Astrobiology Ethics and International Development

Astrobiology ethics is an emerging field seeking to address questions of ethics and sustainability in humanity’s activities in outer space. Astrobiology raises several ethical issues, including but not limited to: 

  • Who has the right to space?
  • Why should people go to space? For what purpose?
  • Do space environments have intrinsic value?
  • What are our ethical responsibilities towards potential extraterrestrial life?
  • Should people be allowed to use space resources? Who? How?
  • How do we ensure equitable access to space, and participation in space science?
  • What are the practices and conduct on Earth that underpin astrobiology research?
  • How do we include ethical considerations when planning for the future of increased space activity?
  • How can we communicate astrobiology findings to the widest audiences?
  • And more!

We look at astrobiology as a global discipline and explore ways in which the knowledge produced through accessing extreme environments, often located in the Global South, or through life detection missions, can be democratised. This includes social, environmental and philosophical issues associated with finding evidence of life and communicating this evidence to wider society. We also look at analogues like Antarctica to learn environmental ethics lessons for space, examine the impact of Earth-centric definitions of life on astrobiology, and study the intersection of ethics and planetary protection in considering the rights of potentially habitable space environments—and any life they might contain. Further, we liaise with communities interested in the preservation of lifeless environments, like the Moon. Lifeless and potentially-life-bearing environments combine under the umbrella of: 

Astroenvironmentalism: the rise of concerns about responsible and sustainable uses of outer space environments.

Here are a few of our recent projects:

We are partners in the Faculty of Arts and Social Science’s Space Ethics Group, which was set up to meet an urgent need to develop an ethical framework for the UK and European space industry and is concerned with the marginalisation of environmental concerns in space, the issues posed by space debris, and mega-constellations. It argues for a more democratic and sustainable international space policy. 

Partnerships: The UN, EU and corporate actors have all supported the building of partnerships between space and development research. Sustainable Development Goal 17 encourages this and is a priority for the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. Simultaneously, the African Union Agenda for 2063 explicitly mentions ‘space’ as a priority area for Africa.

We ask: What do cooperation and partnerships in space exploration mean on a geopolitical scale? At a time when African countries are investing in their own space programmes, are these partnerships equitable?

Technology and Inclusion: We aim to map the use of space technologies in international development programmes that aim to improve the living conditions of marginalised communities. We evaluate their effectiveness using the theory of ‘Inclusive Innovation’.

We ask: How can space technologies be used effectively and equitably as a tool to achieve societal impacts?