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Outer Space as a Socioeconomic Field

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Geopolitics of the Outer Space

Part of the book series: Contributions to Political Science ((CPS))

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Abstract

The third part of the analysis of the outer space domain is concerned with the economic and social importance of space activities. This chapter begins with the discussion of the social improvements and impacts space activities hold for the terrestrial population. The following section deals with the introduction of the economic activities connected to outer space utilization. Consequently, the topic of private entities emerging in the development of the domain is raised. The two last sections then present the issue of resource and energy extraction and the future of the space economy in general. The third section analyzing the outer space as a geopolitical domain thus presents the final piece of the puzzle for the holistic understanding of the region.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See, for example, Kansakar and Hossain (2016).

  2. 2.

    See Norris (2010).

  3. 3.

    https://spinoff.nasa.gov/database/. Accessed 20 April 2016.

  4. 4.

    https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2015/pdf/Spinoff2015.pdf. Accessed 20 April 2016.

  5. 5.

    https://spinoff.nasa.gov/pdf/Apollo_Flyer.pdf. Accessed 20 April 2016.

  6. 6.

    Originally called Global Monitoring for Environmental Security—the name changed to its later form in 1999 (Wang 2013, p. 145).

  7. 7.

    See van Creveld (2000).

  8. 8.

    See Handberg (2006) and Norris (2010).

  9. 9.

    For a detailed description of the story, see Dubbs and Paat-Dahlstrom (2013, pp. 87–113).

  10. 10.

    See also Johnson-Freese and Handberg (1997).

  11. 11.

    See Fuller Jr et al. (2009).

  12. 12.

    http://lunar.xprize.org/. Accessed 20 December 2015.

  13. 13.

    See http://www.space.com/32546-interstellar-spaceflight-stephen-hawking-project-starshot.html. Accessed 5 June 2017.

  14. 14.

    See the specifications of the launcher at http://www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy. Accessed 22 March 2018.

  15. 15.

    http://ansari.xprize.org/teams. Accessed 13 May 2016.

  16. 16.

    http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-disasters/virgin-galactic/virgin-galactic-brief-history/. Accessed 16 May 2016.

  17. 17.

    For the summary of steps needed to be taken before the extraction process, see, for example, Carpenter et al. (2016).

  18. 18.

    See, for example, McInnes (2016).

  19. 19.

    For more information on He-3 utilization, see among others D’Souza et al. (2006) and Schmitt (2006).

  20. 20.

    Project Luna Ring by Japanese company Shimizu presented the latter option in a project proposal phase pointing to its potential viability. For more details see: https://www.shimz.co.jp/english/theme/dream/lunaring.html. Accessed 13 May 2016.

  21. 21.

    See http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/, https://www.planethunters.org/, or http://sci.esa.int/gaia/40577-extra-solar-planets/. Accessed 13 May 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Political Studies, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Bohumil Doboš

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Doboš, B. (2019). Outer Space as a Socioeconomic Field. In: Geopolitics of the Outer Space. Contributions to Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96857-5_4

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