Protecting the Planet or Destroying the Universe? Understanding Reactions to Space Mining

Matthew J. Hornsey, Kelly S. Fielding, Emily A. Harris, Paul G. Bain, Tim Grice and Cassandra M. Chapman
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Matthew J. Hornsey: Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
Kelly S. Fielding: School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
Emily A. Harris: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
Paul G. Bain: School of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
Tim Grice: Square Circle, Brisbane 4000, Australia
Cassandra M. Chapman: Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: There is currently a surge in interest from both private and government sectors in developing technology for mining asteroids and the moon (“space mining”). One of the key benefits highlighted by advocates of space mining is that it minimizes the usual problems associated with mining on earth in terms of pollution, environmental degradation, and encroachment on human habitats. Two studies—one conducted on a 27-nation sample ( N = 4819), the other conducted in the U.S. ( N = 607)—provide the first test of the assumed (but never studied) notion that space mining is more palatable to the public than terrestrial mining. Both studies indicate broad support for asteroid mining: levels of support were reliably above the mid-point, and much greater than for other forms of frontier mining such as mining the ocean floor, mining Antarctica, mining the Alaskan tundra, and lunar mining. Unlike terrestrial mining, community attitudes toward mining asteroids were largely non-ideological; support was not correlated with perceptions of ecological fragility, political ideology, or individualistic/hierarchical worldviews. In summary, the current studies suggest that mining companies have a “social license to operate” for mining asteroids, but less so for lunar mining.

Keywords: space mining; asteroid mining; social license to operate; moral foundations; political ideology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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