Alfred Anzaldúa talks about inevitability of human expansion into space and the proposal to add an 18th SDG, focused on space development, to the U.N. 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

The SRI President Bernard Foing and the SRI CEO and Founder A. V. Autino are in agreement on the text of this newsletter, but not on the title(!). We decided therefore to issue it with two titles. The first one, by A.V. Autino, establishes an ideological distance from the governance model that brought the civilization to the current situation, refusing any direct co-responsibility. The title proposed by B. Foing implies that “we” (the global society) are responsible for the general failure since we voted for the current leaders. He also suggested that should “we” (space humanists) be governing, he’s not sure that we would be able to do better than current leaders, for peace and development. Better than warmongers for sure! Replied Autino. However, both titles are true and have their reasons. That’s why we don’t want to choose one…

Only by expanding the domain of life into space can we fulfill the 17 SDGs on Earth in the long term. Therefore, the Space Renaissance International and the…

As soon as the U.N. 2030 Agenda ^[1] was published, some relevant criticalities appeared. The general criteria supporting the concept of sustainability developed by the agenda is an unquestioned limitation to the boundary of Earth’s atmosphere. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, was conceptualized during the traditional aerospace age: outer space was not considered, as a dimension that helps to increase the sustainability of development. Space science and technologies are supporting social and environmental goals on Earth, for many years. Yet that will not be enough, to warrant a really sustainable development. To allow a real sustainable development, it is indispensable and urgent to start civilian space development, outside Earth boundaries. Therefore the UN 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals needs to be updated.

Historically, colonialism was initially predicated on a simple “rob and take home” concept. During the first colonialist age, the superpowers of that era (primarily England and France) used to send their agents overseas to obtain precious goods at very low prices, and to bring those goods back to their home countries, selling them at very high prices (today, such practices are far from being obsolete!). Such policies were often socially detrimental, especially when they boosted the use of drugs (e.g., stimulating opium dependence in several Chinese provinces). In many cases, colonialist policies lead to conflicts and wars (in order to ensure control over certain regions). In most cases, nothing positive remained for the colonized populations, since the colonialist behaviors primarily engaged populations with a culture based on robbery and exploitation – not to advance civil rights. Regarding the “new world” (America’s two continents), colonialists have also invaded these territories, stealing the land and natural resources from native inhabitants, and exterminating these inhabitants by any means. During the last age of colonialism (up to the 20th Century), the practice of depredation continued, in many cases retarding or preventing the development of colonized countries, notwithstanding the abundance of natural riches, from which native peoples could never benefit.

Ok, I am listening now to your classical objections. I, for one, have noted this several times while discussing space colonization: in the solar system there are no native intelligent beings, therefore we would not steal anything from anyone, by colonizing territories on the Moon, Mars, Jupiter Moons and beyond. Of course, I am talking about the very essential part of colonialism: to take resources and bring them home. In our cases, to take asteroid and exo-planetary resources from the Moon, asteroids, Mars and beyond, and bring them on Earth surface – why would this be harmful?

Space colonialism would be both a dangerous and harmful undertaking for several reasons.

In an historical session, Karlton Johnson (NSS) gave this speech on behalf of NSS, SRI and 30 space advocacy organizations. National Space Society Statement to UN COPUOS 2023, General Exchange of Views (Given by Karlton Johnson on Monday, 5 June 2023, AM under Item 4: GEVs) Distinguished Chairman and Delegates of COPUOS, My name isContinue reading →

Since 2015, reusable rockets have dramatically decreased the cost of transportation from Earth to orbit. Such process is paving the path toward a civilian sp…

Space for All, on Earth and Beyond, a civilian-led space development, with human communities living and working in outer space to expand and multiply benefits to all the peoples of Earth.

The above is the main concept supporting our proposal, trying to make it evident, in few words, that, though we praise and consider very important the huge contribution so far given by space technologies to the achievement of the Earthly 17 SDGs, we think that they will not be enough to overcome the global crisis of human development on our mother planet, should humanity remain closed and confined inside its limits.

The last event of 2022 will take place December 19th: Christmas Special meeting. with our president Prof. Bernard Foing!
We’ll have a look at what we have done in 2022, and we’ll announce the program of 2023.
The Zoom meeting will be open to all of the SRI Members and invited friends – just registered or going to register during the meeting.
All the participants will have the possibility to make questions to the SRI President, the Founder and the Board of Directors, about the 2023 program. Criticisms and proposals will be welcome too.
We have a huge programme for 2023, and we are going through some key steps, to achieve an higher legal status for our association: to be registered as a not for profit entity on the Unic National Register of the Third Sector Entities (RUNTS). Such an achievement will allow SRI to call Italian taxpayers to target the 5x1000 of their yearly tax to SRI, and the donations to be deducted from the tax declaration. These conditions, when achieved, will greatly contribute to the sustainability of our initiatives.
We are asking each of the SRI members and supporters to assume this priority for December 2022: to bring onboard many new members and to seek for donors and sponsors!
We will celebrate together during the Xmas Special event and exchange season greetings and wishes for a vibrant year 2023 for Space Renaissance International!

Of their yearly balance of about €3 million, nearly the entirely is spent on the main congress and other events and conferences. Over the last few years, addressing geography, generation, and gender equities (3G), the International Astronautical Federation established itself as the youngest and most diverse space organization in the world. Over the same period, the IAF President Pascale Ehrenfreund, has pushed her excellent Global Innovation Agenda which “has brought emerging countries to our space family through conferences, expanded work with partner organizations, and created innovative systems for sharing information among members” [1].In his first newsletter [2] the incumbent President, Clay Mowry, communicated the IAF agenda for next 3 years: “Sustainability, Investment and Security”. According to Mowry, “the IAF should seek to influence conversations around the sustainability of the space environment. Securing orbits, spacecraft, frequencies, and physical resources is critical to the future viability of space exploration.” And: “The coming three years will see a shift towards the commercial development of low Earth orbit and major push to field systems in lunar orbits and on the surface of the Moon. We must be prepared to tackle the challenges of growing investment in the space sector head-on. Security refers to the freedom to operate safely in the space domain. Without it, investors and nation states can hardly be expected to pour the continued resources and attention required to secure humanity’s future beyond Earth.”

An agenda oriented to civilian space development? We may say yes, moderately. We want to encourage and further develop this orientation, and we’ll do our best to move IAF more on the side of human expansion into the Geo-Lunar space and the Solar System.

As we said in all of our presentations at IAC 73, “Space for All” is an excellent motto, yet today it is still not yet a reality. We have to work for the realization of that goal, that all Earthers wishing to emigrate into outer space can do it safely, as soon as possible. Such a goal is in perfect continuity with the fully inclusive spirit of IAF! Prominent among the concepts we presented in various symposia and discussions in Paris is that of a modern Eutopia [3] for our time: a fully sustainable inclusive society, one which allows for the healthy and continued growth of 8 billion people. Such an idea cannot be realized within the boundaries of our closed world; but it could be realized through expansion into our celestial frontier.