There's a New Space Race: Will the Billionaires Win?
Space is entering a new commercial era driven by private companies, billionaires, and start-ups pursuing ventures such as space stations, tourism, and mining. This shift represents the third era of space activities, following early periods of confrontation and international collaboration exemplified by the formation of the European Space Agency in 1975 and joint missions.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty established that space exploration should benefit all humankind and cannot be nationalized. However, the treaty does not explicitly ban private resource extraction, leaving governance gaps that complicate current developments. Countries including the United States and Luxembourg have passed national laws granting space mining rights to domestic firms, risking the fragmentation of a global regulatory framework.
There is a growing push to treat space as a shared domain akin to the high seas or Antarctica. Such an approach would require global regulation and collective stewardship to prevent monopolies and ensure equitable access. Lunar resources are a key focus, with water ice at the Moon's poles potentially providing hydrogen and oxygen for propellant, its low gravity offering a practical staging base, and helium-3 mining proposed as an energy resource.
The increasing activity of a few tech giants could result in control over access to orbit and extraterrestrial resources, highlighting the need for equity and transparency to avoid dominance. The article calls for a revival of treaty principles with concrete action to treat space as a shared domain and safeguard the benefits of future exploration for all humanity.
It also references the astronauts' 'overview effect'—a perspective that fosters global unity—and advocates for hopeful, responsible governance of space. Maggie Aderin-Pocock is noted as the presenter of the 2025 Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution, contributing to public discourse on these issues.
