Towards Equity and Sustainability in Outer Space?
Throughout the academic year, the School of International Studies organizes Guest Lectures delivered by internationally renowned visiting professors and scholars, offering students the opportunity to explore key global issues and engage with cutting-edge academic research.
As human activities in outer space expand and diversify, questions of equity and environmental sustainability are becoming more urgent. Low Earth Orbit is increasingly congested with satellites and other space objects, creating environmental and operational risks from space debris. The exploitation of space resources, from lunar ice deposits to Rare Earth Elements in asteroids, is seeing rising commercial interest. Current plans for permanent lunar outposts may lead to large-scale infrastructure expansion on the surface of the Moon as early as the 2030s. Beneath all this, the emergence of a tech-oligarchy in outer space poses a serious challenge to the capacity of governments to ensure sustainable and equitable outcomes through inclusive multilateral processes. In addressing these challenges, the talk explores options for reviving multilateralism in outer space governance and develops potential plurilateral alternatives.
Florian Rabitz is a professor of climate and technology governance at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University. His work broadly focuses on the role of technological change in the global politics of sustainability. Florian is currently involved in research projects on transformative innovation for biodiversity, and on Artificial Intelligence in the shipping industry. He chairs the COST Action Futures-Oriented Governance of Outer Space, a European network of scholars working in space governance, and serves as an advisor to the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment.