Space Policy最新文献

{"title":"Crisis in space: Assessing Japan's legal gaps in space emergency response","authors":"Takuya Wakimoto , Takamasa Nishihara","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101728","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101728","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101728"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Indian space policy 2023: An evaluation","authors":"Sandeepa Bhat B","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101743","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Government of India made a new beginning in 2020 with respect to the commercialisation of the space sector in India. It opened the gate for private sector participation in all aspects of space activities. This is a departure from the earlier scenario of allowing private sector participation only in the manufacturing segment related to space but not in the space services sector. Such a move was found essential for boosting the Indian economy, which was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) was also hurriedly established by the Government of India in June 2022 for licensing private space activities. This is further followed by the Indian Space Policy 2023, which clearly unveils the intention of the Government of India to extensively commercialise and privatise space activities in India. While the 2023 Policy has been hailed as futuristic and a welcome step, its implementation in the absence of a national space law in India is on shaky grounds. With more than 150 start-ups already taking initiatives to invest in the Indian space sector, what needs to be prevented is another mega-dispute like what has been evidenced in the decade-long Antrix-Devas case. In addition to this issue of practical concern to private space investors, some provisions of the 2023 Policy also raise suspicion regarding their compatibility with international treaty obligations of India. Hence, the 2023 Policy needs a thorough review to prevent any possible domino effect.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101743"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Navigating procurement strategies adoption in the New Space transition: Drivers and conditions","authors":"Valentina Zancan ,&nbsp;Andrea Pozzi ,&nbsp;Alessandro Rota ,&nbsp;Sascha Deutsch ,&nbsp;Paolo Trucco","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101735","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101735","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The space industry is undergoing significant transformations. Increased private sector participation, new satellite-based services, reduced launch costs, digitalisation, and innovative space infrastructure designs decrease entry barriers. New Space companies from the private sector introduce innovations, spin-ins, capabilities, expertise, and practices. At the same time, space agencies contend with time constraints and the imperative to ensure value for money in times of constrained budgets.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;In this dynamic environment, space agencies must evolve approaches and interactions with the private sector to reaffirm their pioneering role in space exploration, research, and commercialisation. As many New Space organisations are still in their growth phase, space agencies aim at supporting the New Space ecosystem by fostering competition, facilitating capacity building, and catalysing market creation. In parallel, expanding the pool of bidders enables space agencies to avoid being locked into potentially inefficient solutions when acting as client. As space agencies transition towards the New Space paradigm and intensify collaborative endeavours, there exists a knowledge gap concerning the optimal utilisation of conventional approaches, such as cost-plus contracts, versus commercially driven practices like service contracts and parallel bidding. This paper aims to investigate the drivers and conditions shaping procurement choices in the space sector, their influence on project outcomes, and the implications for space agencies and policymakers when making procurement decisions and designing PPPs for future programmes or projects.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Following qualitative research, we conducted a multiple case study focusing on projects within space agencies governed by traditional and New Space strategies. Employing a polar case selection approach, we analysed successful and challenging instances stemming from the implemented procurement practices in 23 programmes/projects led by Western and non-Western space agencies. By leveraging primary and secondary data sources, our investigation illuminates the motivations, best practices, and limitations associated with the conditions of traditional and New Space contexts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We provide a set of key drivers and conditions guiding the configuration of procurement practices within space agencies and their adoption. By comparing literature on procurement practices, both in space and non-space domains, with empirical evidence, our analysis reveals that a \"one-size-fits-all\" approach does not exist. Each PPP prioritizes distinct objectives (e.g. early technology development, demonstrators, first operational hardware, cost reduction, commercial purposes), and accommodates for varying levels of risk appetite. The choice of approach is therefore determined by the interplay between objectives and associated risks. Furthermore, our results confirm the role of drivers and conditions highlighted in non-space P","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101735"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The EU's dual policy dilemma: Orbital sustainability and digital autonomy policies intertwined","authors":"Berna Akcali Gur ,&nbsp;Joanna Kulesza","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The race to deploy large satellite constellations is justified primarily by citing their societal benefits; however, the interests of the deploying states' are largely driven by geopolitical imperatives, including national security, economic competitiveness, and strategic influence. In the non-geostationary orbit (NGSO), these strategic priorities have overshadowed concerns over orbital sustainability, despite the finite nature of NGSO capacity and radio frequency spectrum. The absence of effective global regulatory frameworks for space traffic management and debris mitigation exacerbates the sustainability risks for the orbital environment, intensifying competition and marginalising late entrants. Within this evolving strategic and regulatory landscape, the European Union (EU) provides a compelling case study of the tensions between defining outer space as a global commons and developing a sovereign large satellite constellation as part of its critical infrastructure. Focusing on the EU's Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity, and Security by Satellite (IRIS²), the analysis explores how ambitions for digital autonomy intersect with, and at times contradict, sustainability commitments. The paper highlights the governance gaps that enable such contradictions to persist and reflects on their implications for the evolving architecture of global space governance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101731"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploration, exploitation, and expansion: A three-wave framework for unpacking the shift in U.S. space politics from directing a national space program to orchestrating an ecosystem","authors":"Deganit Paikowsky","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article examines why and how U.S. space policy has evolved from directing centralized national space programs to orchestrating a decentralized space ecosystem. Rather than framing this shift as the outcome of a technological or economic development, it conceptualizes it as a strategic and institutional reconfiguration in how the United States defines space as a domain of power and governs its national capacity. Drawing on a historical-institutional analysis, the article identifies three cumulative waves: exploration, exploitation, and expansion, that together trace the evolution of American space politics from state-led control to ecosystemic orchestration. Across these waves, American agencies shifted from accumulating assets to advancing, enabling, and directing a distributed ecosystem, positioning the ecosystem vitality as a source of national power, competitiveness, and influence in world politics. In this framework, U.S. government agencies have not stepped back but redefined their role as orchestrators of their national ecosystem, responsible for aligning public and private actors to support long-term national objectives. The article thus offers a conceptual framework for understanding ecosystems orchestration as important statecraft in contemporary space politics, shaping power distribution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101730"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards sustainability in Space food packaging","authors":"Karen Venturini ,&nbsp;Marco Scatto ,&nbsp;Benedetta Pini ,&nbsp;Barbara Bigliardi","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101733","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101733","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>In recent decades, research into food packaging has become increasingly important. Food packaging not only plays a key role in the marketing and distribution of products, but also offers significant value to both supply chain stakeholders and consumers. This role becomes even more crucial in the context of the food industry, particularly in the specialised field of Space exploration.</div></div><div><h3>Scope and approach</h3><div>The main objective of this document is to provide an analysis of the state of the art in sustainable packaging for Sspace food and to investigate the use of technology transfer models between the terrestrial and Space sectors to launch innovative projects on these issues.</div></div><div><h3>Key findings and conclusions</h3><div>Emphasizing the fundamental role of food packaging in Space applications, this study highlights how one of the most dynamic areas of development today lies in the design and adoption of sustainable packaging solutions. Unlike terrestrial packaging, that intended for Space food must comply with strict mass and volume constraints, ensure sterility and palatability, and guarantee resistance to radiation, extreme temperature variations, and microgravity conditions. The study provides evidence that technologies originally developed in the manufacturing sector, such as nanomaterials, biodegradable polymers, and high-barrier monomaterials, can be adapted and transferred to the Space context through targeted technology transfer processes, thereby contributing to the achievement of sustainability objectives in long-duration missions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101733"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"China's space data commercialization in light of government support for the digital economy: legal challenges and solutions","authors":"Qing Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Space data commercialization has been recognized as important in strengthening China's digital economy through a variety of policy initiatives. In addition, the combination of space and digital industries has the potential to attract commercial data-analytic businesses to the space sector, resulting in significant growth in space commercialization. However, China currently lacks essential rules and regulations to successfully implement its commercialization policy for space data. Private businesses in China have encountered significant challenges in obtaining space data due to the absence of a centralized licensing regime and the ambiguity of licensing standards. In addition, stringent data transfer restrictions and loopholes in data property rights protection undermine private data processors' trust in participating in the space data market. As a result, China should develop a departmental regulation that covers all categories and aspects of space data. This regulation will ensure that the delegation of authority to appropriate administrative institutions is coordinated when granting permission for the collection of space data. It is also necessary for the proposed regulation to develop and publish specific criteria for granting permits to deploy and operate satellites that collect data from outer space. Additionally, the proposed regulation should abandon the risk-based approach to regulating space data transfers. Lastly, space data processors should be granted data property rights under the proposed regulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101734"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Blockchain applications and the relational normativity of international space law","authors":"Alexey Ilin","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101744","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101744","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Blockchain technology promises to transform the management of space missions, yet its employment also risks disrupting the rule of law in outer space. Blockchain applications for coordination and peer-to-peer regulation of space activities may undermine the guiding principles of international space law, which are the authorization and supervision of private entities by their respective states. This paper views relationships between space actors as one of the three interdependent sources from which international space law derives its binding force. We analyze how public and private actors can utilize blockchain technology to alter the quality and structure of their relationships, thus affecting the relational normativity of the space legal regime. We argue that the interaction between space blockchain applications and international space law has no predetermined outcome. States can integrate blockchain applications into their regulatory frameworks, while private actors might develop decentralized governance structures that render state authorization and supervision redundant. The key variable determining either of these outcomes is the trust between state and non-state actors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101744"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Space settlement and astrobiology - connections and overlaps","authors":"Anamaria Berea ,&nbsp;Celia Blanco ,&nbsp;Jacob Haqq-Misra ,&nbsp;Sanjoy Som ,&nbsp;George Profitiliotis ,&nbsp;Graham Lau","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101727","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101727","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Space settlement and astrobiology are intrinsically linked, with each field informing and enriching the other. The convergence of astrobiology and space settlement shapes our understanding of the future of life in the universe. In this paper, we explore the connections between astrobiology and space settlement, highlighting their interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary natures. The overlap of these fields can inform the development of space habitats and future missions while enhancing our knowledge of human and non-human life in the universe. We aim to promote a multidisciplinary dialogue on how space settlement and astrobiology can mutually advance each other, both exploring how space settlement can aid astrobiological research and how astrobiology can inform and enhance the efforts in space settlement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101727"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gender and other forms of intersecting inequality in space: The case of the Australian space sector","authors":"Elise Stephenson ,&nbsp;Cassandra Steer ,&nbsp;Meredith Nash","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101732","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101732","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although access to the benefits of space-based technologies and services is opening up globally, barriers to access careers in space demonstrate many of the same challenges related to gendered (and intersectional) inequality that appear in other STEM-related fields. This paper outlines the lived experiences of intersectional inequality in the space sector, and explores how the space sector could remediate harm. It also makes a conceptual contribution to the literature on gender and other forms of equity, diversity and inclusion in emerging institutions, using Australia's space sector as a case study.</div><div>The paper draws on a mixed methodological analysis of survey results collected from the inaugural <em>Diversity at the Frontiers: Gender Equality in Space Conference</em> in Australia in 2023, which comprised a public conference, signature event, and two expert workshops. The survey sought to understand key barriers to the space sector, including sexism, racism, ableism, socioeconomic status and other forms of intersectional inequality. The paper also summarises crowd-sourced responses on desired changes and perspectives on why diversity matters to this unique area of human endeavour.</div><div>We argue that the establishment of many new institutions, policies, and practices of emerging space actors may be a critical juncture to 'get things right' from the start. However, narratives shared by participants on their experiences in the sector reinforce that space demonstrates the same kinds of gendered and intersectional dynamics seen more widely in STEM. We attribute this to the reliance on pre-existing ‘ways of doing’ that have carried through even to new institutions in the sector, alongside the influence of long-standing inequalities in more developed space contexts. Findings show that the strong support for diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging amongst participants is contradicted by evidence of pervasive formal and informal institutional barriers experienced by historically excluded groups in space careers. We conclude that there are both moral and practical reasons for ensuring greater diversity – reasons that have only become more important as of 2025 and new waves of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion backlash stemming from space superpower, the US. Space industry actors face heightened needs to embed well founded practices to ensure more diversity and inclusivity. Policy-makers too face important imperatives, including navigating pushback and responsibly mandating and supporting practices and initiatives for diversity and inclusion, including with funding, so that space fulfills the promise of being for all humankind.We argue that this is to the national benefit of all nations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101732"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}