FutureSpace Talks

What does an asteroid taste like? How does design shape our cosmic imaginations? And what’s wrong with the way we periodise the Space Age?

FutureSpace Talks is an online series, curated and hosted by the FutureSpace team, showcasing researchers who critically engage with Earth—space relations and explore possible futures on and off planet.

Explore the upcoming talk, register to join, and browse past events below.

FutureSpace Talk #19 | Chakad Ojani

Thursday, 28 May 2026 · 16:00–17:00 CET

Environmental infrastructures of microgravity experiments and rocket testing in Sápmi

Sweden’s sounding rocket range, Esrange, is commonly framed by space professionals as an infrastructure for microgravity experiments, rocket testing, and future satellite launches. Experimentation and testing here do not simply take place within an environment; they actively put that environment to the test, infrastructuralizing weather patterns and cycles of light and darkness. As part of a broader ecology of testing, subarctic conditions shape—and at times compromise—experiments by determining launch windows and accelerating or delaying action. At the same time, global space industry timelines impose new rhythms on the environment, ultimately recasting the landscape as a sacrifice zone.

Chakad Ojani is a Pro Futura Scientia Fellow in the Department of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study. His research focuses on the anthropology of infrastructures, environmental anthropology, and science and technology studies.