WE WANT SPACE
Space used to belong to everyone and to no one, a shared wonder rather than something to own. Now it's being claimed and sold off before anyone has agreed on the rules. Deciding what happens beyond this planet is up to a few oligarchs, not any government or public vote. The final frontier is going to the highest bidder.
→ The privatization of launch infrastructure means a handful of billionaires now hold more practical power over humanity's space future than most national governments.
→ Space mining is advancing faster than international law, with asteroids, lunar ice, and orbital real estate becoming commercial targets with no meaningful regulatory framework in place.
→ With the "Space Silk Road" China is integrating navigation, satellite communications, and remote sensing into its Belt and Road Initiative to build an internet architecture outside Western influence.
Pockets of the Future
Explore where this signal is already showing up
600 space firms strong: China’s commercial space sector has grown from a few dozen firms to around 600, now supplying broadband and imagery to Belt and Road partners via its “Space Silk Road.”
Extract first, rules later: startup Interlune plans to harvest helium-3 from the Moon by 2029, while experts warn that no binding international rules govern lunar mining.
One company, half the sky: Elon Musk’s SpaceX flew 51% of all orbital launches worldwide in 2025 and deployed 85% of all satellites.
Source: Satellite Today: ‘BryceTech Report Shows SpaceX Accounted for 50% of Launches in 2025,’ April 2026