The politics of outer space includes space treaties, law in space, international cooperation and conflict in space exploration, and the hypothetical political impact of any contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.

Astropolitics, also known as astropolitik, has its foundations in geopolitics and is a theory that is used for space in its broadest sense. Astropolitics is often studied as an aspect of the security studies and international relations subfields of political science. This includes the role of space exploration in diplomacy as well as the military uses of satellites, for example, for surveillance or cyber warfare.

An important aspect of the geopolitics of space is the prevention of a military threat to Earth from outer space.

International cooperation on space projects has resulted in the creation of new national space agencies. By 2005 there were 35 national civilian space agencies.

Read about International Space Law.

with the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station other big space projects planned by private companies include tourism, commercial space stations, a return to the Moon, habitats on Mars and even the mining of asteroids.

Listen to the podcast on the privatisation of space travel attached to this post or via this link and read the short article also attached and comment on any or all of the questions below:

National space agencies may partner with the private sector to reduce short-term costs and spread risks, but what will be the long-term impact of new technologies and intellectual property being by owned by companies and not states?

What laws are in place to police what is and isn’t allowed to be constructed in orbit?

As the United States, Europe, China, Japan and India all compete to pass new milestones in the exploration of our solar system, would a more collaborative approach be of greater value to humanity?

Is Cold War-like competition exactly what’s needed to spark innovation?

In the end, will the private sector dominate the future of Space?