Then, Space Becomes Place: The Space Debris Issue and Branding #CleanSpace by The European Space Agency

There is widespread awareness and acknowledgement amongst academia, governments, policy makers and private sector that space debris is an international problem, critical and urgent matter and a growing policy concern. The increasing dependence on space (technologies) in our society underlines the urgency for a close examination of outer space as a social, political and managerial object that requires renewed focus and new approaches in space governance. This thesis utilizes a social-constructivist and material-semiotic approach to space policy analysis by explaining how branding enabled the European Space Agency (ESA) to mobilise and translate specific ideas of a ‘clean space’ for international transfer. Environmental regulations and the wide acknowledgment within the international community of the space debris problem has led to international collaboration on space debris mitigation technologies and the sharing of best practices, technology, knowledge and equipment. Clean Space is...Show moreThere is widespread awareness and acknowledgement amongst academia, governments, policy makers and private sector that space debris is an international problem, critical and urgent matter and a growing policy concern. The increasing dependence on space (technologies) in our society underlines the urgency for a close examination of outer space as a social, political and managerial object that requires renewed focus and new approaches in space governance. This thesis utilizes a social-constructivist and material-semiotic approach to space policy analysis by explaining how branding enabled the European Space Agency (ESA) to mobilise and translate specific ideas of a ‘clean space’ for international transfer. Environmental regulations and the wide acknowledgment within the international community of the space debris problem has led to international collaboration on space debris mitigation technologies and the sharing of best practices, technology, knowledge and equipment. Clean Space is a space policy idea and cross-cutting initiative that is branded by ESA to identify, differentiate and mobilise a specific vision of space, including various branded ‘entities’ or ‘objects’, e.g. cleaner technologies, in-orbit services and eco-design. The outcomes and findings show that in the past ten years ESA and the Clean Space team has continuously mobilised, transferred and translated various ‘things’ for international audiences and across social and political systems, including space policy ideas (e.g. safety, sustainability and debris neutrality), scientific knowledge (e.g. CDF studies), international standards and regulations (ISO and ESA requirements, guidelines and handbooks), and (green and clean) technologies, processes and services (e.g. LCA, IOS and ADR). This construction, mobilisation and cross-jurisdictional ‘travel’ of policy, science and technology is successfully enabled and facilitated through co-creation of value in the ‘golden triangle’ of public organisations, industry and academia. This resulted in continuous development of public values (transparency, organisational trust and accountability) and mobilisation and binding of public and private space actors to ESA's governance and policy processes by strengthening internal relations and establishment of external relations. Although various key brand strategies are observed and identified, there is a lack in strategic application of branding principles and continuous maintenance in terms of communication, which may lead to untapped brand potential. Due to the limited control of the brand manager and information overload, it is recommended to (re)develop communication plans and activities, implement integrative and interdisciplinary collaboration and management strategies, and apply continuous maintenance strategies in order to achieve intense alignment of messaging of core principles to various brand stakeholders and audiences. Further studies should namely focus on expanding research on space policy branding and science-based brands in order to acquire conclusive outcomes, identify conditions that lead to success for science-based brands of space agencies, and develop theoretical frameworks for adapting branding principles to the public sector, namely in the fields of diplomacy, international affairs, climate crisis and science & technology.Show less

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Then, Space Becomes Place: The Space Debris Issue and Branding #CleanSpace by The European Space Agency