Hello and welcome to the end of 2023! Let’s take a quick tour of the latest news from the space and justice world to wrap up the year.

Space Happenings

A NASA spacewalk outside the International Space Station on November 1 resulted in the loss of a tool bag, which drifted away from the station to join the tens of thousands of other pieces of debris floating in low Earth orbit, including other tools dropped by astronauts. The bag is visible with binoculars from the ground, although eventually it will descend far enough to burn up in the atmosphere.

Later in November, SpaceX attempted a second launch of their Starship rocket from their launch center near Boca Chica, Texas. Like the first launch attempt in April, this test ended when the rocket exploded, although it did reach a higher altitude of 148 km this time. Amidst the now-common debate over what constitutes “success” or “failure” in a rocket launch test, local groups continue to express concerns about the detrimental effects of the tests on the region’s ecosystem and communities.

South Korea has contracted with SpaceX to launch five spy satellites into space by 2025, beginning with the country’s first-ever spy satellite, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on December 1. North Korea announced it had successfully launched its own spy satellite into orbit earlier in November.

Meanwhile, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk traveled to Israel in late November and spoke with the country’s president and prime minister. In October, Musk had announced that SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink would be made available to “internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza” responding to the humanitarian crisis created by Israel’s retaliation against Hamas’ terror attack on October 7. However, after meeting with Musk in November, Israel’s minister of communications stated that Starlink satellites would only be allowed to operate in Gaza with Israel’s approval. 

To Read

Science writer Philip Ball published a long piece for Aeon on space as “The final ethical frontier”:

Perhaps, then, the fundamental ethical issue of human spaceflight is about honesty. It is hard to consider ethical an enterprise that puts people at risk at immense cost and use of resources, if we do so under false pretences.

Marina Koren of The Atlantic explored the recent evolution of space tourism, noting that the growing tendency towards customer privacy means that “You Won’t Hear Much About the Next Chapter of Space Travel”:

Because there are no regulations, it’s difficult to say when the companies’ right to privacy becomes a concerning level of secrecy.

Reuters published the results of an in-depth exploration of workplace injuries in the space industry, “At SpaceX, worker injuries soar in Elon Musk’s rush to Mars”, finding that the injury rate at their manufacturing-and-launch facility near Brownsville was six times higher than the industry average:

The lax safety culture, more than a dozen current and former employees said, stems in part from Musk’s disdain for perceived bureaucracy and a belief inside SpaceX that it’s leading an urgent quest to create a refuge in space from a dying Earth.

We also enjoyed A City on Mars, an extremely funny and engaging new book out from Kelly and Zach Weinersmith exploring the practical, legal, and social challenges of space settlement, including an interrogation of the case for space settlement itself.

Take Action

In our October newsletter, we provided a link to Scientists for Palestine’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza, which is still accepting signatures. Since then, a group of particle physicists formed Particles for Palestine, who are also asking for signatures (even from non-particle-physicists) on their statement calling for a ceasefire and long-term humanitarian aid. On December 9, hundreds of scientists attended the International Convention Against War and Destructive Use of Science: Scientists Against Israeli Apartheid and Genocide in Gaza (which can be watched on YouTube), producing a “Declaration Against Genocide and in Support of Palestine”. The Declaration can be read and endorsed on their website.

The JustSpace Alliance is hosting an Environmental Justice in Space (EJiS) Workshop on June 21-22, 2024. The EJiS Workshop will bring space experts together with environmental justice activists and researchers to discuss areas of concern in the space environment, lessons learned from the history of environmental justice movements on Earth, and ideas for ensuring an equitable and sustainable future for humanity in space. Registration for this free virtual workshop is now open, as is abstract submission for presenting a pre-recorded, 10-minute talk (abstract deadline: January 31).

We also invite you to apply to join the JustSpace Alliance at bit.ly/JustSpaceApply! Members have access to our virtual community spaces, and in the future, we’ll be able to offer in-person gatherings, more podcast and video content, writing, and more. Supporting JustSpace will help us reach our mission goals by allowing us to compensate people for their time and labor for our future projects, as well as help us cover basic costs like maintaining our website, etc. You can find more information at bit.ly/JustSpaceMemberFAQ.