Photograph: WEF
The burst of interest in space from countries and companies risks exacerbating global tensions, as the dangers of militarization of space rise.
So warns the World Economic Forum in today’s Global Risks report, which points out that space is getting busier, with a record number of launches last year.
Businesses, start-ups and research entities are driving down launch costs particularly in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) orbits, it explains.
Companies are looking to provide direct-to-consumer broadband access via space, and also examining opportunities such as “hyperspectral remote sensing” to analyse the earth, energy generation, manufacturing, mining and tourism.
While early space activity was conducted or funded by the public sector, the last decade has seen growing…
