Astropolitics and Space Economy

The current historical period is characterised by an increasingly frequent access to outer space, thanks to innovations in the aerospace field, and the ever-changing political climate. The Space Age began in 1957 with the launch of the first man-made satellite by the Soviet Union. This milestone, and other subsequent technical achievements in this field, gave birth to the first Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States, both aiming at cementing their geopolitical power by focusing on their own competing space endeavours. Such race ended in 1969 with the first Moon landing, successfully carried out by the United States. The period between the 1970s and the 1990s saw great advancements in space exploration, especially of the Solar System, and in space observation. After the end of the Cold War, in order to create a cooperative permanent presence in space, it was proposed to build an International Space Station (ISS) in Low Earth Orbit, which was assembled starting from 1998, and it is still in use today. Nowadays the outer space plays an increasingly important part in the definition of defence and communication strategies here in Earth, with the possibility of different future scenarios. With the creation of its Space Force in 2019, the United States officially stated that the time of peaceful and cooperative use of space may be towards the end. The latest news about space defence, drone walls, and ballistic missiles are redefining the way countries are going to defend themselves against aggression. Even though there is a push for considering space as a strategic dimension, the Outer Space Treaties of 1967 – which defines that the outer space is a common good and must be used especially for scientific advancement of all humanity – are still valid today. Europe plays an important role, but risks to become irrelevant in the next decades if it does not act cohesively and with a common goal. The European Space Agency has seen an increase of 30% of funding for its next three-year budget, with a new focus on strategic considerations and dual-use technologies. Furthermore Europe, in order to maintain its independent access to space, must start the production of its own reusable launch vehicles. The other aspect of the Thesis is the Space Economy, meaning the creation of new economic sectors and enterprises that operate in the space dominion, and the adaptation of current economic sectors to the space physical conditions. This includes the frontiers of in-space manufacturing (especially for pharmaceutical companies), communication satellites construction, creation of new space stations, asteroid mining, and new missions to the Moon to establish a permanent presence there. The Space Economy is set to triple its size, from its current size of $ 625 billion, by 2040. Furthermore, these space endeavours will unleash new human creativity and will bring new unthought inventions, necessary to expand the human presence in space in the decades and centuries to come.