Recommended Reading List

Lawrence, A., Rawls, M. L., Jah, M., Boley, A., Di Vruno, F., Garrington, S., Kramer, M., Lawler, S., Lowenthal, J., McDowell, J., & McCaughrean, M. (2022). The case for space environmentalism. Nature Astronomy, 6(4)(, 428–435. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01655-6 

Henry, H., & Taylor, A. (2009). Re-Thinking Apollo: Envisioning Environmentalism in Space. The Sociological Review, 57(1), 190–203. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954x.2009.01825.x  

Huebert, J. H., & Block, W. (2006). Space Environmentalism, Property Rights, and the Law. University of Memphis Law Review, 37, 281https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/umem37&div=14&id=&page=  

Miller, R.W. (2001). Astroenvironmentalism: The Case for Space Exploration As An Environmental Issue. Electronic Green Journal, 1(15). https://escholarship.org/content/qt2d37b8cx/qt2d37b8cx.pdf 

Bartóki-Gönczy, B., Ganczer, M., & Sulyok, G. (2024). Space sustainability: Current regulatory challenges. Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies. https://doi.org/10.1556/2052.2024.00552 

Mariappan, A., & Crassidis, J. L. (2023). Kessler’s syndrome: a challenge to humanity. Frontiers in Space Technologies, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/frspt.2023.1309940 

Newman, C. J., & Williamson, M. (2018). Space Sustainability: Reframing the Debate. Space Policy, 46, 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2018.03.001

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2024). The Economics of Space Sustainability: Delivering Economic Evidence to Guide Government Action. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-economics-of-space-sustainability_b2257346-en/full-report.html 

Wilson, A. R., & Vasile, M. (2023). The space sustainability paradox. Journal of Cleaner Production, 423, 138869). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138869 

Barentine, J. C.; Heim, J.; Venkatesan, A.; et al. "Reimagining Near-Earth Space Policy in a Post-COVID World," Virginia Policy Review, 15(1) (2022), pp. 58-86. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2207.12292

Block, W. E. (2019). Space Environmentalism, Property Rights, and the Law. Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism, 275–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28353-7_16 

Cinelli, C. (2024). Regulation of Outer Space: International Space Law and the State (1st ed.). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Regulation-of-Outer-Space-International-Space-Law-and-the-State/Cinelli/p/book/9781032649061 

Byers, M., & Boley, A. (2023). Who Owns Outer Space?: International Law, Astrophysics, and the Sustainable Development of Space (1st ed.) Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108597135 

Marino, A., & Cheney, T. (2023). Centring Environmentalism in Space Governance: Interrogating Dominance and Authority Through a Critical Legal Geography of Outer Space. Space Policy, 63, 101521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2022.101521

Neilson, H. (2025). Overview of Indigenous rights and outer space for the IAU-CPS Policy Hub, accepted for publication in "Astronomy and Satellite Constellations: Pathways Forward", Proceedings of IAU Symposium 385 arXiv:2412.06675 

Arnould, J. (2010). Icarus’ Second Chance: The Basis and Perspectives of Space Ethics (Vienna: Springer) 

Elvis, M., Milligan, T., & Krolikowski, A. (2016). The peaks of eternal light: A near-term property issue on the moon. Space Policy, 48, 30–38 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2016.05.01 

Daly, E. M., & Frodeman, R. (2008). Separated at Birth, Signs of Rapprochement: Environmental Ethics and Space Exploration. Ethics and the Environment, 13(1), 135–151. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40339152 

Hargrove, E. (Ed.) (1986). Beyond Spaceship Earth: Environmental Ethics and the Solar System (San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books).

Heim, J. (2019). "The Development of a Lunar Land Ethic," Culture and Cosmos, 23(2), 103-112. https://doi.org/10.46472/CC.0223.0215    

Schwartz, J.S.J. and Milligan, T. (Eds.) (2016) The Ethics of Space Exploration (Cham, Switzerland: Springer)

Tavares, Frank et al. (2020) Ethical Exploration and the Role of Planetary Protection in Disrupting Colonial Practices. 

Milligan, T. (2015). Nobody Owns the Moon: The Ethics of Space Exploration (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company)

Williamson, M. (2003). Space Ethics and Protection of the Space Environment’, Space Policy, 19, 47–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0265-9646(02)00064-4

Human Culture and Heritage

Venkatesan, A., Lowenthal, J., Prem, P., & Vidaurri, M. (2020). The impact of satellite constellations on space as an ancestral global commons. Nature Astronomy, 4(11), 1043–1048. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01238-3
 

Indigenous Perspectives

Fish, A. (2024). Planetary media: Decolonizing the space industry through Indigenous ownership. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 42(5-6), 711–733. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758241253328  

Mitchell, A., Wright, S., Suchet-Pearson, S., Lloyd, K., Burarrwanga, L., Ganambarr, R., Ganambarr-Stubbs, M., Ganambarr, B., Maymuru, D., & Maymuru, R. (2020). Dukarr lakarama: Listening to Guwak, talking back to space colonization. Political Geography, 81, 102218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102218 

Noon, K., De Napoli, K., Swanton, P., Guedes, C., & Hamacher, D. (2023). Safeguarding Indigenous Sky Rights from Colonial Exploitation. In The Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003280507-22 

Tavares, F., Vidaurri, M., Denton, A., Grier, J. A., Harvey, A., Milazzo, M., Olson, H., Prem, P., Scalice, D., & Venkatesan, A. (2024). A call for Indigenous partnership in the return to the Moon. Nature Astronomy, 8(4), 400–402. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02251-6 

Space debris

Morin, J., & Richard, B. (2021). Astro‐Environmentalism: Towards a Polycentric Governance of Space Debris. Global Policy, 12(4), 568–573. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12950 

Spacecraft life cycle

Surendra, S. (2024). Impact of Spaceflight on Earth’s Atmosphere: Climate, Ozone, and the Upper Atmosphere (Technical Memorandum NASA/TM−20240013276; p. 36). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20240013276/downloads/NASA-TM-20240013276-V6.pdf  

Hook, C., Wright, E., Byers, M., & Boley, A. (2024). Uncontrolled reentries of space objects and aviation safety. Acta Astronautica, 222, 69–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.05.026  

Jones, K. & Jain, A. K. (2023). The Green Circularity: Life Cycle Assessments for the Space Industry. Center for Space Policy and Strategy, The Aerospace Corporation. https://csps.aerospace.org/papers/green-circularity-life-cycle-assessments-space-industry 

Voigt, Ch., Schumann, U., Graf, K., & Gottschaldt, K.-D. (2013). Impact of rocket exhaust plumes on atmospheric composition and climate ― an overview. Progress in Propulsion Physics, 657–670. https://doi.org/10.1051/eucass/201304657 

Worlds beyond Earth

​​Gorman, A. (2023, March 11). The sustainable management of lunar natural and cultural heritage: Suggested principles and guidelines. Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities. https://moonvillageassociation.org/download/gegsla-the-sustainable-management-of-lunar-natural-and-cultural-heritage-suggested-principles-and-guidelines/  

Capper, D. (2022). What Should We Do with Our Moon?: Ethics and Policy for Establishing International Multiuse Lunar Land Reserves. Space Policy, 59, 101462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2021.101462  

Kramer, W. R. (2020). A Framework for Extraterrestrial Environmental Assessment. Space Policy, 53, 101385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2020.101385  

International Academy of Astronautics. (2010). "Protecting the Environment of Celestial Bodies" IAA Cosmic Studies. https://iaaspace.org/wp-content/uploads/iaa/Scientific%20Activity/Study%20Groups/SG%20Commission%205/sg56/sg56finaldraftreport.pdf