‘Starwashing’: How space companies use the greenwashing playbook while engaging in environmentally damaging practices
Orbital data centers, space habitats, mining the Moon – despite taking place in space, the practices many companies are imagining will still affect the Earth.
The space industry is employing a marketing tactic known as "starwashing" to promote environmentally damaging practices while appealing to the public's desire for space exploration. As the space economy is projected to reach US$1.8 trillion by 2035, companies are selling narratives of expanding humanity beyond Earth without addressing the negative consequences for Earth and the space environment.
Greenwashing, a term used to describe misleading environmental claims, is now being used in the space industry. While it was initially associated with auto and plastics companies, space companies are now also guilty of this practice to disguise their true environmental impact.
Starwashing is a newer form of greenwashing that appeals to people's fascination with space, life's origins, Earth's place in the universe, and the prospect of exploring beyond our planet. For example, Blue Origin, a leading space technology company, markets its space habitats as a solution to Earth's environmental problems and claims its New Shepard rocket has no carbon emissions due to water vapor being its only combustion byproduct.
However, they fail to mention that water vapor can also contribute to atmospheric warming. Moreover, mining the Moon for resources such as helium-3 will require frequent rocket launches, increasing the demand for launch sites that use more coastal land and potentially harm the Moon's environment. These ventures will also endanger valuable scientific sites on the lunar surface.
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