FutureSpace Talk 13 | Bleddyn Bowen

The Perils of Periodising Astropolitics: Towards a Global Space Age

Abstract

Almost 70 years since the first artificial satellite was launched into orbit, astropolitical research remains a nascent field. This emerging thematic and geographic specialism is at risk of being buffeted by problematic periodisations of the Space Age which centre along narrative arcs of the space is democratising, commercialising at the cost of state influence, and militarising a place that was previously a sanctuary from hostility. This article builds bridges between International Studies and a nascent Astropolitics subfield by critiquing periodisations that are taking root in scholarship and practitioner circles in space policy, and proposes an alternative periodisation of a singular Global Space Age that advances three counter-arguments as material starting points in analysing the politics and consequences of the continuing Space Age: that much in space is still determined by the Structural Power of a handful of political authorities as they deploy their sovereign space infrastructures; that the space economy features a ‘Contractor State’ at its core; and the conditions of sanctuary from violence in space ended at the very dawn of the Space Age itself.

Bio

Dr Bleddyn Bowen is Associate Professor of Astropolitics and Co-Director of the Space Research Centre at Durham University. He is an expert in international relations and the military strategy in outer space. He is the author of two monographs: Original Sin: Power, Technology, and War in Outer Space (Hurst, 2022) and War in Space: Strategy, Spacepower, Geopolitics (Edinburgh University Press, 2020); and multiple peer-reviewed articles (list below). He is also a Co-Director of the Space Research Centre at Durham University. Dr Bowen has advised, presented, and briefed for many government agencies and offices, including the UK Prime Minister’s Policy Unit, the US National Space Council, the US Space Force, the European Space Agency, UK Ministry of Defence, UK Space Agency, the UK Parliament, and the Japanese Cabinet Office. Prior to joining Durham University, Dr Bowen taught and researched at the University of Leicester, King’s College London, and Aberystwyth University.