The Ethical Use of Outer Space - Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability - page 103

What this means however is that space has become a marketplace and a competi-
tive arena for commercial and military interests. Space has become the subject of
commercial exploitation and is open to military exploitation. During the rapid
development of space technology, a number of agreements and legally binding trea-
ties were drawn up, but the technology and use of the region is continually outstrip-
ping their usefulness. Can we learn to share this crucial and delicately balanced
region or will it go the way of the oceans, rain forests and other precious environ-
ments that have been spoiled by uncontrolled and unethical exploitation?
In this chapter I explore the reasons why it is becoming increasingly necessary
and important to monitor and control, in particular, the growing military use of and
interests in outer space. I examine the ethics of a just and benefi cial use of the space
environment and the existing international treaties and agreements and conclude
with some suggestions for future progress.

1 Introduction

The night sky in all its glory is undoubtedly an inspiring sight, and the origins of
much of our scientifi c and philosophical thought lie in our ancestors' experiences of
observing and questioning heavenly displays. Unfortunately, urban light pollution is
making it increasingly diffi cult for city dwellers to wonder at the splendour of a
starry night, and it is even possible that access to outer space will soon be denied.
The commercial and military uses of the space environment are increasing rapidly
and, whether we realise it or not, our lives are becoming increasingly infl uenced by,
and dependent on, the use of space technology. The thousand or more operational
satellites that currently orbit the Earth collect and broadcast enormous amounts of
information worldwide, making important contributions to mapping and communi-
cations, environmental monitoring, agriculture, weather forecasting and an ever-
growing range of human activities.
However, competition for valuable geostationary orbits and the positioning of
military spy and other satellites has led to a situation where, rather than being
viewed as a global resource, space is subject to commercial exploitation by whoever
gets there fi rst and open to military exploitation by whoever can develop the appro-
priate technology to dominate.
We have learnt an astonishing amount about the universe through international
scientifi c collaboration, and we must now learn to cooperate further and develop
global agreements on the way we make use of the space environment. In this chapter
we explore the reasons why this is becoming increasingly necessary and important,
why it is diffi cult to achieve and the progress that has been and is being made.
In Sect. 4.2 we identify what we mean by outer space by tackling the question -
where does outer space begin? This is followed by a description of the various
forms of human activity in the region (exploration, commercial and military) and
will then be presented along with estimates of their cost in Sect. 4.3 . The various