Greetings, everyone!

This issue of the newsletter is coming out as we have crossed the terrible threshold of a year of the genocide in Gaza and continued occupation of the West Bank, along with Israel’s recent attacks on Lebanon, Hurricane Helene’s devastation in Appalachia, and as we slide into the homestretch of election season here in the US– so attention (including our own) has been focused on happenings here on Earth more than in space. Here at JustSpace, however, we recognize that the “space versus Earth” divide is a false one– not just in a cutesy “we’re all on a planet in space” kind of way, but because virtually all of the space-related activity humans do takes place right here, on Earth. Moreover, many of the same companies that build space infrastructure also build war infrastructure, in the form of surveillance tools, bombs, and rockets. The deep enmeshment of space with the military industrial complex– which we have written about before as a factor in who pursues careers in space science– feels especially painful now, as US-made weapons continue to kill civilians every day. We encourage you to tap into and support the work of the Palestine Space Institute, who have compiled resources and data about how space-related work is tied to military action around the world in Space and the Military-Industrial Complex: A PSI Database.

SpaceX’s Continuing Legacy of Damage 

SpaceX’s Starship is grounded until at least November, while regulators attempt to investigate the company’s extensive impact on the environment surrounding its base in Boca Chica TX. Back in April of this year, a SpaceX rocket explosion cause extensive environmental damage, and in July the NY Times reported on SpaceX’s widespread disregard for wildlife protections in the area. Recently, the Texas Commision on Environmental Quality reported that SpaceX has been dumping pollutants into or near bodies of water (which came several months after the EPA also warned SpaceX that they were in violation of the Clean Water Act). These reports by regulators come several years after local activists had raised the alarm regarding SpaceX’s impacts on their local communities and environment. At JustSpace’s Environmental Justice in Space (EJiS) conference back in June, Dr. Christopher Basaldu, Pooj Rav, and JustSpace co-founder Lucian Walkowicz discussed local resistance to SpaceX in the Rio Grande Valley as part of a session on grassroots organizing– you can watch the session here.

These actions by regulators also come on the heels of a sexual harassment lawsuit against Elon Musk and SpaceX, filed by 8 former employees back in June of this year. This is not the only time Musk has come under fire for sexual harassment, nor is it the only one of his companies with a toxic work culture (this lawsuit coming a year after Black employees at Tesla detailed a hostile culture of racist harassment).

It’s disturbing and upsetting that Musk’s influence has been allowed to grow to the point where he– a man who at minimum cannot run his own companies responsibly, and has decided to bet on the rise of fascism (see for example his cringeworthy antics at a recent Trump rally)– is essentially involved in international relations because of his enmeshment with everything from military communications to getting the currently-stranded astronauts back to Earth.

Take Action

We encourage you to check out the Stop Gaza Genocide toolkit, recently updated with numerous options for tactics you can pursue, including mobilizing your local community, engaging in BDS (Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions), pressuring elected officials, and more. As many people in space-related fields do work that is funded either directly or indirectly through entities that provide weapons to Israel, these suggestions can be combined with the aforementioned PSI Database to apply pressure to those ties. Remember that the European Space Agency saw Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as sufficient reason to pause the ExoMars mission– there can be no business as usual during genocide. 

The devastation from Hurricane Helene (the effects of which are visible from space) has demonstrated the necessity of mutual aid networks for intervening while national relief infrastructure crumbles. In an effort to consolidate and coordinate efforts in Western North Carolina, Asheville’s Pansy Collective has created the WNC Mutual Aid switchboard to connect people with desperately needed resources. You can fill out a form at tinyurl.com/WNCMAS, or those without internet access can text “Helene” to 51905 to be connected to help. 

Join Us

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.