This report adopts a scenario-based approach to explore the future evolution of major components of the space sector (military space, civil space, commercial space) over the next thirty years.

This book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks that currently govern space activities in the OECD area and beyond.

For several decades it has been widely accepted that human space exploration is the exclusive domain of government agencies. The cost of performing such missions, estimated in multiple reports to amount to hundreds of billions dollars over decades, was far beyond what private entities could afford. That arrangement seems to be changing. Buoyed by the success of its program to develop commercial cargo capabilities to support the International Space Station, NASA is becoming increasingly open to working with the private sector in its human space exploration plans. The new private-public partnership will make 'planet hopping' feasible. This book analyses the move towards planet hopping, which sees human outposts moving across the planetary dimensions, from the Moon to Near-Earth Asteroids and Mars. It critically assesses the intention to exploit space resources and how successful these missions will be for humanity. This insightful and accessible book will be of great interest to scholars and students of space policy and politics, international studies, and science and technology studies.

"This book introduces the concept of space-based technology commercialization and offers a first-time analysis of plausible opportunities, examining the overall marketability of tourism in outer space, including business case studies on celestial solar power and space debris that demonstrate the potential of cosmic technologies in the context of interplanetary business"--Provided by publisher.