Who gets to inherit the stars? A space ethicist on what we're not talking about

Space ethicist Mary-Jane Rubenstein said this week that predictions of humans working in orbit within 15 to 20 years overlook how dependence on employers for air, water and other basics would intensify power imbalances. Rubenstein, dean of social sciences and professor of religion and science and technology studies at Wesleyan University, made the comments in an interview prompted by statements from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Varda Space Industries founder Will Bruey. Rubenstein criticized U.S. policy that permits companies to own materials extracted from celestial bodies even though the 1967 Outer Space Treaty bars national sovereignty claims over them. She compared the approach to allowing ownership of a house's floorboards and beams but not the house itself. The 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act and the 2020 Artemis Accords, now backed by 60 nations, have prompted objections from Russia and Belgium over potential economic imbalances and unilateral action. Rubenstein also questioned the prevailing focus on turning the moon into what she called a cosmic gas station and on asteroid mining. She said science fiction has long offered templates for space development that go beyond conquest and resource extraction, yet current plans risk missing opportunities to carry forward ideas of justice and care. She proposed returning oversight to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and addressing the growing problem of orbital debris as areas where stakeholder interests align.