#space-policy — Public Fediverse posts

We Believed History Had Ended. They Didn’t: https://dmimoun.substack.com/p/we-believed-history-had-ended-they - Mars, Kardashev, the Golden Dome, and the cognitive distance keeping French #SpacePolicy stuck in another century (breathless essay, worth a read).

The story of humanity in space is still being written, but the ink is drying fast.

CSE co-founders John Barentine and Aparna Venkatesan have published a new call to action in Frontiers in Space Technologies. They argue that we must look beyond outdated treaties to secure a just and sustainable future.

We have the agency to decide what happens next. Let’s build a future by design, not by default.

Read: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/space-technologies/articles/10.3389/frspt.2026.1748406/full

#SpaceEnvironmentalism #SpacePolicy #Astronomy #Stewardship

Is the Outer Space Treaty becoming a "League of Nations" for the cosmos?

In a new Opinion piece for Frontiers, we argue that existing space governance isn't fit for the era of private satellite megaconstellations. To protect our shared heritage, we need a shift toward "Space Environmentalism."

We still have the chance to build a future by design rather than by default—if we act before these norms are set in stone.

Read more: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/space-technologies/articles/10.3389/frspt.2026.1748406/full

#SpacePolicy #Astronomy #SciencePolicy #SpaceEnvironmentalism

America needs a space alliance

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://spacenews.com/america-needs-a-space-alliance/

Blue Origin is seeking U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval to operate a 51,600-satellite "orbital data center" network. Today, the Center for Space Environmentalism officially filed our opposition to its application.

We're demanding a rigorous environmental review to assess collision risks and the severe threat to our shared night sky before any approval is granted. Read our comment in full: https://www.spaceenvironmentalism.org/actions/public-statements-and-comments/blue-origin-comment-april-2026

#SpaceDebris #Astronomy #SpacePolicy #Environment #BlueOrigin #Tech

5/ But there is also risk. Proposed White House budget cuts to NASA could create uncertainty for ongoing and future international science cooperation, including Mars exploration. #NASABudget #ScienceFunding #SpacePolicy

NASA startet Umsetzung für Europas Mars-Rover – Aufbruch für #RosalindFranklin, aber mit politischen Risiken
https://dauckchristian.home.blog/2026/04/18/nasa-startet-umsetzung-fur-europas-mars-rover-aufbruch-fur-rosalind-franklin-aber-mit-politischen-risiken/
#ExoMars #ESA #NASA #Mars #Astrobiology #SearchForLife #MarsMission #SpacePolicy #ScienceFunding #MarsRover #MarsAstrobiology #MarsExploration

Planet Labs’ Iran freeze raises a bigger question: who controls the view from orbit when commercial imagery is restricted in a crisis? https://spacetech.industryexaminer.com/planet-iran-imagery-freeze-orbital-transparency/ #SpaceTech #SpacePolicy #RemoteSensing #TechNews

CSE has submitted public comments to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on two pending applications relating to the #SpaceEnvironment:

(1) Reflect Orbital's prototype solar reflector satellite; https://www.spaceenvironmentalism.org/actions/public-statements-and-comments/reflect-orbital-2026

and

(2) SpaceX's "one million orbital data centers" proposal; https://www.spaceenvironmentalism.org/actions/public-statements-and-comments/spacex-1modcs-2026

#Space #Satellites #Environment #Policy #SpacePolicy #FCC #PublicComment

🌌 Above us, an invisible constellation grows. Not of stars, but of our own making: fragments racing through the dark at unfathomable speeds, each piece a ghost of ambition turned hazard.

✍️ Explore the cascade we cannot see 🛰️: https://TPC8.short.gy/IZaOxCi5

💫 What we send skyward returns as legacy, sometimes circling for decades or longer in silent judgment.

#SpaceDebris #space #spacejunk #OrbitalEcology #SpaceSustainability #Astronomy #Science #SpacePolicy #KesslerSyndrome #TPC8

Mars Sample Return (MSR): 2026 als mögliches Schlüsseljahr
https://dauckchristian.home.blog/2026/01/03/mars-sample-return-msr-2026-als-mogliches-schlusseljahr/
#Perseverance #MarsSampleReturn #MSR #NASA #ESA #MarsExploration #PerseveranceRover #Astrobiology #SearchForLife #PlanetaryScience #MarsRocks #SpaceScience #Biosignatures #SpacePolicy #SpaceEconomy #Geopolitics #SpaceRace #InternationalCooperation #FutureOfSpace #DeepSpace #SpaceTech #Aerospace #Innovation #SampleReturn

Space debris is becoming a real constraint on how safely we can use orbit. With more satellites and more uncontrolled re‑entries, the risks to spacecraft and even people on the ground are slowly increasing. Sustainable practices and smarter regulation will be essential if we want space to remain accessible for science, travel, and daily life.

#Space #SpaceDebris #OrbitalSafety #Astronomy #LEO #SpacePolicy #Aerospace #SpaceScience #OrbitalSustainability 🎧
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/series/theres-more-to-that/season-2/the-astronomical-problem-of-space-junk/

"Whatever nation or entity gets there first will likely establish what the directive calls a 'keep-out zone' for safety and security. These zones, which may cover a few square miles, would prevent competitors from entering the same space. Such activities must cohere with guidelines set by the #OuterSpaceTreaty, which says ... that the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit 'of all mankind.'"

https://www.wired.com/story/why-the-us-is-racing-to-build-a-nuclear-reactor-on-the-moon/

#SpacePolicy #Moon #SpaceEnvironment

I am pleased to report that my paper on the history of the early 1960's U.S. Project West Ford is published today in the Journal for the #History of Astronomy.

In short, at the height of the #ColdWar, the U.S. military proposed the test of a passive microwave relay system in near-Earth orbital space that posed a very real threat to ground- and space-based #astronomy. Astronomers were pretty upset at the prospect, and they banded together to use the bully pulpit of public opinion to change the direction of the test. Project West Ford relates to the modern international #SpacePolicy framework through its influence on what became the Outer Space Treaty a few years later.

The forceful response of the astronomy community more than 60 years ago offers distinct lessons for how that same community might confront the ongoing threat of large satellite constellations and rapidly proliferating #SpaceDebris.

https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/HZXRYKA5T7CBMZYKSHAY/full

#Space #SpaceEnvironment

Open letter from the Global Space Council: Governments must address a growing crisis in our orbits

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://spacenews.com/open-letter-from-the-global-space-council-governments-must-address-a-growing-crisis-in-our-orbits/

Securing the new high ground: tackling export loopholes in space tech

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://spacenews.com/securing-the-new-high-ground-tackling-export-loopholes-in-space-tech/

Because the answer is never 'consume less': "Astronomical interference is not as important a problem as climate change, or plastic in the sea, or the loss of biodiversity, but the root cause is the same—uncontrolled growth and displacement of the true costs. Why do we need twice as many #satellites every year and a half? It's asking for trouble in so many ways."

https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.ady9838

#Space #SpacePolicy #Commentary

NASA is entering a period of uncertainty. Proposed budget cuts and the withdrawal of its administrator nominee raise serious questions about the agency’s future, especially as its faces competition from commercial companies owned by Musk and Bezos.

https://theconversation.com/uncertainty-at-nasa-trump-withdraws-his-nominee-for-administrator-while-the-agency-faces-a-steep-proposed-budget-cut-258032
#NASA #SpacePolicy