Will Earth’s Environmental Mistakes Be Repeated in Space?
Human environmental history on Earth reveals a recurring and troubling pattern: exploration is followed by exploitation, degradation, and only later, often after irreversible damage, regulation. From deforestation and fossil fuel dependence to climate change and biodiversity loss, environmental crises have largely emerged not from a lack of knowledge, but from delayed responsibility and weak governance. Today, humanity stands at a similar threshold with outer space. Once confined to state-led scientific missions and geopolitical symbolism, space exploration is rapidly transforming into a domain of commercial activity and economic ambition. The rise of private space corporations, satellite mega-constellations, space tourism, lunar bases, and asteroid mining proposals signals a decisive shift from exploration to utilisation, and potentially exploitation. This transition closely mirrors the early stages of industrial development on Earth, when natural systems were viewed primarily as res...
