Futurespace explores how European cooperation in space shapes visions of the future—and how these visions, in turn, reshape European integration. We trace the complex relations between space infrastructures, the values and tensions underlying practices of European integration, and imaginaries of European futures in outer space. Drawing on Science & Technology Studies (STS), Social Studies of Outer Space (SSOS), Futures Studies, and Engineering, we employ a multi-sited ethnography to investigate the material, temporal, and imaginative dimensions of transforming space infrastructures. The Ariane rocket program serves as a lens for understanding European values and approaches to space. Following Ariane from policy discussions to production sites, we examine how European space futures are imagined, negotiated, and built—and how these visions translate into concrete political strategies and manufacturing processes.

Futurespace explores how European cooperation in space shapes visions of the future—and how these visions, in turn, reshape European integration. We trace the complex relations between space infrastructures, the values and tensions underlying practices of European integration, and imaginaries of European futures in outer space. Drawing on Science & Technology Studies (STS), Social Studies of Outer Space (SSOS), Futures Studies, and Engineering, we employ a multi-sited ethnography to investigate the material, temporal, and imaginative dimensions of transforming space infrastructures. The Ariane rocket program serves as a lens for understanding European values and approaches to space. Following Ariane from policy discussions to production sites, we examine how European space futures are imagined, negotiated, and built—and how these visions translate into concrete political strategies and manufacturing processes.

Our research follows three interconnected lines of inquiry: How do political narratives and engineering practices shape visions of European space futures? Who gets to participate in imagining and building these futures? How do tensions between competition and cooperation, as well as between national interests and collective goals, influence Europe’s capacity to act in space?

How do you study something as vast and dispersed as European space governance? At Futurespace, we follow the people, technologies, and decisions that shape Europe’s future in space. We conduct fieldwork at interconnected sites across Europe, each providing insights into how space futures are designed, negotiated, and built. This topographical approach means staying attuned to shifting scales, timelines, and relationships, mapping how outer space becomes meaningful in political and social life on Earth.

By tracing how European actors shape space futures through technological, political, and economic decisions, Futurespace reveals the co-production of geopolitical imaginaries and infrastructural materialities. Our empirically grounded approach identifies the drivers of and barriers to European technological innovation and advances broader STS discussions on how collectives organize and govern large-scale techno-political projects. Studying Europe’s collaborative space infrastructures highlights what makes European integration distinctive and opens inquiry into alternative modes of organizing sociotechnical systems in an era of intensifying space competition.