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Outer space is often described as a frontier – an unsettled, mysterious or wild place that should be explored and eventually inhabited. The metaphor evokes a pioneer spirit and a sense of freedom, but it is also bound up with violent histories of settler colonialism and social injustice. Although the frontier narrative remains prevalent in political, commercial and media discourses in the United States and elsewhere, we know little about whether the public understands space exploration in this way. We also lack studies about how those working to popularise space exploration and make it comprehensible to a global audience understand and apply the frontier narrative. A long-term ethnographic study of their work shows that their understandings of the space frontier are refracted through everyday forms of sociality and experience that they cultivate near Boca Chica in South Texas, where SpaceX builds and tests Starship prototypes. The labour of imagination performed by SpaceX fans and space creators upends the problematic myth of the frontier and points towards alternative ways of understanding space exploration. • We lack studies that analyse whether the public really understands space as a frontier. • Their labour of imagination rather than the frontier narrative binds space creators. • The work of SpaceX fans points to alternative ways of imagining space exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a Christian philosophical and theological response to the moral imperative of human advancement through multiplanetarism as emerging from the Great Filter theory. First, it explains the Fermi paradox that underlies the Great Filter theory. Next, it explores this theory itself and its motivational power in driving advancement toward multiplanetarism. In particular, we explore two motives behind the multiplanetary efforts that are (in part) guided by the Great Filter theory, analyzing the relevant statements of SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk. Finally, we assess these motivations (and the accompanying normative assumptions) behind space exploration and multiplanetarism from the perspective of Reformational philosophy, using Herman Dooyeweerd's theory of ground motives as a lens. Thus, the paper's leading research question is this: How can we assess the current attempts at securing a multiplanetary existence for humankind in the light of Dooyeweerd's theory of ground motives? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the complexities and foresight of Mars colonization. There are many pioneers competing in a space race to Mars, for example, Elon Musk – SpaceX, Jeff Bezos – Blue Origin and Richard Branson – Virgin Orbit. The analyses are focused on the aerospace industry – the process of space adventures to Mars. Design/methodology/approach: This study offers new methodological approaches – the development of a complexity metric and system innovation mode – to analyze how the complexities relate to the systemic nature of innovation. The complexity metric and system innovation model can be applied in various industries. These analysis tools can help gain insights into the strategies for achieving the diffusion of commercial space. Findings: The analyses of findings have shown that, despite various attempts among the pioneers in a space race to colonize Mars (Elon Musk – SpaceX, Jeff Bezos – Blue Origin and Richard Branson – Virgin Orbit, among others), the aerospace industry has not yet reached a stage of commercialization. The commercial space to Mars is of low systemic nature at present. Many companies compete in a space race to develop technologies on a proprietary basis. However, the highest complexity level suggests a multinational and intergovernmental collaboration to achieve economies of scale and economies of scope as well as accelerate the process of technology diffusion – successful commercial space for the interplanetary settlement. Originality/value: The main contribution that shows originality and value of this paper is the development of a complexity metric and system innovation model which can be used to explore how the complexities relate to the systemic nature of innovation and how they relate to the strategies in managing technological innovations. The new methodological approaches can be used and applied to various industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kind of advances in spaceflight envisioned in the mid-twentieth century have largely failed to materialize, thereby limiting space exploration to relatively small areas of a very large galaxy. That will change with the advent of directed energy technologies, specifically laser propulsion. The privately funded Breakthrough Starshot program is already working on such a propulsion system to carry nanosatellite Star Chips to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. But powerful lasers – a dual-use technology much like rocketry, nuclear energy, and cyber technology, which have both security-related and civilian uses – have been largely stigmatized as weapons. While security concerns about the use of large lasers are certainly justified, the development of Starshot and other big, multinational science programs can have positive national and international outcomes. Therefore, the use of a large laser array as a propulsion system will require, much like other large multinational cutting-edge science programs, a negotiated, cooperative governance system. Those negotiations should begin soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This article discusses the safety contribution of a public administration scholar specialised in space policy, Howard McCurdy. • First, it contends that McCurdy's research on NASA and (post) bureaucracy has been overlooked in the field whereas it provides a valuable lens to the understanding of reliability, safety and performance of safety–critical systems. • Second, the article argues that McCurdy's research brings novel and valuable insights to important safety debates. • The relevance of McCurdy's lens is then illustrated using SpaceX as a case study, an example of the new developments in organising space exploration with their safety related challenges, moving from public to private initiatives. • In " Reinterrogating the past ", it is argued that McCurdy's research provides a bridge between what was once framed as two opposite theses, normal accident versus high-reliability organisation. • In " challenging the present " it is argued that more recent debates and controversies triggered by the " new view " might not be as new as currently thought and advocated. This article discusses the safety contribution of a public administration scholar specialised in space policy, Howard McCurdy. Its aim is twofold. First, it contends that McCurdy's research on NASA and (post) bureaucracy has been overlooked in the field whereas it provides a valuable lens to the understanding of reliability, safety and performance of safety–critical systems. This contention requires bringing to the fore McCurdy' extensive study of NASA and his rationale over several decades. Second, the article argues that McCurdy's research brings novel and valuable insights to important safety debates. Following a methodological section, the article explains his analysis of the engineering, organisational, and political complexities and challenges experienced by NASA's employees over more than sixty years of the agency's lifetime, developing a unique longitudinal and multilevel study of reliability, safety and performance. The relevance of McCurdy's lens is then illustrated using SpaceX as a case study, an example of the new developments in organising space exploration with their safety related challenges, moving from public to private initiatives. In the discussion, the article explores the value of this author for past and contemporary debates on reliability, safety and performance of safety–critical systems. In " Reinterrogating the past ", it is argued that McCurdy's research provides a bridge between what was once framed as two opposite theses, normal accident versus high-reliability organisation. In " challenging the present " it is argued that more recent debates and controversies triggered by the " new view " might not be as new as currently thought and advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elon Musk and SpaceX are central to the profound change underway in the space industry, opening up the sector to entrepreneurship and innovation by non-traditional new entrants. We employ the emancipation perspective on entrepreneuring as a theoretical lens to describe, explain, and interpret the entrepreneuring activities of Musk to launch and grow SpaceX. Applying an event study approach that combines case methods and process theory methods on publicly-available sources, we develop six examples of seeking autonomy, seven examples of authoring, and four examples of making declarations—the three core elements of the emancipation perspective on entrepreneuring. Our work contributes to the theory and practice of innovation by adding to the corpus of descriptive case studies that examine entrepreneuring as an emancipatory process. Our results and our method will also also be of interest to space industry entrepreneurs, investors, analysts, managers, policy-makers, and officers at governmental space agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]