Project description
Future visions of space shape European collaboration today
European integration can extend to outer space. A new global space race is underway. Government and private sector around the world are working towards formidable visions of humans in space. As for Europe, it is deciding its role in this new space chapter. With this in mind, the FutureSpace project, funded by the European Research Council, will explore Europe’s options and how these would build and inform European integration practices. It will offer timely insights into how future visions of space shape forms of European collaboration. Specifically, the project will ask the questions: which kind of space futures are projected onto and realised through Europe’s Ariane rocket? How do these futures relate to the ideals and tensions of European integration?
Objective
When we think about practices of European integration, we rarely think about how they may extend to outer space. Yet, a new global space race is in full swing, in which commercial and government actors worldwide are putting forward bold visions of human futures in outer space. Europe is at the cusp of deciding which role to play in this new space age. Do we witness the emergence of shared European visions for outer space, and how would these build on and inform current European integration practices? These questions are at the center of FUTURESPACE. They will be investigated using the joint European rocket Ariane as a case study. While Ariane was heralded as a symbol of European integration since its first launch in 1979, the rise of commercial companies like SpaceX has spurred profound debates about the future of the European Ariane program.
My project will be unique in its attempt to expand questions of European integration to outer space by asking: Which kind of space futures are projected onto and realized through Ariane, and how do these futures relate to ideals and tensions of European integration? By exploring the intricate relations between large-scale technological projects, practices of European integration, and envisioned space futures, my project will provide empirically and theoretically rich insights into how the future of European integration in space is imagined and enacted in the global space race. Methodologically, FUTURESPACE conducts an interdisciplinary ethnography that links social science and engineering to better understand the material and imaginative aspects of this unique space infrastructure. With the increasing relevance of outer space for societies on Earth, such a project is much needed. FUTURESPACE will offer highly relevant and timely insights into how future visions of space shape forms of European collaboration in the present and how, conversely, geopolitical relations on Earth shape how, and by whom these futures are imagined.
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
1010 Wien
Austria