The race to space requires new rules: without sustainable management of the orbit and celestial bodies, we risk replicating the errors made on earth in space.
The race to space is no longer the exclusive prerogative of government agencies: the raid of private entrepreneurs has revolutionized the terrestrial orbit, multiplying services and opportunities, but also risks and questions. The boom of the Space Economy is filling the sky of satellites, driven by the birth of mega constellations for the global connection. But the absence of adequate rules and the uncontrolled growth of objects into orbit threaten to transform space into a chaotic swallowing, with the risk of devastating collisions.
A “What is needed” this book? This book invites you to reflect on an urgent question: how to avoid replicating the same errors made on earth in space? We need a sustainable vision that also extends to future settlements on Moon and Mars, respecting the balance of celestial bodies and preventing all form of pollution, including biological one.
From the first images of our planet seen from above, ecological consciousness was born. Now it’s time to take a further step: to build an ethics of spatial exploration and imagine one New ecology of space.
To follow, we propose you in preview the premise of the book, “The deep link between ecology and space”.
Our idea of ecology is undoubtedly linked to the defense and preservation of the environment that surrounds us, the environment that is composed of both elements that belong to someone and from elements that belong to everyone because they are a common good. We know very well that man’s activity interferes with local and global ecological balances and this is particularly true for the common parts, what Roman law called RES Communes because by their nature cannot be privatized, such as the atmosphere or the oceans.
Since they are nobody, although available to everyone, the res communes, which in Anglo -Saxon law have become global commons, are particularly exposed to the consequences of excessive exploitation. Since it is not necessary to pay in order to fish on the high seas, for example, our oceans are seriously impoverished by excessive fishing. Unfortunately, the same happens for everything that is available for free, such as the sampling of the sand from the banks of the rivers or water with the oldest buyers, who have filled themselves in the geological eras but are emptied at an alarming rhythm.
It is the tragedy of the Commons, a sadly known picture that must be fought thanks to the ecological consciousness that is gradually growing. If we want to leave a planet in good health to future generations, it is necessary to promote a conscious and sustainable use of the resources of the earth, but how far should we go? In other words, what are the boundaries of the environment we want to protect? Where does what surrounds us ends and allows us to live and operate?
