Review: Space – the final geopolitical frontier

From the race back to the Moon to military conflict in orbit, ‘The Future of Geography’ is a useful if limited primer on astropolitics, writes John Sheldon.

The World Today Published 31 March 2023 3 minute READ

John Sheldon

Research fellow, École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers (ESSCA)

The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World
Tim Marshall, Elliott & Thompson, £20

Whether it is Elon Musk’s SpaceX launching reusable rockets to put thousands of Starlink satellites into orbit or the emerging competition for resources on the Moon that pits the United States and China against each other, space exploration and satellite technologies are back in the news in a way not seen since the late 1960s. Besides those big players, many smaller countries are also now participants in space, such as the United Arab Emirates and Estonia sending rovers to the lunar surface.

Access the archive

The current issue is open access with previous editions reserved for our members and magazine subscribers.