The emergence of the ethics of space: the case of the French space agency

The ethics of space is a recent phenomenon. Although ethical committees are already established in many fields of science and technology, the domain of astronautics is only very gradually following. There are many ethical issues to be addressed. These include the management of space debris, the legal status of space, inhabited space flights and the role of astronauts. Equally challenging are the economic imperatives of space, which as they grow threaten to overturn established implicit ethical scientific practice. The European and French space agencies have started to develop ethical dimensions to their activities. A comparison of their approaches is made. It is suggested that an evolutionary and integrated approach is to be preferred to external committees, as space itself provides an ever-changing environment. Ethics, as the new frontier for space actors demands real philosophical and humanistic engagement.