Towards An Ethical Approach To Commercial Space Activities

Abstract

This chapter introduces the ethical questioning in the field of space activities, especially space commerce. If the 1967 Outer Space Treaty defines space as the “property of all” and its exploration as the “province of all mankind”, the future utilization of near-Earth (and tomorrow Greater Earth) space needs probably a new ethics (if ethics means not only legal applications but also and for example the application of the “rule of three Ps”: protection, promotion and preparation). Orbital debris mitigation, the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters or, in the future, the safety of private astronauts crews offer lessons in realism and sources of prospective reflections. Space ethics is still in its infancy.