New Space and the Future of Capitalism

Once upon a time it was just infinitesimally there. With the dawn of space exploration in the late 1950s it has slowly become apparent that governance of space is necessary. Given important developments in the domain of space exploration and the complex management challenges involved, it is timely to incorporate this domain and its role in the future of capitalism. We explore organization involvement in outer space through a sequence of three conceptual movements. First, we outline the shift from an “Old” view of outer space as a domain for exploration to a “New” perspective that considers space as a resource to be exploited by private capitalistic interests. Second, we advance a typology of the main actors and the logics they bring to the processes of exploration/exploitation. We finally discuss the role of the state in the governance of these important changes.