Commercial Space Exploration Ethics, Policy and Governance

Not since man set foot on the moon over four decades ago has there been such passion and excitement about space exploration. This enthusiasm and eagerness has been spurred on by the fact that for the first time since the very beginning of the space age, space travel is no longer limited to an elite group of highly trained and well-disciplined military officers and test pilots. Instead, we must understand that the possibility of commercial space travel is already on our horizon and that it comes with a number of significant practical and moral challenges. Our level of scientific development and ability to influence international affairs and policy confers upon us an obligation to study the ethical, legal and social considerations associated with space exploration and understanding the potential consequences from the beginning is critical. This volume provides the first comprehensive and unifying analysis concerning the rise of private space exploration, with a view toward developing policy that may influence real-world decision making. The plethora of questions demanding serious attention - privatisation and commercialisation, the impact on the environment, health futures, risk assessment, responsibility and governance - are directly addressed in this scholarly work.

Chapter 1 Introduction, JaiGalliott; Part I Space Exploration; Chapter 2 The Moral Philosophy of Space Travel, NicholasCampion; Chapter 3 The Permissibility of First Contact, BrentFranklin; Chapter 4 How Space Travel Will Save the World, ElizabethKanon; Chapter 5 Who is Afraid of ‘The Dark’? Familiarising the Unknown, Zümre GizemY?lmaz; Part II Public Meets Private; Chapter 6 Space Exploration, JacquesArnould; Chapter 7 Heaven Can’t Wait, JoelMarks; Chapter 8 Advertising in Space, ZeldineO’Brien; Chapter 9 Space Tourism, AngieBukley, RobertFrize, Veronica LaRegina; Part III Asteroid Mining and The Space Environment; Chapter 10 Asteroid Mining, Integrity and Containment, TonyMilligan; Chapter 11 Three Ethical Perspectives on Asteroid Mining, DanielPilchman; Chapter 12 Exploring the Heavens and the Heritage of Mankind, RobertSeddon; Chapter 13 Terraforming, Vandalism and Virtue Ethics, RobertSparrow; Part IV Space Weapons; Chapter 14 Seizing the High Ground? The Dubious Utility of Space Weapons, ArminKrishnan; Chapter 15 Militarising Space, MatthewBeard; Chapter 16 Artificial Intelligence and Space Robotics, JaiGalliott; Chapter 17 Space Medicine, SaraLangston; Part V Bioethics for Outer Space; Chapter 18 Enhancing Astronauts, KeithAbney, PatrickLin; Chapter 19 Vulnerable Cargo, JaneJohnson; Part VI Responsibility, Governance and Other Concerns; Chapter 20 The Independent Entrepreneur and the Terraforming of Mars, ChrisPak; Chapter 21 A Place in Space, MeeraBaindur; Chapter 22 Outsourcing Space, ChristopherKetcham, JaiGalliott; Chapter 23 Forty Hectares and an MU, ChristopherKetcham;

Jai Galliott is a Research Fellow at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. His work revolves around the ethical, legal and social implications of emerging military technologies. He is co-editor of Ashgate’s Emerging Technologies, Ethics and International Affairs series and prior to entering academia, served briefly as an officer of the Royal Australian Navy.