R99new: Green Space Policy

Introduction

As the only species on this earth with the ability to think long-term - even if
we are not always so good at using this ability - we have a responsibility to
ensure that life goes on, as well as the responsibility to preserve and protect
nature and the climate. We can only achieve this, in the really long term, by
working together with other countries to spread life to other planets. No matter
what Sweden, no matter what Europe does, this will happen. But we can decide if
it's the logo of a company on the side of the spacecraft that lands on Mars with
humans, or if it's a flag that represents humans and not money.

Space exploration has clear scientific and cultural benefits but we also
acknowledge that it is enormously resource-intensive which makes it very
attractive to private individuals and companies. All space exploration should
only be done when necessary, especially if private companies are involved, and
has to serve the public interest. Space is not a playground for billionaires.

Climate

On the other hand, in the short term, space science is a great help in the fight
against climate change. It is only through large Earth observation programs such
as the Copernicus satellites that we can measure exactly where, when, how and
why climate change is taking place, and it is the same satellites that are used
to assist with detailed maps and images during natural disasters, which we know
have already become more and more usual. Much of the early research on solar
panels that has led to the efficiency they have today was done by NASA for use
in space. The same applies to hydroponic and vertical agriculture. Space gives
us time, breathing space and tools in the fight against the climate crisis.
Therefore, we propose:

that more money is spent on climate-related space research.

Reusable rockets

The space industry is much like the electric vehicle industry. Both are mineral
and rare earth metals heavy industries. Both are also industries of the future.
But if the industries want to be part of the ‘green future’ they will have to
stay within the planetary boundaries. To do so they need to become a part of the
circular economy. Reusing and recycling EV batteries are now becoming
mainstream, the space industry still has a lot of catching up within this area.
But last year a breakthrough was made, when the first astronauts were launched
on a reused rocket.

“NASA contend that reusable spacecraft are crucial for making the space industry
more affordable. The concept is not new; for years, the space agency reused its
small fleet of space shuttles, but reusable rockets weren’t a reality until
2021.”

So to make the space industry greener, cheaper and more circular we propose:

that the European Space Agency (ESA) works together with NASA and other
international partners to establish a requirement for rockets to be reusable and
completely recyclable as soon as possible.

Asteroid mining

Not all asteroids are created equal. By extracting the minerals found in
extraterrestrial celestial bodies, we can completely eliminate the need to have
environmentally destructive and human rights-violating mines here on earth. It
is not something that will happen today, tomorrow or next year, but the
technology is evolving and with more money, production could start around 2040.
To be able to go through a fair transition, we will need batteries, and
superconductors in turn need lithium, gold, platinum and endless other rare
earth metals. That is why we propose:

that while we firstly prioritise the sustainable extraction and recycling of
resources on Earth, and the reduction of resource use (e.g. the right to repair,
the fight against negligent or avoidable obsolescence, sustainable product
design), the European Space Agency (ESA) conducts research on asteroid mining,
while always taking into consideration its environmental and economic impact,
and only pushing for it once it becomes a viable and sustainable alternative in
the future.

that the European Space Agency (ESA) develops a strategy for environmentally
friendly and carbon neutral (within the atmosphere) space transport.

New international space station

The ISS is old and according to the original plans would have been scrapped as
early as 2008. It is important for us to have a part in the work of the new
international space station that is to be built next, we have the power to
influence the spacecraft that will spend future decades with groundbreaking
orbital research around the earth. That is why we propose:

that the European Space Agency (ESA) continues its work with international
partners for a successor to the International Space Station (ISS).

Environmentally friendly space transport

Further to our calls on 'Reusable rockets', zooming through space isn't at all
sustainable. As research into space continues, it is inevitable that the flow of
'traffic' from Earth to our stations in space and of our spacecraft within space
will increase significantly. The amount of fuel necessary to transport resources
and our astronauts from our stations on Earth to our stations in space and
possibly vice versa is insurmountable, notwithstanding the amount of minerals
and resources necessary to build the rockets and other spacecraft already
iterated above.

Even if we manage to develop reusable spacecraft, we must acknowledge the
astronomical amount of energy they will consume and the environmental impact of
that. Therefore we propose:

Space pollution

Space debris are the objects that we humans have left in orbit around the Earth.
These are everything from dust to pens and broken satellites that are as big as
buses. In the worst case, it could be that in the future we will not be able to
postpone things into space because there is too much rubbish in the way - the
so-called Kessler syndrome. Already today you need to plan launches for clusters
of space debris. In order to reduce the amount of defunct and functional
satellites and, therefore, reduce the current and future space pollution, we
must make all scientific data collected from these satellites open-source. That
is why we propose:

Corporations should be accountable for the space pollution they are making, as
well be accountable for the destruction of space discovery potential, especially
with global systems like Starlink. Therefore, we demand that every global scale
project is implemented in collaboration with scientists not to reduce the
scientific potential in space discovery.

that the European Space Agency (ESA) strengthens the work of cleaning up space
debris for a better space environment

International Cooperation

Due to long territorial disputes between different factions and France, ESA is
not part of European cooperation, even when it gets most of its money from it.
This stupid and resource-wasting battle must end. We therefore propose:

that the European Space Agency (ESA) is integrated into the European Union.

To summarize, we propose: