With companies, like SpaceX or Blue Origin, getting into space exploration and the cost of launching rockets dropping, could we see a lot more people heading into space in the future? What kind of possibilities does this new space age bring—and what dangers should we be worried about?

Can any nation seize possession of the moon? Could it be mined? Is there junk in space? And whatever happened to that flag that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted on the moon fifty five years ago?

To find out more, Maayan Arad speaks to Dr Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut in space who flew aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz TM-12 in 1991. He also talks to Dr Jill Stuart, an expert in the politics, ethics and law of outer space exploration and exploitation and Visiting Fellow in LSE’s Department of Government, and Dr Dimitrios Stroikos, LSE Fellow in the Department of International Relations and Head of the Space Policy Programme at LSE IDEAS.

Read an interview with Dr Dimitrios Stroikos on space politics here: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2024/11/22/interview-with-dimitrios-stroikos-we-tend-to-forget-the-extent-to-which-space-is-so-integral-to-our-daily-lives/

Contributors

Dr Helen Sharman, first British astronaut

Dr Jill Stuart, Visiting Fellow at LSE’s Department of Government

Dr Dimitrios Stroikos, LSE Fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE and Head of the Space Policy Programme at LSE IDEAS.