Space advocacy is supporting or advocating for a human use of outer space. Purposes advocated can reach from space exploration, or commercial use of space to even space settlement. There are many different individuals and organizations dedicated to space advocacy. They are usually active in educating the public [1] on space related subjects, lobbying governments [2] [3] for increased funding in space-related activities or supporting private space activities. They also recruit members, fund projects, and provide information for their membership and interested visitors. They are sub-divided into three categories depending on their primary work: practice, advocacy, and theory.
The idea that space flight was possible and necessary was introduced by groups of thinkers, primarily members of the Russian, [4] American, British, and German [5] [6] science communities, who formed in the 1920s the first advocacy groups. [7] Starting in the 1930s, these groups began to share their individual plans for a future in space to their respective governments and the public. [8]
Influential books and other media began to emerge which included works containing illustrations by Chesley Bonestell (based on Wernher von Braun's designs) such as The Conquest of Space (1949) and magazine articles including the "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" series of article in Colliers magazine between 1952 and 1954. Television shows included Walt Disney's "Man in Space" and "Man and the Moon" in 1955, and "Mars and Beyond" in 1957.
According to Mark Hopkins from the National Space Society, each space organization has a different priority and short-term objective, but all organizations share the ultimate goal of building space settlements. [9] In 2004 most of the leading US non-profit space organizations joined together to form the Space Exploration Alliance. The Alliance was formed to "advocate for the exploration and development of outer space" to members of Congress. The Alliance organizes the annual Legislative Blitz to lobby members of Congress for space exploration, and every space enthusiast is encouraged to participate in the Legislative Blitz by calling, emailing, or personally visiting their Congressperson's office. [10]
To reach a more inclusive spaceflight and space science some organizations like the JustSpace Alliance [11] (see Lucianne Walkowicz) and IAU featured Inclusive Astronomy [12] have been formed in recent years. Holding events like the unconference Decolonizing Mars in 2018. [13]
Advocates of this issue see the need for inclusive [14] and democratic participation and implementation of any space exploration, infrastructure or habitation. [15] Questioning the decision making of and reasons for any colonial space policy, labour [16] and land exploitation with postcolonial critique.
Private [17] and state funded advocacy for space colonization, specifically the rationales and politico-legal regimes [18] behind space exploration, like the "New Frontier" slogan, have been criticized for applying settler colonialism and the manifest destiny ideology, perpetuating imperialism and the narrative of colonial exploration as fundamental to the assumed human nature. [19] [20] [21]
Participation and representation of humanity in space is an issue of human access to and presence in space ever since the beginning of spaceflight. [11] Even though some rights of non-spacefaring countries to partake in spaceflight have been secured through international space law, declaring space the "province of all mankind", understanding spaceflight as its resource, sharing of outer space for all humanity has been criticized as still imperialist and lacking. [11] For example arguments for space as a solution to global problems like pollution and related narratives of survival are considered imperialist by Joon Yun. [17] Having a considerate policy towards space is seen as an imperative to allow a thoroughly sustainable human society also on Earth. [22]
Organizations that are directly involved in space exploration, having their own active projects.
Organisation | Founded | Purpose and goals | Pursuits | Website |
---|---|---|---|---|
SETI Institute | 1984, United States | to search for extraterrestrial intelligent life | Runs SETI | Official website |
The Planetary Society | 1980, United States | to explore the Solar System, search for near-Earth objects, and search for extraterrestrial life | Launched Cosmos 1 | Official website |
Artemis Project | was a private venture to establish a permanent, self-supporting base on the Moon by 2002 | Official website | ||
Space Studies Institute | 1977, United States | (2012:) to organize and implement The Great Enterprise Initiative, a road map outlining the technologies and capabilities necessary for space settlement. Current projects include "G-Lab, a space-based variable or partial gravity laboratory [and] E-Lab, a terrestrial 'systems-of-systems' integration lab that will bring together promising closed environment life support technologies into a comprehensive life support solution for space settlement." [23] | Runs Space Manufacturing conferences | Official website |
British Interplanetary Society | 1933, United Kingdom | to inspire people about space so that humanity builds a future beyond the Earth. It is devoted to initiating, promoting and disseminating new concepts and technical information about space flight and astronautics. It has been running technical studies since the 1930s. It is an international membership society and a UK-registered charity. | 1930s Moon mission, 1970s interstellar probe Daedalus | Official website |
Organizations that focus mainly on lobbying government agencies and businesses to step up their efforts.
Organisation | Founded | Purpose and goals | Website |
---|---|---|---|
Air & Space Forces Association | 1946, United States | Promotes dominant U.S. Air & Space Forces | Official website |
American Astronautical Society | 1954, United States | dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration | Official website |
National Space Institute | 1974–1987, United States | to help maintain public support for the US space program (later became the National Space Society) | |
L5 Society | 1975–1987, United States | to promote the space colony ideas of Gerard K. O'Neill (later became the National Space Society) | |
Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy | 1980, United States | was a group of prominent American citizens concerned with US space policy | |
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space | 1980, United States | to promote space exploration and development through educational and engineering projects | Official website |
Space Force Association | 2019, United States | Achieve superior national space power by shaping a Space Force that provides credible deterrence in competition, dominant capability in combat, and professional services for all partners. | Official website |
Space Frontier Foundation | 1988, United States | to promote large-scale settlement of the inner Solar System, under strong free market capitalism | Official website |
Mars Society | 1998, International | to encouraging the exploration and settlement of Mars | Official website |
Moon Society | 2000, International | to encouraging the exploration, economic development, and settlement of the Moon | Official website |
California Space Authority | 2001, United States | "to foster the development of specified activities in California related to space flight." | Official website |
Space Exploration Alliance | 2004, United States | An alliance of major non-profit space organizations. | Official website |
Coalition for Deep Space Exploration | United States | "aerospace industry companies that are collaborating to advance the cause of space exploration." | Official website |
Penny4NASA | 2012, United States | to advocate for the increase of the NASA budget to 1% of the federal budget, or one penny of every tax dollar | Official website |
SpacePAC | 2014, United States | Political action committee committed to electing pro-space candidates to office. | Official website |
Alliance for Space Development | 2015, United States | An alliance of major non-profit space organizations. | Official website |
Organisations involved in educating the public, to boost their understanding and enthusiasm about space.
Organisation | Founded | Purpose and goals | Website |
---|---|---|---|
Canadian Space Society | 1983, Canada | to sponsor, promote and engage in activities designed to promote increased knowledge of space | Official website |
National Space Society | 1987, United States | an organization with the vision of "people living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth," from the merger of L5 Society and National Space Institute | Official website |
International Space University | 1987, France | a university dedicated to the discovery, research and development of outer space exploration for peaceful purposes | Official website |
TMRO | 2008, United States | a multimedia, internet based broadcaster dedicated to getting"...the planet excited about living among the stars." | Official website |
Space Foundation | 1983, United States | to advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable and propel humanity. | Official website |
Tau Zero Foundation | 2004, United States | to work together toward practical interstellar flight and to use this quest to teach about science, technology, and our place in the universe | Official website |
Initiative for Interstellar Studies | 2012, United Kingdom | Conducts activities and research relating to the challenges of achieving robotic and human interstellar flight. | Official website |
Space for Humanity | 2018, United States | An education-oriented non-profit organization expanding access to space, training the leaders of tomorrow, and cultivating a movement towards a more harmonious world. | Official website |
Space Studies Institute | 1977, United States | "open the energy and material resources of space for human benefit within our lifetime" | Official website |
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) | 1980, United States | Worldwide student space advocacy. | Official website |
The Space Court Foundation | United States | a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit corporation that promotes and supports space law and policy education and the rule of law. | Official website |
The Secure World Foundation | United States | promotes cooperative solutions for space sustainability and the peaceful uses of outer space, for the benefit of all countries. | Official website |
Organisations that focus on advocating theoretical work.
Organisation | Founded | Purpose and goals | Website |
---|---|---|---|
Alliance to Rescue Civilization | devoted to the establishment of an off-Earth "backup" of human civilization | Official website | |
Living Universe Foundation | has a detailed plan in which the entire galaxy is colonized. | Official website | |
The Mars Foundation | through its Mars Homestead Project, is developing a unified plan for building the first habitat on Mars by exploiting local materials. | Official website | |
Build the Enterprise | theorises the possibility of building a spaceship similar in appearance to the USS Enterprise from Star Trek using current technology within the next two decades. | Official website |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center in the City of Pasadena, California, United States. Founded in 1936 by Caltech researchers, the laboratory is now owned and sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and administrated and managed by the California Institute of Technology.
The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human Mars exploration and colonization. It was founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998 and based on Zubrin's Mars Direct philosophy, which aims to make human mission to Mars as lightweight and feasible as possible. The Mars Society aims to generate interest in the Mars program by garnering support from the public and lobbying. Many Mars Society members and former members are influential in the wider spaceflight community, such as Buzz Aldrin and Elon Musk.
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed robotic space probes and human spaceflight. Space exploration, like its classical form astronomy, is one of the main sources for space science.
Space colonization is the use of outer space or celestial bodies other than Earth for permanent habitation or as extraterrestrial territory.
The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Combined Federal Campaign. The society's vision is: "People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity."
The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and continuing to the present.
The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was a plan for space exploration announced on January 14, 2004 by President George W. Bush. It was conceived as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the state of human spaceflight at NASA, and as a way to regain public enthusiasm for space exploration.
Colonization of the Moon is a process or concept employed by some proposals for robotic or human exploitation and settlement endeavours on the Moon. Settling of the Moon is therefore a more specific concept, for which the broader concept of colonization is often used as a synonym, a use that is contested in the light of colonialism.
This is a timeline of space exploration which includes notable achievements, first accomplishments and milestones in humanity's exploration of outer space.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.
The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos. Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the planet. Proposals for human missions to Mars have come from e.g. NASA, European Space Agency, Boeing, and SpaceX. As of 2023, only robotic landers and rovers have been on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the Moon, under the Apollo program.
The politics of outer space includes space treaties, law in space, international cooperation and conflict in space exploration, international economics and the hypothetical political impact of any contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.
The Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI) is an agreement signed between United States' space agency, NASA, and Europe's space agency, ESA to join resources and expertise in order to continue the exploration of the planet Mars. The agreement was signed in Washington D.C. in October 2009, between NASA administrator Charles Bolden and ESA director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain.
Mars to Stay missions propose astronauts sent to Mars for the first time should intend to stay. Unused emergency return vehicles would be recycled into settlement construction as soon as the habitability of Mars becomes evident to the initial pioneers. Mars to Stay missions are advocated both to reduce cost and to ensure permanent settlement of Mars. Among many notable Mars to Stay advocates, former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin has been particularly outspoken, suggesting in numerous forums "Forget the Moon, Let’s Head to Mars!" and, in June 2013, Aldrin promoted a crewed mission "to homestead Mars and become a two-planet species". In August 2015, Aldrin, in association with the Florida Institute of Technology, presented a "master plan", for NASA consideration, for astronauts, with a "tour of duty of ten years", to colonize Mars before the year 2040. The Mars Underground, Mars Homestead Project / Mars Foundation, Mars One, and Mars Artists Community advocacy groups and business organizations have also adopted Mars to Stay policy initiatives.
The Mars Project is a 1952 non-fiction scientific book by the German rocket physicist, astronautics engineer and space architect, Wernher von Braun. It was translated from the original German by Henry J. White and first published in English by the University of Illinois Press in 1953.
Human presence in space is about humanity in space, particularly about all anthropogenic presence in space and human activity in space, that is in outer space and in a broader sense also on any extraterrestrial astronomical body.
The space policy of the United States includes both the making of space policy through the legislative process, and the implementation of that policy in the United States' civilian and military space programs through regulatory agencies. The early history of United States space policy is linked to the US–Soviet Space Race of the 1960s, which gave way to the Space Shuttle program. At the moment, the US space policy is aimed at the exploration of the Moon and the subsequent colonization of Mars.
Lucianne Walkowicz is an American astronomer, artist, and activist. They were based at the Adler Planetarium until 2022 and are noted for their research contributions in stellar magnetic activity and its impact on planetary suitability for extraterrestrial life.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an American theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist at the University of New Hampshire. She is also an advocate of increasing diversity in science.