/sci/ - Science & Math

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4591/1

> The case for space ethics

> The question of whether space expansionism is beneficial (for financial growth, innovation, and cultural diversification) or necessary (for survival and to manifest destiny) is ultimately ethical in nature. This question is not only about if we can go to space and build, settle, and live there, but rather, if we should. Naturally, since the 1960s Space Race between the USSR and United States, the answer to the first question is affirmative. But “can” alone does not imply “ought.”

> A moderate breakthrough came in July 2021 when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a memo that outlined five "tenets of responsible behavior in space." [1] The word responsibility implies the state of being accountable or to blame for something, both essentially ethical concepts, yet the memo does not explicitly use the word ethics or make use of ethical principles in any substantial way.

>The tenets can be summarized as the following:

> 1) operate in, from to, and through space with due regard
> 2) limit the generation of debris
> 3) avoid harmful interference
> 4) maintain safe separation and safe trajectory, and
> 5) communicate to enhance safety and stability.