Handbook

More satellites have been launched in the 15 years just past, than in 50 years preceding it, starting from the launch of Sputnik I in 1957. And, if the business plans of all current satellite companies were to be realised (which is very unlikely), close to 500,000 satellites will be launched in the next 10 years. What accounts for this exponential growth? Can it be sustained? Should it be sustained?

The exploration and use of the space domain was born out of great power competition and under the spectre of conflict between the USSR and the US. Yet, over the early decades after the dawn of the space age, exploration of outer space was often characterised by cooperation. In the last decade, an increasing number of States, non-State and commercial actors have sought to exploit the commercial, strategic and scientific opportunities of this domain. Sometimes they cooperate, there is always competition, and the spectre of conflict in space itself looms larger than it ever has. Under-regulated conflict and competition risks making Earth orbits and beyond unusable in the near future and for generations to come, with potentially devastating consequences on Earth. This course aims to introduce students to these astropolitical challenges and to the physical, historical, commercial, strategic, political, legal and ethical contexts in which these challenges must be managed. It seeks to enable students to navigate, and help others to navigate, those contexts to achieve their objectives (and those of their organisations) and be valuable participants in the sustainable use and exploration of outer space.

As a graduate of this course, working in one of a diverse range of subsequent employment contexts in the space industry, you will make or contribute to complex recommendations or proposals involving astropolitics. You will understand the basic elements of select disciplines as they apply to an astropolitical state of affairs. Beyond completion of this course, working in a highly dynamic, very multi-disciplinary industry, that draws on graduates from diverse backgrounds, you will need to supplement the foundations established in this course. In order to meet the more specific and detailed needs of an employer, this course will prepare you to undertake further and self-directed learning, within the selected disciplines applied to astropolitics, adapted to those needs.

You are invited to start or continue your learning journey in astropolitics, by undertaking this course, and right now, as you read this course description, by thinking about what you want to learn from this course.