Editing Space colonization (section)

====Colonialism====
{{See also|Manifest destiny|Space advocacy#Decolonizing space|Space ethics|Ethics of terraforming|Planetary chauvinism}}
[[File:Gemini5insignia.png|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Gemini 5]] mission badge (1965) connecting spaceflight to colonial endeavours<ref name="Roger Launiuss Blog 2011">{{cite web | author=[[Roger Launius|Launius, Roger]]| title=Reconsidering the Foundations of Human Spaceflight in the 1950s | website=Roger Launius's Blog | date=8 June 2011 | url=https://launiusr.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/reconsidering-the-foundations-of-human-spaceflight-in-the-1950s/ | access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref>]]

[[Image:NASA Artemis Gateway logo.png|thumb|upright=0.6|The logo and name of the [[Lunar Gateway]] references the [[St. Louis]] [[Gateway Arch]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/nasa-lunar-gateway-moon-station-logo.html|title=NASA Reveals New Gateway Logo for Artemis Lunar Orbit Way Station|website=Space.com|date=18 September 2019|access-date=28 June 2020|first=Robert Z. |last=Pearlman}}</ref> which some see as associating Mars with the [[American frontier]] and the ''[[manifest destiny]]'' mentality of [[Settler colonialism#Settler colonialism in the United States|American settler colonialism]].<ref name="NPR.org 2015">{{cite web | title=As Gateway Arch Turns 50, Its Message Gets Reframed |first=Camille |last=Phillips | website=NPR.org | date=28 October 2015 | url=https://www.npr.org/2015/10/28/452299164/as-gateway-arch-turns-50-its-message-gets-reframed | access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref>]]

Space colonization has been discussed as [[postcolonialism|postcolonial]]<ref name="Durrani 2019">{{cite magazine | last=Durrani | first=Haris | title=Is Spaceflight Colonialism? | website=The Nation | date=19 July 2019 | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/apollo-space-lunar-rockets-colonialism/ | access-date=2 October 2020}}</ref> continuation of [[imperialism]] and [[colonialism]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Cornish |first=Gabrielle |date=22 July 2019 |title=How imperialism shaped the race to the moon |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/22/how-imperialism-shaped-race-moon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723032005/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/22/how-imperialism-shaped-race-moon/ |archive-date=23 July 2019 |access-date=19 September 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Haskins"/><ref name="Drake2018"/><ref name="marshall"/> calling for [[decolonization]] instead of colonization.<ref name="Bartels 2018h"/><ref name="Drake2018"/> Critics argue that the present politico-legal regimes and their philosophic grounding, advantage imperialist development of space,<ref name="marshall">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0265-9646(95)93233-B |title=Development and imperialism in space |first=Alan |last=Marshall |date=February 1995 |journal=Space Policy |pages=41–52 |access-date=28 June 2020 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/026596469593233B |volume=11|issue=1 |bibcode=1995SpPol..11...41M|url-access=subscription }}</ref> that key decisionmakers in space colonization are often wealthy elites affiliated with private corporations, and that space colonization would primarily appeal to their peers rather than ordinary citizens.<ref name="DNLee"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Against Mars-a-Lago: Why SpaceX's Mars colonization plan should terrify you|url=https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/against-mars-a-lago-why-spacexs-mars-colonization-plan-should-terrify-you/|website=Salon.com|access-date=20 September 2019|date=8 October 2017|first=Keith A. |last=Spencer|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919201220/https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/against-mars-a-lago-why-spacexs-mars-colonization-plan-should-terrify-you/|archive-date=19 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, it is argued that there is a need for inclusive<ref>{{cite web |last=Zevallos |first=Zuleyka |date=26 March 2015 |title=Rethinking the Narrative of Mars Colonisation |url=https://othersociologist.com/2015/03/26/rethinking-the-narrative-of-mars-colonisation/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211122431/https://othersociologist.com/2015/03/26/rethinking-the-narrative-of-mars-colonisation/ |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=Other Sociologist |language=en}}</ref> and democratic participation and implementation of any space exploration, infrastructure or habitation.<ref name="Tavares Buckner Burton McKaig 2020">{{cite arXiv | last1=Tavares | first1=Frank | last2=Buckner | first2=Denise | last3=Burton | first3=Dana | last4=McKaig | first4=Jordan | last5=Prem | first5=Parvathy | last6=Ravanis | first6=Eleni | last7=Trevino | first7=Natalie | last8=Venkatesan | first8=Aparna | last9=Vance | first9=Steven D. | last10=Vidaurri | first10=Monica | last11=Walkowicz | first11=Lucianne | last12=Wilhelm | first12=Mary Beth | title=Ethical Exploration and the Role of Planetary Protection in Disrupting Colonial Practices | date=15 October 2020 | class=astro-ph.IM | eprint =2010.08344v2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Spencer |first=Keith A. |date=2 May 2017 |title=Keep the Red Planet Red |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/02/mars-elon-musk-space-exploration-nasa-colonization |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103165331/https://jacobinmag.com/2017/02/mars-elon-musk-space-exploration-nasa-colonization |archive-date=3 November 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en}}</ref> According to space law expert Michael Dodge, existing [[space law]], such as the [[Outer Space Treaty]], guarantees access to space, but does not enforce social inclusiveness or regulate non-state actors.<ref name="Bartels 2018h">{{cite web | last=Bartels | first=Meghan | title=People are calling for a movement to decolonize space—here's why | website=Newsweek | date=25 May 2018 | url=https://www.newsweek.com/should-we-colonize-space-some-people-argue-we-need-decolonize-it-instead-945130 | access-date=9 November 2021}}</ref>

Particularly the narrative of the "[[New Frontier]]" has been criticized as unreflected continuation of [[settler colonialism]] and [[manifest destiny]], continuing the narrative of exploration as fundamental to the assumed [[human nature]].<ref name="Schaberg 2021">{{cite web | last=Schaberg | first=Christopher | title=We're Already Colonizing Mars | website=Slate Magazine | date=30 March 2021 | url=https://slate.com/technology/2021/03/mars-colonization-is-already-happening.html | access-date=8 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="Renstrom 2021">{{cite web | last=Renstrom | first=Joelle | title=The Troubling Rhetoric of Space Exploration | website=Undark Magazine | date=18 March 2021 | url=https://undark.org/2021/03/18/rhetoric-of-space-exploration/ | access-date=15 August 2021}}</ref><ref name="Haskins">{{cite web|title=The racist language of space exploration|url=https://theoutline.com/post/5809/the-racist-language-of-space-exploration|website=The Outline|access-date=20 September 2019|date=14 August 2018|first=Caroline |last=Haskins|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016235916/https://theoutline.com/post/5809/the-racist-language-of-space-exploration|archive-date=16 October 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DNLee">{{cite web |last=Lee |first=D. N. |date=26 March 2015 |title=When discussing Humanity's next move to space, the language we use matters |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/when-discussing-humanity-8217-s-next-move-to-space-the-language-we-use-matters/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914011756/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/when-discussing-humanity-8217-s-next-move-to-space-the-language-we-use-matters/ |archive-date=14 September 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=[[Scientific American]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Drake2018">{{cite web|date=9 November 2018|title=We need to change the way we talk about space exploration|first=Nadia|last=Drake|author-link=Nadia Drake|publisher=[[National Geographic]]|access-date=19 October 2019 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/we-need-to-change-way-we-talk-about-space-exploration-mars|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016235826/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/11/we-need-to-change-way-we-talk-about-space-exploration-mars/|archive-date=16 October 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Joon Yun considers [[Space and survival|space colonization as a solution to human survival]] and global problems like pollution to be imperialist;<ref>{{cite web |last=Yun |first=Joon |date=2 January 2020 |title=The Problem With Today's Ideas About Space Exploration. |url=https://www.worth.com/is-space-the-next-frontier-for-the-same-old-story-of-imperialism/ |access-date=28 June 2020 |website=Worth.com}}</ref> others have identified space as a new [[sacrifice zone]] of colonialism.<ref name="Calma 2021">{{cite web | last=Calma | first=Justine | title=Jeff Bezos eyes space as a new 'sacrifice zone' | website=The Verge | date=21 July 2021 | url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/21/22587249/jeff-bezos-space-pollution-industry-sacrifice-zone-amazon-environmental-justice | access-date=9 November 2021}}</ref>

Furthermore, the understanding of space as empty and separate is considered a continuation of [[terra nullius]].<ref name="w462">{{cite web | title=Astro-Colonialism: Conversation with Willi Lempert | website=Society for Cultural Anthropology | date=26 March 2024 | url=https://culanth.org/fieldsights/astro-colonialism-conversation-with-willi-lempert | access-date=4 January 2025 |first=Hae-Seo |last=Kim}}</ref><ref name="c593">{{cite journal | last1=Mitchell | first1=A. | last2=Wright | first2=S. | last3=Suchet-Pearson | first3=S. | last4=Lloyd | first4=K. | last5=Burarrwanga | first5=L. | last6=Ganambarr | first6=R. | last7=Ganambarr-Stubbs | first7=M. | last8=Ganambarr | first8=B. | last9=Maymuru | first9=D. | last10=Maymuru | first10=R. | title=Dukarr lakarama: Listening to Guwak, talking back to space colonization | journal=Political Geography | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=81 | year=2020 | issn=0962-6298 | doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102218 | doi-access=free | page=102218 | url=https://hal.science/hal-04689795/document | access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>

Natalie B. Trevino argues that not colonialism but [[decoloniality|coloniality]] will be carried into space if not reflected on.<ref name="Trevino 2021">{{cite thesis | last=Trevino | first=Natalie B | title=The Cosmos is Not Finished |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=University of Western Ontario | date=30 October 2020 | url=https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/7567 | access-date=9 September 2021}}</ref>

More specifically the advocacy for territorial colonization [[Mars colonization|of Mars]] has been called ''surfacism'', in contrast to [[Venus colonization|habitation in the atmospheric space of Venus]],<ref name="Tickle 2015">{{cite web | last=Tickle | first=Glen | title=A Look into Whether Humans Should Try to Colonize Venus Instead of Mars | website=Laughing Squid | date=5 March 2015 | url=https://laughingsquid.com/a-look-into-whether-humans-should-try-to-colonize-venus-instead-of-mars/ | access-date=1 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Warmflash |first=David |date=14 March 2017 |title=Colonization of the Venusian Clouds: Is 'Surfacism' Clouding Our Judgement? |url=https://www.visionlearning.com/blog/2017/03/14/colonization-venusian-clouds-surfacism-clouding-judgement/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211122431/https://www.visionlearning.com/blog/2017/03/14/colonization-venusian-clouds-surfacism-clouding-judgement/ |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=20 September 2019 |website=Vision Learning |language=en}}</ref> a concept similar to [[Thomas Gold]]s ''[[surface chauvinism]]''.

More generally space infrastructure such as the [[Mauna Kea Observatories]] have also been [[Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories|criticized and protested against]] as being colonialist.<ref name="Matson Nunn 2021">{{cite web | last1=Matson | first1=Zannah Mae | last2=Nunn | first2=Neil | title=Space Infrastructure, Empire, And The Final Frontier: What The Mauna Kea Land Defenders Teach Us About Colonial Totality | website=Society & Space | date=6 September 2021 | url=https://www.societyandspace.org/articles/space-infrastructure-empire-and-the-final-frontier-what-the-mauna-kea-land-defenders-teach-us-about-colonial-totality | access-date=7 September 2021}}</ref> [[Guiana Space Centre]] has also been the site of anti-colonial protests, connecting colonization as an issue on Earth and in space.<ref name="Durrani 2019"/>

In regard to the scenario of [[first contact (science fiction)|extraterrestrial]] [[first contact (anthropology)|first contact]], it has been argued that the employment of colonial language would endanger such first impressions and encounters.<ref name="Bartels 2018h"/>

Furthermore, spaceflight as a whole and space law more particularly has been criticized as a postcolonial project by being built on a colonial legacy and by not facilitating the sharing of access to space and its benefits, too often allowing spaceflight to be used to sustain colonialism and imperialism, most of all on Earth instead.<ref name="Durrani 2019"/>