Future Space Generations: Policies for Humanity’s Long-Term Future in Space
The long term future has recently been positioned as a key moral consideration for our actions in space by philosophers such as Nick Bostrom and Toby Ord, as space is a potential for space as a habitat for trillions of future people. Opening up that long term future is a common mantra among new space companies like iSpace, SpaceX, and REDWIRE. But with such a rapid rate of technological development by these companies, international space policy can sometimes lag. And if agreements cannot be put in place to protect the long term future, then bad norms may set our long term future on a bad trajectory. However, as the first human settlements in space are being planned is an important time to put in place foundational policy. Space policy can only become more politically charged as the future unfolds, so now may be our best shot to set our long term future on a good trajectory.