The world has been forever changed and will continue to be revolutionized by the efforts and advancements of space exploration.

This essay was composed in November 2024 and uses MLA documentation.

We live in a world of constant innovation. What we eat, where we live, how we move–all of it is influenced by the rise of technology. In the last hundred years we’ve gone from handwritten letters to texting, landlines to smartphones, newspapers to social media, horse-drawn carriages to electric vehicles, terrestrial to celestial travel. The present is ruled by technology. The next questions we face are Where will we go next? How far can we travel? What does the future hold for humanity? and Is Earth just a starting point?

Space exploration began as early as 1920. In those foundational years of experimenting with early models of rockets and fuel, we began a journey that has led to the discovery of endless opportunity. From the landing of the moon to deep space imagery to the innovation of satellites, the sheer amount of knowledge and advancements we have made are astonishing. Many of these inventions and advancements are things we use every day and never seem to realize just how magnificent they are. From our smartphones to GPS systems to the internet, broadcasting networks, and even medical technology, such as artificial limbs and cancer detection–these have all been influenced and made possible by space travel efforts, invention, and advancement. So, what would happen if one day our expansion to space just stopped?

Along with the countless and unarguably brilliant advances made in space travel, we are faced with just as many challenges as we continue forward: things such as space debris, environmental costs on earth, and the potential apocalyptic pollution of Earth’s orbit. If we lost our access to satellites, worldwide communication, broadcasts, navigation, and even our access to banking would end. So, how do we fix this? How do we continue forward without ruining all we have? There is hope!

International governments mixed with a combination of space agencies and companies across the world are planning and implementing sustainability strategies to combat the pollution we inflict as we advance in space exploration. The design of a circular space economy, addressing the environmental costs of space travel and balancing the moral and ethical concerns of space travel, is the top priority of many of these space organizations and the key to creating a green galaxy.

The Galactic Blueprint: Designing a Circular Economy in Space

A circular system is a sustainable model where resources are continuously reused, recycled, and regenerated to minimize waste and environmental impact, mimicking natural cycles. It contrasts with a linear system, which follows a “take-make-dispose” approach. Minimizing the galactic blueprint is contingent upon our ability to transform the space industry from a linear system to a circular system. Sara Alão, in her TEDx talk on developing more sustainable space exploration, brings up many of the environmental impacts on orbital space; specifically, how we might be able to reuse and recycle space debris to create a circular economy in space (Alão). NASA is another source often looked up to as the champion of sustainability in space exploration (Bowman). Their sustainability plan is centralized on dealing with space debris in orbital space, and they agree with Alão on the necessity of recycling what we have already left in orbit and no longer use. Both Alão and NASA explore options ranging from creating new technology and satellites to simply using debris to repair old and malfunctioning machinery–all while never leaving space or sending even more material up to eventually become debris in orbit (Bowman).

NASA and Alão agree that, without a circular economy in space, space exploration would suffer if not become unavailable to future generations of humanity. NASA has a detailed plan weighing both the cost and benefits of each move that needs to be made to create a green economy in space. Their desire is to continue the innovation and discoveries provided by space exploration all within a circular celestial economy (Bowman).

Rocket Blasts and Eco-Impacts: The Environmental Cost of Space Travel

As we talked about above, space exploration has had its effects on Earth’s orbit, yet it also has costly and devastating effects on Earth’s surface. In an article discussing environmental impacts of SpaceX rocket launches, Elton Change explains, “The intersection of technological advancements and environmental preservation presents a complex challenge that requires careful consideration and proactive measures to ensure sustainable space exploration practices” (Chang). Not only is a circular system in space required, but a system to account for terrestrial effects must also be in place to create a truly green galaxy. So, what then does this system look like?

Debris fallout from failed space launches threatens wildlife habitats, protected species, and human societies. Air quality becomes a concern for areas around the launch sites. Wildlife impact assessments are crucial to mitigate ecological harm and account for the damage from rocket launches and explosions. Water can become contaminated; therefore, strategies to prevent water pollution need to be implemented to safeguard marine life and ecosystems near the launch sites (Chang). All these concerns and more are what create the complex challenge behind sustainable space exploration. SpaceX has begun to implement many preventative and reactive strategies to mitigate the effects it has on the environment. Launch site runoffs for water pollution, emission reduction for air quality concerns, and sustainable fuel sources have all been explored rigorously to create a green environment for space launches (Chang).

SpaceX is not the only company or industry taking on this challenge. In NASA’s sustainability plan, they believe that to enhance green space, one must plan for these four domains: “on Earth; in Earth’s orbit; in cislunar space, including the Lagrange points and lunar surface; and in deep space, including other celestial bodies” (Bowman). Though most of NASA’s sustainability strategy focuses on orbital earth, they still believe and dedicate a great portion of their efforts to mitigating the impacts of space travel on Earth. Both SpaceX and NASA are two elite powers of sustainability and are working on creating a more effective and sustainable space program for humanity.

Life Among the Stars: Maintaining a Healthy Space Environment

Although circular economy practices and reusing materials already in Earth’s orbit are important, a large amount of debris cannot be repurposed. Much of this debris has broken down into small, unusable fragments. These fragments clutter Earth’s orbit, creating conditions that could lead to a potentially catastrophic chain reaction of collisions, a phenomenon known as the Kessler Syndrome. Alão explains the Kessler Syndrome as the idea that as the density of space debris in Earth’s orbit increases, the likelihood of collisions between objects also rises. Each collision generates more debris, which in turn increases the risk of further collisions. This potential risk could eventually make certain orbits unusable and lead to the inaccessibility of space technology and exploration (Alão).

The path forward into the future of space requires much more than just reusing space debris. As NASA tightens its focus on sustainability, they explore further methods of disposing of and gathering useless or broken debris to avoid the effects of the Kessler Syndrome and create and maintain a healthy space environment. Along with NASA’s projections of costs and efforts, Alão and the Secure World Foundation (SWF) are exploring options from magnets to nets and other gathering and disposing options. They each bring up the concerns of over-cluttered space, such as falling debris and consistent damage to space missions, stations, and satellites (Alão; Secure World Foundation). All these concerns continue to highlight the importance of green space initiatives and efforts.

Innovation from Orbit: How Space Tech is Boosting Sustainability on Earth

We’ve talked a lot so far of the negative effects space exploration has, but what of the positive and life-changing effects? Space exploration provides an essential backbone to our society today, from historical space advancements (Alão) to the use of satellites in our everyday life (Secure World Foundation) to advancements in technology and the potential of harnessing the raw elements of space through mining the cosmos (Jones). All of these advancements highlight the innovations, economic accelerations, and life-changing advancements that space exploration has had on humanity. It explains many of the reasons we are so set on exploring space and saving the future of celestial discoveries.

Through efforts to create a more sustainable and eco-friendly fuel system, SpaceX has explored and developed cutting-edge electronic propulsion technology, not only allowing for a more sustainable fuel source but leading to magnificent leaps in other battery-powered technology. With the help of companies such as SpaceX, we have been able to launch thousands of satellites and provide countless benefits to billions of individuals around the globe. Around 5,000 active satellites orbit the Earth. These satellites enhance many of our day-to-day basics, including the use of cellphones, the internet, electronic banking, navigation, and weather forecasting (Secure World Foundation). Many of these benefits are overlooked and forgotten but are essential in supporting our everyday lives. These advancements are not only under threat from the growing debris field and other environmental reasons but also from ethics and politics on Earth.

Ethics on the Edge: The Moral Quest for a Sustainable Space

Much of the space industry is internationally intertwined across the world, meaning that the responsibility for sustainability and the wealth of space is not centralized to just one power. Balancing the economic concerns and ethics of space travel relies on international cooperation and relations. As our power to harness the wealth of space through resource expansion, technological advancements, and information systems grows, so do the political, economic, and ethical concerns (Jones). Many of our sustainability and environmental plans to create a green space are capped and discarded once we are 100km away from Earth (Alão). This brings to light an oversight and a potential future problem as we simply discard the effects we are having on deeper space. Further, as our economy begins to grow and reap the rewards of a bountiful space, it affects our working and labor demographic as well as our economic and political challenges (Jones). All of these factors are played out on the international scale and require cooperation across the world system to achieve a sustainable to beneficial space system (“The Path Forward”).

In a broader sense, the world has been forever changed and will continue to be revolutionized by the efforts and advancements of space exploration. To continue in this endeavor and reap the rewards of our efforts, we must focus on creating a green galaxy through a sustainable, ethical, and circular space economy. If we do not, we will eventually lose access to our celestial ocean and leave behind a world of expanding progression.

Works Cited

Alão, Sara. “Developing More Sustainable Space Exploration.” TEDxCranfieldUniversity, 3 Mar. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgiYDL0UAac.

Bowman, Abigail. “NASA’s Space Sustainability Strategy.” NASA, 28 May 2024, www.nasa.gov/spacesustainability/.

Chang, Elton. “SpaceX Environmental Considerations: Balancing Innovation and Impact.” Telecom World 101,  www.telecomworld101.com/spacex-environmental-considerations/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.

Jones, Rachael. “How Could Space Mining Increase Sustainable Growth?” AZoMining, 23 Oct. 2024, www.azomining.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1795.

“The Path Forward for Sustainable Space Exploration.” World Economic Forum, 8 July 2024, www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/07/sustainable-space-exploration-path-forward/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.

Secure World Foundation. “SWF Releases a New Video on Space Sustainability.” Secure World Foundation, 3 Nov. 2021, www.swfound.org/news/all-news/2021/11/swf-releases-a-new-video-on-space-sustainability.