Now, as the space domain shifts from publicly funded dominance
by nation states to private commercial interests, those private actors are
eager to become defence contractors. For example, the same technology developed
by the American company SpaceX for its Starlink communication satellites is
finding new military applications in the form of “Starshield”. The company describes
the product as “a secured satellite network for government use, leveraging
Starlink for national security.”
Some of the company’s former employees have moved on to found space weapons companies using the same
disruptive approach SpaceX took to “Old Space”. SpaceX has also secured
contracts to launch the majority of the U.S. Space Force’s national
security missions in the fiscal year 2026. Meanwhile, reckless and
destructive antisatellite weapons tests have generated considerable new space debris fields.
States and their military contractors are already setting
their sights on more distant worlds. With countries like the U.S. and China
determined to return to the Moon in this decade, the prospect of competition
for lunar resources and resulting territorial disputes looms large. Billionaire
space entrepreneurs who fancy themselves as the saviours of humanity envision a human presence
on Mars by mid-century. Their outlook is at turns both lawless and libertarian,
jettisoning a world they see as beset by unfair rules and needless regulations
for one in which literally “anything goes”. The rush to extract the resources
of the Moon, Mars, and worlds beyond may well ignite terrestrial disputes and
even warfare with real and deadly consequences.
Humanity is rapidly approaching a turning point where
decisions about the space environment made today may affect people living
centuries from now. We seek a safe and sustainable space environment for all
people of all nations and for its own sake. Yet the existing international
governance framework established by the OST fails to recognise that some
actions are inherently detrimental to the space environment and Earth-space
continuum and should not be undertaken in order to preserve that environment.
As states increasingly view outer space as the ultimate high
ground — the literal “Final Frontier” — opportunities to participate in
decision-making are narrowing for the public while widening for defence and
commercial stakeholders. Our organisation therefore aims in part to increase
both awareness of the high stakes we collectively face in space governance as
well as the consequences of inaction.
We call on people, governments and private actors everywhere
to take the following actions, among others:
- Extend
the protections and considerations of existing terrestrial environmental law to
the space environment;
- Prohibit
destructive antisatellite weapon testing in space by international treaty with
meaningful enforcement provisions; and
- Intentionally
solicit and incorporate the views of the public in the rulemaking and
legislative processes concerning space activities from the beginning,
particularly from traditionally underrepresented and/or marginalised groups.
We believe in the promise of the Outer Space Treaty that the
exploration and ‘use’ of outer space should be peaceful. Yet we also recognise
the inherent limitations of the worldview expressed in the Treaty in that it
does not go far enough to meaningfully prevent bellicose actions in space. It
is our intention to campaign against dangerous and aggressive acts in space
that threaten international peace and security as well as the integrity of the
space environment. Working with like-minded others, such as the Global Network
Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, we are oriented toward the goal of
truly keeping space for peace – for people and environment alike.
~ John Barentine
is the Principal Consultant and Executive Officer at Dark Sky
Consulting, LLC in Arizona, U.S. He earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from the
University of Texas at Austin and previously held staff positions at
the National Solar Observatory, Apache Point Observatory, the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey, and the International Dark-Sky Association. He is a
member of the American Astronomical Society, the International
Astronomical Union and the Illuminating Engineering Society, and is a
Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
