Description
Contemporary space exploration is increasingly justified through appeals to humanity’s collective future. Governments, international organisations, and commercial actors present lunar settlement, planetary expansion, and the pursuit of a multi-planetary future as projects undertaken on behalf of humanity as a whole. These narratives frame space exploration as a shared endeavour capable of transcending political divisions and advancing collective human interests. Yet such universal claims coexist with profound inequalities in participation, representation, and decision-making within the global space sector. This paper seeks to examine how appeals to “humanity” function in contemporary space exploration and asks who has the authority to define humanity’s future beyond Earth. Drawing on critical and decolonial approaches to international relations, it analyses how dominant visions of the future are shaped by specific political, economic, and epistemic assumptions yet presented as universal aspirations. The paper argues that contemporary conflicts surrounding space governance are not only disputes over resources, institutions, or geopolitical influence, but also struggles over whose visions of the future become authoritative. By foregrounding the politics of futurity in the second space age, the paper contributes to broader debates on conflict, cooperation, and inequality in an era of rapid technological change and contested global futures.